Some thoughts about shooting rental property interiors.

[katiebythesea]

I agree I am always honest about the location of the villas, if someone enquires asking if they are secluded I say they are not and say in the description that they are on the edge of a village.
They will suit some people but not others which is true of everywhere

Good to know it is not that obvious Marks

[Wendy@NorthIdaho]

I like it, it looks like yours overlooks the others but lets them know that there are neighbors. I get asked how close the neighbors are and I tell them, they are close! but we have our own yard, dock, etc.. and it seems to reassure people that I'm being up front with them...

Love your photos, great job Jimbo, beautiful place Katie.

Wendy

[Hells Bells]

Agreed Katie, I would hate to be so secluded that I didn't have a restaurant to walk to or a bakery for the croissants in the morning, but others like to be out in the wilds. We have a quiet location (despite there being 30 other apartments and several chalets nearby, but within walking distance of shops, restaurants, and quickest of all, the ski lifts/

[la vache!]

I'd rather be within walking distance of a boulangerie than 5 mins drive away. I think it is a plus.

[Giddy Goat]

Depends! There are compromises to be made for both types of property: those in villages vs those a 5 minute drive away from commerce. I'd be perfectly happy in either: it would depend on what type of holiday I felt like having that year though.

[la vache!]

Maybe my initial enthusiasm for living in the French countryside has diminished with the increase in fuel prices...I know that a 10km round trip to school twice a day is PITA especially when your car breaks down. I'd much rather live nearer a village. But I guess if you are on holiday you aren't concerned by things like that. I know I've lost bookings because I'm not in walking distance of a bar/resto/bakery, although why anyone would want to spend their holidays in grotty French bars with all the alcoholics is beyond me.

[Giddy Goat]

.. and equally, there will be owners with properties in village settings who lose bookings because there is a certain type of holidaymaker who would rather have complete privacy, peace and quiet.

Having a lovely view is important to some too and though that is not impossible in a village setting, it can be more difficult to achieve.

[Jimbo]

... most people would have a vision of a chalet surrounded by meadows with cows wearing cow bells ... there is nothing worse than disappointed guests.

Diane Arbus, the great American portrait photographer, referred to the gap she called ‘between intention and effect’ – how her subjects wanted to present themselves in a certain way, but how they couldn’t help themselves looking another. Her perceptive comment is, I think, true of photographs in general. However hard we try to compose a photograph to make it say something specific, different viewers will read different things into it – as demonstrated by the comments here.

Look at two of Katie’s photographs below. Both were shot from the balcony of her Villa Mimosa gite, a few feet from each other and at different times of day. Both could legimately be described as ‘a view of Mount Carigou from the balcony of Villa Mimosa’. Which (if either) would you use in a publicity context? Or do you think (as I do) that both could be used, but in different contexts, on the site?

When you commission a professional photographer, you can give him or her a specific and detailed shooting brief to concentrate only on particular subject matter. That way, you can avoid coverage of things that you don’t want to use in a publicity context – like (for example) your closeness to other properties. On the other hand, if you’re asking (and paying for) somebody to look at your property with a fresh set of eyes, you risk losing material that you may subsequently decide is important. Not an easy choice for a client.





Jim

[Jimbo]

I'd rather be within walking distance of a boulangerie than 5 mins drive away. I think it is a plus.

We're not overlooked by other properties and have 16 private acres. We gain those visitors who want to slap on their rucksacks or jump on their mountain bikes and disappear into the early mists at 7am. And lose those who want to stroll to the boulangerie.

Jim

[la vache!]

Yes, I think some people want everything! There are compromises to be made and if you want lots of space, a pool and nice views, a handy boulangerie might be more difficult. That's why I provide bikes - the boulangerie is a 15 minute bike ride away via a pleasant disused railway track so a very pleasant way to collect the baguettes and croissants, even if it isn't walkable.

[Giddy Goat]

Sounds lovely LV: I could manage that!

[Beachcondo]

LV, what a great way to start the morning!

[Jimbo]

Photoshop is a wonderful (if expensive) tool for photo editing and can make a vast difference to your results. However, it's a daunting programme because it contains so much that isn't directly related to a photographer's needs.

There has been an excellent series of manuals - Adobe Photoshop for Photographers by Martin Evening – concentrating on photography tools and keeping pace with the various upgrades to the programme but, again, these are expensive (my latest copy cost 30 GBP).

Yesterday, I was searching on AbeBooks (brilliant second hand internet book site) for Christmas presents and saw a load of these Photoshop manuals going for a song. Caution, if you do buy one, make sure that it still contains the excellent tutorial dvd that accompanies the book (I was studying my dvd yesterday to find a way around a scanning problem).

Martin Evening on AbeBooks: http://tinyurl.com/bosoqad

Jim

[paolo]

You can also get to Abe Books through the Lay My Hat affiliate link:

[Jimbo]

Apologies, Paolo. Missed this one. New Year Resolution: must look harder!

Jim