Could you spare the time, please.

Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
User avatar
LPC
Posts: 382
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:22 pm
Location: Mayenne, France
Contact:

Post by LPC »

I have come to this topic a little late, and leave the photographic issues and website technicalities to others more experienced in those fields. My impressions of your site are generally favourable and I'm sure you will get some bookings soon, if you have done all your homework about rental listing sites. I wish you well.

As a person who has spent a lot of time restoring properties, could I just ask what on earth went on with the front of the house and the right hand side? Instead of stone, there is a large irregular area of concrete facing (at least, I assume that is what it is). It looks strange in the photos of poor Lily and Poppy. Could you not disguise these ugly concrete areas with some climbing plants or something?

If a house is modern, it tends in France to have facing all over it (usually creamish colour). Older houses are often in stone and tend to be popular with Brits - that is in your favour - but the concrete areas in the stonework of your gites don't look good. I feel rotten writing this! Perhaps I should lie and say that all is beautiful, but you would probably prefer honesty. I would definitely try to cover those non-stone parts with plants.

Once again, I wish you the very best of luck in getting lots of bookings!
http://maison-bourgeoise.co.nf

Dearest Josette, our flock leader and friend, passed to the astral on 27 January, 2015. Roam free, dear one! xxx
User avatar
Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

wallypott wrote: I don't have very pro equipment ...
Maybe not but you have something that's far, far more valuable. A willingness to seek advice, not resent criticism and to act on that advice ASAP (and to thank those who have helped). Which is more than can be said for many who ask for comments in this section.

Looking forward to your new pictures.

Jim
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

LPC I'm afraid your remarks our seriously depressing - it is NOT concrete, it is "chaux". Not only that I dont think I can do anything about it. If I covered it in plants it would a) resemble a jungle, b)be 2220 before they were sufficiently abundant to cover it.

When I saw the first coat I asked for it to be darker and was informed that people prefered the lighter colour. It covers a traditional "torchis" wall which was seriously eroded, it is not stone underneath. I am informed that it will be darken with time. Perhaps I can get them to put on a third coat in a darker shade when they do the two end walls.

The problem is that money is becoming an issue and I already feel that I am throwing money in a hole. I can redo the photos and have bought a better camera, with the widest available width, which should be better particularly for the interior shots. I have bought some big pots now planted with roses and fuscias and hanging plants, but I need to be around and available and organised when the sun is out. Not as easy as it sounds.

I am not aiming for the luxury market, the building is what it is - and the two gites are only 70m2 each. But they are of a far higher standard of comfort, and better equipped than any gite I have stayed in. Clearly I have not stayed anywhere owned by an LMHer, which I am sure would be far superior!

I will show you the photos when I manage to get my act together at some point this weeks.

Jim is there anyway I can make them available to you (and others) to look at? I have a painfully slow upload time at the moment, and don't want to bore people. I could put selection on facebook, but I'm sure there is a better way. I don't have a flicker account or anything similar.

Thanks for your help all of you. Lets hope my learning curve is a steep one.

Wally
Martha
Posts: 2289
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:01 pm
Location: Chamonix

Post by Martha »

I agree in general with the comments here - the site is easy to use and clean, but I think you need more sunshine in the photos - it sounds like you are gearing up for this!

Don't forget to include some close-ups - e.g. I thought Lily would look much better cropped in and with some plants around, so you could appreciate the lovely stonework. I'm not sure you gain all that much from the big expanse of roof - details could be nicer, and perhaps add a floorplan at some point
http://www.floorplanner.com/

I have an automatic watering system for plants and it really is excellent - I think some creepers around the chaux areas would make a big difference to the appearance - they would soften it without covering it - though I imagine it is one of those finishes that looks much better in reality :)

They look like lovely places :) and I'm looking forward to seeing the next pics!
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
la vache!
Posts: 11065
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:22 pm

Post by la vache! »

Polly,
I use http://photobucket.com/ for uploading photos to display on forums etc. Just set up an account and it's very easy.
User avatar
Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

I don't have a flicker account or anything similar.

But easy enough to get one, Flickr (and similar photo display sites) are free and an excellent way of temporarily displaying pictures - and your images don't need to be high resolution if you're having upload problems.
money is becoming an issue ...
Money is always an issue with any rental property. There's what you like to spend to make your property perfect and what you're prepared to spend that will offer you a promise of a profitable return on your investment.

Jim
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

Jim seriously it wasn't meant to be resentment, it was actually a compliment.

The only gites I have stayed in have been through gites de France and were owned by French families. While they were always clean, and often beautiful, they lacked a lot of the touches that I now associate with you guys. No supplies, no info about the shops all being shut (Alsace has slightly odd opening days and hours) no extra info at all. No book.

