Mc Kinney, TX

Hi again everyone!

This is Kay's assistant, Joseph, with the #1 of my top 5 Tips to Better Photographs. But before I get to that, I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my background:

I am not a professional photographer, and have taken no formal photography courses (actually when I first started college I was going to major in Painting and Drawing with a minor in Philosophy...eventually got my B.A. in Psychology with Philosophy minor. I did grow up with photography, as my mother's father, Wyman Parr, opened a chain of camera stores in Dallas starting in the 1950's (Parr's Cameras). By the time he died, both my father (Martin Bros. Cameras) and mother (The Camera Store, Inc.) owned one of his stores. Times change and now the stores are all gone. But what I learned lives on in my photography......and a lot of what I have learned has been trial and error, and reading.

So don't think that what I know is the result of some specialized education. If I can improve my photography, so can you.

Ok, so without further adieu, here's my #1 Tip, and just like in retail they say success is all about "Location, Location, Location", my Number One Tip is....

Composition, Composition, Composition

Nothing makes your photos come alive more than a good composition. Composition directs our eyes and tells them what to look at. Bad composition leaves your pictures uninteresting to the eye. When I was taking art coursework many years ago, we were taught The Principles of Design. I won't explain every one of them, but they are:

Balance

Unity

Gradation

Repetition

Contrast

Harmony

Dominance

When I go to photograph a house, I first think of the lighting conditions and camera settings I'm likely to use. After that everything is about mentally noting how do I want to compose the shots., before I even look through the viewfinder. I look for angles and views that will create interest. I think too manny realtors I have known confuse staging with composition, but the truth is that a well staged house with poorly composed shots will look worse than a badly staged house well-composed.

I pride myself on the ability to work around almost anything people have in a house without having to move things around.....kid's toys, dog cages, cluttered desks. In this picture:

Just to the right of the picture were two huge dog cages. I'd always much rather move myself than objects, if at all possible. Call me lazy.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind in Composing Shots

1. Whether horizontally or vertically, do not divide the picture in exactly two equal halves...leave just a little more above or below the midpoint line. It may seem counter-intuitive, but putting the horizon above or below the midpoint will "feel" visually more solid and stable:

2. Look for unusual angles or views to create interest and make people look longer. We look longer at images that look less familiar:

3. Use perspective to create sense of space and height. I often shoot pictures with the camera about 2-3 feet off the ground, looking upward. Often for Master Baths, I shoot them at the level of the vanity:

4. Interest is often created in compositions by putting the main subject just slightly off-center, rather than perfectly centered, as long as you keep balance in the composition:

I could have shot this from directly in front of the mirror above the mantle, with the mantle in the center, and the chairs symmetrical on either side of the mantle; or with the huge window dead centered

I thought it would be more interesting to shoot with the small table just right of center, with the left side of the window acting as a counter-balance. The open space and low bar to the far left balances the high mirror to the right. Also notice the line of the floor is below the midline, and the horizon line is slightly above the midpoint.

Hopefully these Top 5 Tips have been helpful. I'll leave you with a couple of my personal photos from around McKinney, Texas:

I keep trying to convince people in Collin County of this fact. We still have a good market. This fact struck home this week as I spent the week in Lee(Ft. Myers) and Collier(Naples) counties in Florida. Everyone wanted to talk about real estate when they found out that I am in the business in Texas. Those of us in North Texas still have a predominantly positive story to tell. True we have our share of foreclosures, but the bubble that burst in Florida never happened in our part of the country. We haven't had the drop in prices that have happened in Florida. There is a modest house on the market next door to my son's house in Ft. Myers that was priced at $225,000 a few months ago. The flyer in front of the house today has an asking price of $149,900. The first price was high and the second has to be too low, but in todays' Ft. Myers market buyers are not beating down the door to see this one. The house needs some work, but it is in a great location near freeways and a few blocks from a city park and recreation complex. Even the foreclosures in Texas are not seeing these kinds of price declines. Without the inflationary bubble seen in parts of the country like Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona, our market in Texas, even with its flaws, is the envy of everyone I met here in Florida.

For those of you who haven't been in McKinney for that long you probably don't know that the 17^th annual Red Wagon Bazaar is happening on December 6^th this year. Fern Henry a local artist has been hand painting folk art for the past 38 years.

Ms. Henry said she was taught by some excellent artists early on. She started painting using the tole style of folk art painting. Tole painting was brought over by German immigrants and involves painting on tin, wooden utensils, furniture and other objects. She has been a fixture in McKinney for many years teaching her craft to as many as 40 students at a time at her studio behind her home. Ms Henry has stopped taking beginner students now but still finds time to teach a group of 8 or so advanced students. Her influence is probably seen all over our area with local artists who have taken her classes .

Ms. Henry works all year long to paint enough folk art for the Red Wagon Bazaar. Much of her historic home is painted with interesting and beautiful patterns and art. She told me she is working on next year already. The Red Wagon Bazaar is held at her home at 606 Tucker St in the McKinney Historic District. The doors open at 8:30 am and it is over at 4:00pm but usually there is not much left after the morning rush. There are crowds that line up at the door early to have the best selection.

