We are headed to PMRE!!!

The staff of D R Brown Photography, LLC (Doug and Debbie) is headed to Las Vegas to attend next week’s photography conference.  This is the biggest conference for photographers who specialize in photographing interiors and exteriors.  Many of the biggest names in the industry will be attending.

Natalia Robert – A San Diego expert on working with Interior Designers

Wayne Capili – A Monterrey based photographer who was trained by Ansil Adams.  He is one of the most technical photography trainers I have ever worked with.

Brian Berkowitz and Rich Baum – hosts of the Shooting Spaces Podcast.  I have learned more from them than anyone else in the industry.

Tony Colangelo – Our coach from Vancouver Canada.  He is the leading expert on composition.

Others – Jordan Powers, Steve Magner, Fraser Almeida, Arturo + Lauren, etc.

Debbie will be taking the two-day Luxury Real Estate photography class before the conference.  It is being taught by Tony, Wayne, and Fraser.  I am going to start out with Rich Baum’s real estate photography class and finish with Steve and Jordan’s “Storytelling with High-End Real Estate Video” workshop.

The learning opportunities will be fantastic.  The networking will be invaluable for future learning.

We can’t wait.

Drone photography and video is now available from D R Brown Photography!!!

D R Brown photography is now available for Drone photos and videos.  I just passed my 107 test and should be getting my credentials in the near future.  I have been using my drone recreationally for some time now.  But now I can use it to shoot architecture, construction, Airbnb, VRBO, luxury real estate, commercial, etc.  This often provides a unique view of the buildings design. Contact us at 231.838.4868 to set up an appointment.

D R Brown Photography is open full time!

We are now open to take photos any time you want.

My change of career is complete.  I am fully retired from my previous president’s position at Inductoheat as of the first week in 2022.  Now we really get cooking on interior design and architectural photography.

Call me at 231.838.4868 or through my web site - https://www.drbrown.photography/contact to set up a photo shoot.  I am very excited to become part of the Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Boyne City, etc. business community.  I jointed the Harbor Springs and Petoskey Chamber of Commerces.  This has already provided me with several contacts for new business.

You may have also noted via the web site that my wife, Debbie has joined the company as Art Director.  She has actually been acting in this capacity since the beginning.  She is currently an engineering manager at GM.  While studying for her engineering degree, she managed to also get a minor in art at the University of Pittsburgh.  I know the technology to take the photos and edit them to get good compositions.  She has the eye to make them perfect.

We are looking forward to working with you to create photos that Capture Your Vision.  We want to help you get that next big project!

Coaching Really Helps!

Charlie Borland is helping me grow

Charlie’s course on Real Estate and Architectural photography was the first course that I took to learn this type of photography.  I decided to keep on with him and hire him as a coach.  This has worked extremely well with my continued improvement.

At first, he talked me out of using HDR all of the time.  Then we spent a lot of time on composition.

Yesterday, I sent him the photo of the great room with the Lake Michigan view.  His first words were that ‘I had made a huge jump in the quality of my photos’.  I was really hoping he would say that because I thought it was better than my previous work.

He did suggest some edits that could make it a little bit better.  He stated that I had obviously spent a lot of time on it and that it was more of a photo for architects or designers.  He gave me many suggestions to get a similar but faster result for real estate photography.

I am going to continue working with Charlie so that I can continue to get better!

Critiqued by some of the best – Wayne Capilli and Tony Colangelo!!!

D R Brown Photography’s photos made it to the big time!

The guys, Brian and Rich, of the Shooting Spaces podcast, held a webinar last night to critique photos sent in by attendees.  I sent in three photos, two of which were critiqued.  That was pretty cool because they only critiqued about 20 to 25 of the 130 photos that were entered.

The first one they critiqued was the twilight photo of the house from the Traverse Magazine’s February article.  They thought I could have done better with the lights in the windows, and they did not like the big stars that I put on the outdoor lights.  But they loved how I lit up the bushes in the front.  And the highlight of the evening for me, the king of composition, Tony Colangelo, said my composition was great.  He liked the balance of the driveway with the sky.  And he liked how I framed the house with the trees.  I sort of got happy chills when he said that.

They weren’t so kind critiquing the second one (near the end of the show).  This was of the Rochester, Michigan condo TV room.  I actually did not intend to shoot this as a single point perspective, but it was so close to being one, I should have done it that way.  Since my single point was not centered, the horizontal lines were not lined up properly.  I can see how this would have been a better photo if I would have done it that way.  Plus, I keep getting hit on showing too much in my photos.  You can cut out pieces of furniture at the edges of the photo and just show enough so it is implied that it is there.

Got to keep on learning!

My third photo was of the kitchen in the Rochester, Michigan condo.  I like to think that it was too good for critiquing.  Got to have a dream!

Published on MyNorth.Com Website!!!

D R Brown Photography’s photos make it to the internet.

My photos of the Jewel Box house in Harbor Springs just got posted to the MyNorth.com web site – “Tokyo Meets Harbor Springs in This Jewel Box Home”.  Taking these photos with Dave and Carolyn Kimble, the architect and designer of the house, was a fantastic experience.

