Real Estate Photography
I've received a lot of questions on what I do to make listings look good. The real estate sales process almost always begins with buyers browsing online, so good photographs are essential to making a good first impression on potential buyers. If you are a real estate professional or a freelance photographer looking to photograph real estate, I hope you will find this article helpful.
Oltrarno Thoughts
This image is of the Oltrarno ("Beyond the Arno") district in Florence, Italy. This district, the original seat of the Medici, glows like a dream every day at sunset. I took this image on my first trip overseas, when it was just me and my camera in Italy for three weeks. Everything was different then. I was trying to figure out what I wanted my life to be and to represent. I've grown attached to this image and use it on my business card because of what it means to me. To me, it sums up ideals of culture, beauty and discovery--things that excite me a great deal and that I want to promote in my work.
Now, years later, I'm facing a new crossroads in my life and looking at new decisions that I need to make in my career as an image maker and storyteller.
People have said to me recently "I wasn't sure if you were still taking photos."
Oh yes, I most certainly am.
And as this year draws to a close, I am looking ahead to the next one with plans to shoot more, see more and share more amazing stories and images than ever.
I invite you to join me for the ride, because 2015 is going to be glorious.
All the best,
Steven
Ben's Epic Drum Shoot - Pensacola Senior Photographer
Not too long ago, Ben was seven years old. I remember it. Now, he's a graduate, he's taller than me, and he looks better in a suit than I ever have. He also plays drums like a rockstar, and we shot him as such for his graduation portraits. We took his drum set out to Fort Pickens on Pensacola Beach and captured some killer images.
Candid Kids Portraits - Pensacola Beach Photographer
Living as close as I do to Pensacola Beach, truthfully advertised as the World's Whitest Beach, most of my family photo sessions every summer come from vacationing families who want beach portraits while they're in town. This family won my heart because they asked for something different than the usual postcard photos in front of the Gulf of Mexico. They preferred candid, B&W shots of the kids just being themselves, and I am pleased with the results. There is a time and a place for traditional, posed family shots. You should get one or two of them. Too often though, parents become near-obsessed with making sure that the kids are smiling, sitting still and looking up for the entire session. While well intentioned, focusing too much on perfect smiles tends to wear kids out sooner than if you back off a little bit and give the child and the photographer a chance to establish some rapport. A good family photographer will be good with kids, and the results will be better smiles, real laughter and a very true and beautiful capture of your kids in the final photos.
Jimmy and Arien - Pensacola Beach Wedding Photography
Much of my work every year comes from vacationers and out of town families who visit the sugar-white sands of Pensacola Beach every year. Having grown up swimming and diving around Pensacola Beach, I don't usually think of my old stomping grounds as a destination for weddings, but it is. And a beautiful one.
Jimmy and Arien found this website and contacted me to cover their intimate family wedding at a vacation home on the beach. It was a great day, with a ceremony involving both Jimmy and Arien's respective children, with a beautiful sunset to cap of the day.