By Jon Miller, Realtor®

Photo shoots for new listings are one of the things about my work that I love. There’s a lot of work that goes into getting a home ready to list and the photo shoot is one of the last things to do before a home goes on the market. It’s a pretty exciting point in the process, it’s kind of like when the curtain is about to go up and the show’s about to start. 

This morning I got to the house early, before my photographer, Rachael Balascak, arrived. I always do this because there’s always some last minute items to take care of. In an occupied home that often means moving trash cans from view, getting things off of kitchen counters, straightening blinds, and putting toilet seats down. In this case, the house is vacant but there was still work to be done like moving the handyman’s tools and paint out of the way, moving an exterior hose out of view of the shots, and taking down some curtains that were blocking some natural light from coming through. These are seemingly small things but I don’t want anything in the picture to be distracting.

The photos will be the first impression for just about everyone so they have to be perfect. That means working with a professional photographer, too. My photographer does amazing work, far better than I could ever do with my smartphone. Even if I had the equipment I still couldn’t take great photos. On our typical photo shoot we’ll start with a walk through the house and we’ll talk about any specific shots that we may have in mind. Usually that means a potentially interesting angle or some features of the house that I want to be sure are highlighted. Once she starts taking shots I’ll go along with her and make sure that everything in the shot looks good (ie, cables are hidden, blinds are straight, bedding is flat).

It’s a bit time consuming to hire a photographer and be there during a shoot, but the results are well worth the effort and it’s definitely a fun part of my work.