Water cascades over the top of the Evergreen Lake Dam, driven by high winds.
On 06.09.10, In Industrial, Photos, By Chester
Gears to control a spillway or other valve at Evergreen Lake Dam.
As seen through the trees at the base.
On 06.04.10, In Industrial, Photos, By Chester
These steps led from the bottom of the Evergreen Lake Dam to the top.
I do product photography, and I do real estate photography. But when it comes to shooting hotels and resorts, it’s a mix of both.
The manager of the Best Western Denver SW (located in Lakewood, Colorado despite the name), saw my photos recently and liked my work. They are in the middle of a website redesign and needed new photos of the property since they have completed renovations recently. I went down one recent afternoon and took care of the shoot. By the end of the weekend I had presented him with the images I thought were keepers. He was extremely pleased and they should be showing up on the website after the new one is launched. And I’ll be going back for exterior shots once things green up here in Colorado.
Contact me today if you have photographic needs in real estate, products or portraits.
On 12.09.08, In Commentary, By Chester
Do you have a car or other item that is “your baby?” Want to have some tasteful photos made of it, or just need an image for insurance purposes? Contact me today to talk about what it is and how you want it photographed. Even though I am in Lakewood, I can travel throughout the Denver Metro Area to make a timeless image of your prized possession.
And if you are interested, take a look at my Automotive picture gallery.
On 10.22.08, In Commentary, By Chester
Last week I wrote about “Switching From Artist to Photographer”. The article was intended to be answer to a friends question regarding portrait photography and how I can “flip the switch”. This applies equally in real estate photography.
What? Where does real estate fit into this? Simple – this is another area where you have to deliver what the client wants, not your artistic impression of what you saw. This really hit home in a recent Photography For Real Estate entry by Larry Lohrman. The subject of the entry was “How to Survive in a Competitive Environment“. Along with the usual good advice, Larry quoted a comment from a Flickr PFRE group discussion by Fred Light (still haven’t watched his DVD yet). A piece of the quote:
For Realtors, it’s not about ‘the art’, ‘the creativity’, ‘the process’, and you can’t base your pricing on something Realtors don’t care or know about. The only people that care about that are the photographers, OTHER photographers and those who really appreciate photography as ART.
Realtors care about PRICE. Realtors care that the photos look GOOD and look better than what THEY could take. It’s really that simple. As long as a photographer (pro or semi pro or amateur) takes BETTER photos than the Realtor could themselves, they will get hired.
Price discussions notwithstanding, Fred hit it squarely on the head. Photographers really are the only ones who care about the artistic side of an image when it comes to real estate or portraits. The buyer (agent/ family member) who commissions you just does so because they believe you can do a better job than they can, or than other people they know can. It’s that simple. So make sure you give them what they want, charge fairly for it, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
All of life should be this easy, no?
On 10.16.08, In Commentary, By Chester
A friend of mine recently had an impromptu family reunion photo shoot come up. Her background, like mine, is traditionally more of an artistic type of photography. She indicated that she had trouble switching to photographer from artist and wanted to know how I managed it.
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On 08.28.08, In Photos, By Chester
As we were driving into the Bear/ Sprague Lake area on Sunday, we drove alongside Mill Creek and I noticed that it had a significantly-sized channel with a lot of boulders in it. I filed it away in the back of my mind, thinking it warranted more inspection. I think Megan noticed it too.
After we wrapped up with all the shooting at Bear Lake and Sprague Lake, we started to head out of the park. It had rained pretty good, and the roads were pretty wet. As we crossed the bridge over Mill Creek, Megan and I agreed that we should at least check the site out. I was a bit concerned because of how much it had rained. The rocks looked pretty slick. We walked all the way from where we parked down to the bridge (where I took a photo of the underside of the bridge because of George Barr and his book. I still had reservations because of the wetness of the rock, but Megan wanted to do it and was confident she could if she went barefoot.
Throwing caution to the wind, we went out into the boulder field/ creek. I wouldn’t want to try this in May/ June when the runoff is raging through there, but at this time of the year the creek was pretty tame. I found what I thought was a good rock for Megan to pose on. I got a good number of shots of her on that rock. Some laughing, some serious, but all good I think. I decided to “think outside the box” a little and moved her off to one side of the frame. That resulted in the picture above. When she saw it in camera later, she was really excited. Didn’t catch what she thought of it full size on the screen. Guess I’ll have to dig into her myspace page – I am sure it is there if she liked it.
For me though, this image could be used to convey so many thoughts. I could easily see it being some type of album cover (or something along these lines at least), or an advertisement, or just an interpretive piece for the viewer to decide what it means. For some reason this image is very powerful to me. Maybe I am reading more into it since I took the image. Definitely possible. Doesn’t matter though, I really like it.
Big Man
It’s been interesting to see this guy grow up. When I first met Garrett he was 9 years old, sitting in his mother’s garage, trying to put a bike back together. He is 15 now, and will be 16 this spring. He is as tall as me now (6’2″), and a very charismatic person. People enjoy being around him. He is also a naturally gifted athlete that could do well at anything he set his mind too. Currently that is skateboarding. He is a big person, both in height and presence. I think shooting from this perspective (down on the ground) really captured that about him.
What is the point of all this? When you are taking a portrait of someone, you are trying to get the essence of who they are. Garrett, just like other teens these days, spends a lot of time in front of the computer. But his passion has always been outside. Riding a bike, shooting baskets, riding rollerblades and now skateboards. This is who he is. It’s easier for me to interpret this about him, since he is my son (well, step-son). But as a budding portrait photographer (thanks to his sister’s need for senior pictures this year), I want to know these things about my clients so that I can capture who they are. They won’t be the same person in 5 years as they are right now. That’s why I think it is so important to achieve this. And that is probably why I have been moving into the senior picture business so slowly. But I am ready, and have a couple of kids who I will be doing pictures for in the coming months. And of course, I have the big guy lined up for next year (Garrett is currently a sophomore at Lakewood High School here in Colorado).