Yes, that's me in the chicken outfit. While in college studying computer programming some of my first jobs were working at fast foot restaurants and I really tried to have fun. I used to make fried chicken at Hardees and one day I volunteered to dress up as a chicken and strut along the road. I really clucked it up, strutting myself back and forth on a very hot day and had a great time helping market the restaurant's product.

Even though I don't wear a chicken costume when I photograph a house, I try to make things enjoyable. I'm a photographic artist which means every picture I come up with is unique to me. No one else it going to compose or edit the shot the same. I also understand certain things impact my work so I have tailored this job to give my clients the best photos based on my individuality.

I enjoy not being rushed so I schedule only 2 homes a day and leave enough time between the houses to photograph what I need without feeling like I need to be in a hurry. I have a good estimate of the amount of time it will take to completely photograph a home where I can focus on the particulars of the home that highlight features. Composition is so important and having to hurry doesn't help me find those compositions.

I also like to leave time to straighten things up, if needed. I have also found that there is a point when things are really not ready and I can spend way too much time straightening than photographing. There has to be a balance. At one house I photographed I helped a homeowner clean off her ceiling fan. That didn't take long at all. She was very appreciative of this and it helped make the photo great. I enjoy working with people and can leave a home feeling like I did something good to help a homeowner out. It's the little things that count that aren't even noticeable in the photos I take.

Why I enjoy real estate photography...I am helping businesses and individuals in so many ways. Time is important when it comes to real estate. Every day on the market matters and the less time a house is on the market the faster money between parties exchanges hands. A realtor has a lot of out of pocket costs when taking on a house. The sooner the closing the date, the better. They get compensated for the time and money they put into marketing a home and the seller gets money for their home. A quick contract also really helps the seller because a weight is somewhat lifted off their shoulder and they don't have to hustle to get their house ready for all the showings. Other entities benefit from the sale of a home; title company, movers, home inspectors, etc. I believe great photos can help bring in more buyers to a listing. More buyers equal the potential for more contracts, which means a quicker closing for all parties. In so many ways what I do helps move money around. One photo of a home can catch someone's eye and it can result in a financial transaction.

For details about my photos... I use many different techniques to produce the house photos I create. For interiors I use an flash/ambient blend. This involves taking one or more photos without the flash then one or several with a flash and I blend them all together in Photoshop with final edits after that. It takes some time, but I love the results so it's worth the extra time. This method of photographing homes takes a while so a typical 1500 sq ft 3 bedroom/2 bath home may take an hour to photograph. For exterior photos I currently use HDR processing, which involves taking multiple exposures and allowing software to put them all together. In the end, I have a fabulous listing. From the smallest to the largest homes I like to make them all look like a million dollars.

I finally got busy enough that I had to make Copyright and Licensing prominent. In a nutshell, if you are using my photos to market your business or service, I need to be compensated for helping you make money. Multiple parties can no longer share images. Each entity has to pay a licensing fee. For landscape photos I have taken I charge $75 and up for any digital image, which is for a limited audience. For real estate photography I know I cannot charge $75 per image so I have come up with a price based on square footage of the house so someone can temporarily use the photos I take. The same process I used to edit my real estate photos go into landscape photos I have been paid $75 and up for, but those landscape photos are for a long term use for a broader audience. If you're making money off my photos, please be willing to compensate me.