When staying in a vineyard owners gite, no complimentary bottle of wine was offered. That annoyed us so much we ordered 500€ from a competitor in the village. Who now is such good owner that he delivers me my years supply of white wine when he comes to Normandy once a year - transport free. And the wine is organic so I really couldn't ask for more.

I was reading the thread about common sense last night - about the little things counting and its true. That is what I meant about my remark about LMHers. That you seem to go the extra km.

I hope I have put your mind to rest about my remarks. I really am grateful for all the feedback.

Wally
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

I have been shopping again - and hopefully bought enough of the bits and bobs to make it look less bare, and some more pictures. Currently no sun and I have left my camera lead at the beach house so I wouldn't be able to upload the pictures anyway. But little by little I am getting closer. Fingers crossed anyway. So, if anyone has any more tips before I do my interiors again please let me have them soonish.

I have been working on the floor plan and am getting there very slowly. I find it very laborious - particularly as I don't seem to be able to sort out my wall sizes in a very intelligent fashion. But I do think it is a good thing to include because the houses will then make more sense hopefully.

Thanks all.

Wally
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

Hi,

I have tried to be only slightly boring, but here are 21 photos, please could you help me choose the best. I tried really, really hard and I am not sure that I can do any better. Jimbo, should I do somthing to them?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/51019533@N ... 246688648/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51019533@N ... 246640528/

These are just the interiors. And I have numbered them 1 - 21.

I really can't thank you all enough for you time and opinions.

I went live on HomeAway on Monday and I've had loads of enquiries - maybe even a booking. So exciting!

Wally
User avatar
Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

Albert Einstein said:
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
The good news is that nothing you photograph of your rental property will be more difficult than interiors - particularly where rooms are of a modest size. Exteriors, pools, guests having fun, local attractions and all the rest will be a walk in the park after battling with interiors. But Wally - you have tried very hard and you can do better. Pro photographers who specialise in room interiors invest years and years of painstaking experimentation to learn their trade; nobody's going to get it all in one hit. And you will learn as much (if not more) from your failed shots as your successes - but only if you're prepared to analyse each image carefully and dispassionately.

Will add more thoughts when I've had time to look carefully at the shots.

Jim
Hells Bells
Posts: 13173
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:42 am
Location: French Alps
Contact:

Post by Hells Bells »

There's some good photos on there, and with a bit of playing, you can make them better. For example, your first shot of the fireplace and window. I've downloaded it to my PC, and used Picasa to lighten it a bit and used the straightening tool. Took a couple of seconds, and I'm sure you could do a better job of it.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/ ... E5R5SbRqEg

I did try to post the photo but it didn't work.
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

Thanks Helen

You're right. I've had a bit of a fiddle in iphoto and I can see what an improvement that can make.

I will fiddle again and you can tell me what you think, if you have the time.

Have a good weekend. I'm off to the beach. The last weekend before the building work begins Monday.

Thanks again

Polly
User avatar
Jimbo
Posts: 3582
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:41 am
Location: Charente Maritime

Post by Jimbo »

Wally, you had a good trawl of the various picture possibilities in your gites and it was time well spent. Some tighter shots (like 9 and 11) don’t work and should be discarded (but see note below), a couple (4 + 17) let the flowers dominate too much. Others, like 20, 19 and unnumbered 'Poppy Sitting Room', show a methodical approach to examining the various positions available for your Poppy sitting area and are more successful. Consider this image:

Image

Image

I've straightened the shot, desaturated the red, smoothed out the ugly wall shadows, darkened the foreground and lightened the kitchen interior (room lights on - particularly in the kitchen would have helped). So close but still no cigar. Why? Because two 'blank' objects dominate the picture - the settee and the wooden table - the wide angle lens exaggerates their importance. Solution - cover them tastefully with objects - magazines, flowers, cushions, throws, whatever to lessen their impact. And, if you can move back a little to reduce the foreground distortion, it would help. What I hope is coming across is that - as always - the devil is in the details.

Don't despair if some rooms are small and it's impossible to shoot a workable overview. I've always admired Mouse's cool and elegant image cameos of her property which show clearly that less can be more and that imagination is more important than equipment.
http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/balearics/b965.htm

Jim
User avatar
wallypott
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

Post by wallypott »

Thanks ;imbo. I feel like I might be able to get closer. Not sure about how to do different parts of the photo - in terms of shadow and saturationn but - will work on it.

Wally
User avatar
Mouse
Posts: 7277
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:47 pm
Location: Balearics
Contact:

Post by Mouse »

Thanks from me too Jimbo...your generous comment has me floating off on a high to do my 1st changeover.

Mousie
x
One martini, two martini, three martini floor!
Post Reply