Picture taking for the amateur by an amateur – Not breaking the bank, tips on taking pictures, listing photos and why to get a little better camera

Ok a pre note, I should call this blog a blog by a grammatically challenged person, as I'm sure you will notice, punctuating and spelling are NOT my strong point and spell check can only go so far my fingers seem to find other keys lately as well , so In stead of stressing over it I'm just going to embrace it and just say, well I cant spell worth a darn so I hope you get a chuckle out of what I'm sure to be many errors and just accept that if you chose to read my blog.

Let's talk a little about cameras

I'm not a professional photographer nor have I taken any photography classes since high school a long long time ago! But I am an avid photographer and armature graphic designer, I have shot somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 pictures in just the last 3 years alone, I have helped advise with listing photos, shot a few weddings, a few events, some senior pictures countless family photos and more, so I thought id share some tips and give some advice from the perspective of a self taught everyday person.

Now if you're a realtor you know a listing book doesn't sell the home, or does a listing flyer but it does project an image and look and in a web sight or mls listing the right pictures can help to give a look that might keep someone from ruling out looking at you listing off hand.

Your camera can make all the difference , the new compact cameras can do a very good job but there are so many its hard to pick and they just don't have that wow factor , although they are good cameras they just don't have that thing that makes the difference between a good picture and great pictures.

I'm a fan of Nikon, I have a Nikon D50, I also like the Cannon Rebel, the automatic settings on these cameras can make you look very good you don't have to know what every setting does, the fully automatic will do wonders, the smaller compact cameras are more so set up to shoot portraits they don't compensate for light and other features as well, with a full size camera you get such a better picture.

Now I know cost wise can make a huge difference, if you know where to look a professional camera isn't that much more than say the power shots that seem so popular today & I do have one of those too (great for just having a small camera to shoot some for fun pictures) , Ill give you an example when I purchased my camera 3 years ago it was almost $2,000 at the time and was a gift from my loving wife or honestly I would have thrown up! I know you've heard of the sites but often times we forget or don't feel it's safe. Craig's list is great for deals and you can see most items locally if you narrow your selection- www.craigslist.com , EBay is also great look at the ratings and for a power seller and read carefully the description and use a safe payment method like pay pal- www.ebay.com  , overstock is also a great one- www.overstock.com   , My camera (used) today can be purchased for between $300 and $500 and you can get a new one with multiple lenses (which Ill get back too) for around $500 to $700 and depending on the model it can be less or a little more for a major step up. Also once you have one you can replace the body and use your lenses for even less, the Nikon D40, D50, D60, D80 are all great cameras.

 

I would recommend picking up at least a wide angle lense as well, those sites have some good ones very cheap along with great deals on zooms (if you do get a powerful zoom get one with stabilization unless you plan to use a tripod )

Set you camera at the very best setting possible:  don't worry about file size the MLS can take up to a 2M picture now the main reason is its quality is so much better and it gives you options for cropping and keeping a great sharp look, and well they just look better especially in print projects and home books , postcards and more .

Shoot a lot of pictures:  shoot away you don't have to use them you won't be printing them so use that memory card, the more you shoot you have a better chance to get that wow picture out of 500 pictures I'll usually get 10 that rock! , my Nikon will shoot about 500 flash pictures on one battery.
You never know what you will get.

Crop: this is also why we want to set at the best quality, when you crop and blow something up it will still look good, look at your pictures does a part or something in the picture stand out or look good, keep that and toss the rest, this will give you some great pics and some neat sizes, most of the time you aren't printing them to photo size paper so on your web sight or presentation and odd sized photo can add something.

                                         

Lenses - I recommend getting a wide angle lense its very cheap,  this can help and get a great look,  but really for what your using it for the lense that comes with the camera will do a great job, but if you want a more powerful zoom those 3 sites are great and if you look Nikon sells display models for a fraction of the cost of a new one , now a side benefit is if you have the lenses you can easily upgrade for a fraction of the cost later and just get a camera body.

When you shoot use that zoom try different distances, when you shoot is there something in the room or on the house that stands out? Shoot that it doesn't have to be the whole room, but if you are shooting a small room that's where a wide angle can help.

Shoot form inside the room out, this is great with bathrooms

Bring a small step ladder a down angle can look very cool from a corner,

Shoot from the ground sit down and shoot up it changes your perspective

 

Turn off the flash - you'd be surprised what these cameras can pick up without a flash, that morning light through the window, the view outside through that bay window, and shoot with your flash on and off.

                                                                                  

Get close- a nice close up shows some great details

Shoot that kitchen counter from the roof facing down it's a great angle and makes the kitchen look bigger, set the camera right on the counter it picks up great details of the granite and makes the counter look long

Turn on all the light and try it with them off

Try holding your camera level- shoot the cabinet's straight on and other fixtures

Don't be afraid to move stuff around a little

Take Vertical pictures - this totally changes the look and captures floor to ceiling and can grab a part of a room and cut out what you don't want

Change you focus point - this will make some stuff blurry it can be a great shot

Move the center of your picture off to one side or a corner - try not centering that fire place

Watch the suns light if it's a sunny day look where that ray of light is coming through the window and capture that.

Cant afford those flyby shots here's an easy way to get some great shots,  take a $25 extend-able tree trimmer cut the top off get a mini $8 tri pod pocket size,  duct tape it to the top , attach your camera extend out the pole focus push your button and hold the camera up , you can even combine it with a short step ladder , this will give you some great down shots, and even better with a wide angle lense ,  if you have multi level home try shooting that master bedroom deck from out side looking down , this is also great for big land shots .

Well this seems to be going on forever so im going to stop here
I hope this has given you some useful tips.

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