The builders were Gregg Garn and Joe Lucier of Waterfront Properties in Alanson.  The fine, detailed woodwork that they did throughout the house was gorgeous.

The plumbing and heating was done by Ballard’s Plumbing and Heating.  The electric was completed by Dale Mazzoline & Solution’s Electric.  The steel stairway was produced by Jacklin Steel Supply Company.

Check it out!

Warm versus Detailed Photos for Interiors

Pick the look that best matches your brand!

Every decorator, architect, builder, real estate agent has his or her own style that they like for selling their services.  It is important that the photographer you work with can provide what you are looking for.

Before we do our first shoot together, I like to discuss what my clients are looking for.  It is important that I am able to provide photos that match the brand that they are looking for.

By using various photographing techniques – ambient shots, lighting techniques, etc. the photos can be produced to project this image.  While it is always better to try to get the desired photo exposure in camera, various editing software can be used to produce more complicated looks – Photoshop, Lightroom, ON1, Luminar, the Topaz series, etc.

D R Brown Photography can team up with you to produce the photos that will help you get the next order!

Best Architectural and Real Estate Podcast (in my opinion) out there - Shooting Spaces

Rich Baum and Brian Berkowitz are Great!

Shooting Spaces is by far the most helpful podcast I have ever experienced.  Rich Baum and Brian Berkowitz put out a new podcast almost every week.  They get me excited about the business of real estate and architectural photography every time I listen to them.  Luckily, I have about two years of podcasts that I can go back and listen to.

I especially like the business topics.  For someone starting out, they remind you that you need to get insurance, an accountant, a lawyer, a marketing plan, a web site, a blog, and on and on.

Rich and Brian are about as different as you can be.  Rich is from California and worked in the movie industry for 30 years.  Brian is from New York (Long Island) and has always been involved with photography in some way (starting out as an editor).  Rich does mostly real estate photos along with weddings and sports shooting.  Brian has moved on to commercial photography (Rolex, Gucci, etc.).  These two widely different viewpoints provide a wide spectrum of thoughts about the different topics.

They have pointed me in the direction of some magnificent training.  I had actually found Charlie Borland before I discovered Shooting Spaces.  I was surprised to find out later that Rich Baum did the intro to Charlie’s real estate and architecture class.  They put me on to Tony Colangelo’s composition course.

And of course, I have to mention the Bogen 3046 heavy duty tripods that I purchased from Ebay due to the recommendation of Rich Baum’s YouTube training videos.  I was able to get two really clean ones and they work fantastic.  I am presently learning some Lightroom techniques from Rich and Brian’s webinars.

If you are into real estate and/or architectural photography, I strongly recommend that you listen to the Shooting Spaces podcast.  I listen to it on the Apple podcast app.  It is also available on shootingspacespodcast.net and YouTube.

Learning Architectural and Real Estate Photography

Charlie Borland and Udemy are Great!

When everyone agreed to give me a shot at taking the photos for the potential magazine article, I knew I had to quickly learn something about taking photos of houses and buildings.  I found “Mastering Architectural and Real Estate Photography” by Charlie Borland on Udemy.  They were actually having a sale on this class at the time, so I went for it.  I learned huge amounts from this class.  I learned lighting, camera set up, perspective, “lighting for the inside while exposing for the outside”, and on and on.  I strongly recommend anyone getting started in shooting houses take this class.

Architectural Photos Published in Traverse Magazine February 2021 Issue!!!

Not bad for my first shoot ever!

My wife, Debbie, our architect and designer, Dave and Caroline Kimble (Kimble & Kimble) had been working with Traverse Magazine for several years trying to get our Northern Michigan home published in the magazine.  Several times it seemed like it was a go only to have the magazine back off.  Finally, in October of 2019, they got serious again.  Communication was going back and forth.  We kept waiting to hear when the magazine would send the photographer out.  Then, Covid hit.  The magazine announced that they did not send photographers out anymore.  That they would have to hire their own.

They all knew that I was very heavy into photography.  So, when I asked if they would give me a chance to take the photos, they all agreed.

Although I have been taking photos seriously for many years, I knew architectural photography was a somewhat different animal.  I decided to take a course in Architectural and Real Estate photography.  After a brief Google search, I found “Mastering Architecture and Real Estate Photography” by Charlie Borland (Charlie Borland Photography in Bend, Oregon – BorlandPhoto.com) on the Udemy web site (Udemy.com).  His course taught exactly what I needed.  How to handle windows, filling the room with light, staging a room, twilight photography, best views of the exterior, and on and on.  It is a great course and I learned a lot.

Charlie also taught about the equipment that should be used in shooting houses.  Luckily, my local photography instructor, Robert DiTommaso (Robert DiTommaso Photography - GetShotByBob.com), announced he was having a sale on photography equipment.  I ended up getting a set of flash units from him with light boxes, reflective umbrellas, shoot though umbrellas, a trigger, etc.

Once I thought I was ready we decided to go ahead with the shoot.  Debbie and Caroline worked together to do the staging.  After a little bit of trial and error with the flashes, I started to get shots I liked.  Using Charlie Borland’s techniques, I was able to get really pretty fall colors in the windows.

To make a long story shorter, we sent the photos in to the magazine and they liked them!!!