Joseph:

Hello again everyone. This is Kay's assistant, Joseph. In today's tip we will look at the third (and last) technical area of your camera equipment that a little knowledge about will serve you well:

!!!!!Lens Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Depth of Field!!!!!!

Lens Aperture

The aperture of a camera lens is the size of the opening that allows light through the lens to strike the film (or digital sensors) when the shutter opens. It is also called the f-stop, abbreviated f/. Every lens has a single, or multiple aperture settings. Almost all good compact digital cameras and SLR lenses have multiple aperture settings. In the days before digital, you turned a ring on the lens to change the aperture setting. Now most cameras have a button or thumbwheel you can use to change aperture settings (usually the camera has to be in Manual, or "A"-Aperture Priority Mode to make these changes).

Here is a picture showing the size of some common lens apertures:

!!!!!Yes, you are correct if you noticed SMALLER f/ NUMBERS MEAN LARGER APERTURE OPENINGS!!!!

So we call f/1.4 a LARGE APERTURE, and f/8 is a SMALL APERTURE! There are also f/11 and f/16 (very very small) apertures. It is cusomary to label a lens with the largest aperture opening the lens is capable of (remember that means the smallest f/ number). For example if your camera or lens says 55mm f/2.8, then it is a 55mm focal length lens (we talked about focal length in Tip 4) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8.

If you have a zoom lens, it will probably have two aperture numbers listed. This is because as the lens becomes longer, it restricts the maximum aperture the lens can have. For example, my Nikon 18-55mm lens has the following written around the front of the lens:

AF-S DX NIKKOR ED 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6

This means the lens is a 18-55mm focal length zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 when the lens is at 18mm and a maximum aperture of f/5.6 when at 55mm. As a rule of thumb, if you want your lens to have a wider maximum aperture opening, be prepared to pay a lot more!!

Ok Joseph, But What Does This Mean to Me?

1. Shutter Speed:

Large apertures require less exposure time to get your picture. If you are shooting moving objects, then you need faster shutter speed to capture the image without blurring. Smaller apertures, because the let less light through, require longer exposures and slower shutter speeds. Now, for real estate photography, houses and furniture are not known for moving very fast, so you rarely have to worry about motion blur. BUT REMEMBER THAT AT SHUTTER SPEEDS UNDER ABOUT 1/60TH OF A SECOND YOU MAY ENCOUNTER CAMERA SHAKE IAND BLUR IF YOU ARE NOT USING A TRIPOD.

The exact shutter speed where camera shake depends on how steady your hands are and what focal length the lens is at. Telephoto lenses require faster shutter speeds to avoid camera shake and wider angle lenses can handle slower shutter speeds.

2. Depth of Field:

Depth of field is the name for the distance range area of your picture that will be in focus. This is directly related to the aperture setting. Large apertures, although they are great for letting a lot of light into the camera so you can use a faster shutter speed (good for low light shots) HAVE NARROW DEPTH OF FIELD.

This means that only a small range in front or behind the object you are focused on will be in focus. Any objects outside the depth of field will be blurry.

Smaller aperture settings, though they require longer exposures and thus slower shutter speeds, HAVE A WIDE DEPTH OF FIELD. This means much more of the picture will be in focus, even if you didn't exactly focus on the object you wanted.

It is easier to show all of this with a few pictures. I have called in a few members of my home office team to assist....

Here is the Home Office Team shot at 18mm f/11. The camera was focused on Tigger. No flash was used and the exposure time was...30 seconds! Yes, I used a tripod. Notice at f/11 how pretty much everything from Mickey to the chair is pretty much in focus. That is the depth of field.

Again I left the lens at 18mm but used a flash, which sets the shutter speed at 1/60th of a second. The aperture was set at f/3.5. I focused again on Mickey's face. Notice at f/3.5 how now Tigger is no longer in focus, even though he is only 18 inches behind Mickey. This is a narrow depth of field.

Now I zoom to 55mm, set the lens aperture to f11, which results in a 9 second exposure (tripod in use). The camera was focused on Ninja Sock Monkey. Notice how the depth of field changes as you change the focal length. Mickey is out of focus, Tigger is 3/4 in focus, and Sock Monkey is completely in focus. The area behind Sock Monkey gradually loses focus as you move back.

So hopefully you now have a better grasp of what is meant by lens aperture and depth of field. In the next Tip we will leave the technical areas of your camera and talk about:

UNDERSTANDING LIGHT: WHAT YOU THINK YOU SEE IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

I will leave you with a few pictures to show how depth of field can be used in your photography:

You can also check out my personal Photoblog of McKinney-

McKinney, Texas: Sunrise, Sunset, Dusk, and Dawn

The city of McKinney has adopted "Unique by Nature" as its marketing slogan. More than a slogan this is a true expression of McKinney's place in Collin County and North Texas. The town has a distinct position as the county seat for Collin County. Its long standing position as a hub of economic activity in the area gives it the distinction of having a significant collection of historic homes, suburban subdivisions built by large builders, planned developments and several unique communities. Some emulate the historic areas of North Texas in design and appearance and there is even one development that is modeled after a quaint Eastern European fishing village. There are neighborhoods that appeal to a wide variety of tastes in housing and neighborhood styles.