Midtown Manhattan Balcony from David Paler Photography -

I kind of tiptoe through these places, as if I’m in a cemetery and I don’t want to step on someone’s grave. The place is frequently filled with dusty artifacts of the person’s existence. I find myself observing the person that once was through their stuff. I wonder who the person was who owned that classic mid-20thcentury furniture, and I gaze at the results of a generation of choosing fine art. What once were prized original prints or pieces picked up among travels, or small objets d’art imbued with special meanings to someone gone forever, are now being divvied between the adult children or tagged for auction. Many times those works are by recognized artists– Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Rodin, Giacometti to name a few.

And it’s my responsibility to photograph it, and make it look as good as possible, rich and inviting history notwithstanding. It’s a challenge to transform the old faded and cracked paint jobs, windows that have seen better days, and otherwise dated…well, everything…in a photo that might represent the potential vs. the reality. On occasion we have to work our way around deteriorated conditions, like a bedroom converted to a sickbed, with a stack of oxygen bottles in the corner, or a kitchen with appliances so covered with years of use there is no way to shoot it. I’ve walked into empty, dusty apartments. I also have walked into a museum-quality home and found a magnificent dining room table where heads of state have feasted.

But it’s the bookcases and their contents that usually catch my attention. When you shoot enough apartments both living and dead, you can tell when someone buys books for show and when they actually read them. It’s fascinating to see literally acres of paper, literature they read in university and out, row upon row of history books and biographies, solemn legal or medical tomes utilized for a life’s work, or vast art book collections, many out of print. Generations of books. There were times where I found that the deceased owner was actually the author of several of the books, and I wondered how much knowledge and wisdom was lost.

It is imposing to get a glimpse of someone, a person who knew so, so much, and now is no more. So there is a certain gravitas in the estate, a respect for years of experience, good and bad.

Just like with all other apartments, I only know what it will look like when I walk in the door, but the point is I never know what to expect with estates, so I have to go in looking for unusual angles and subjects. And, whether the place is empty or I have to respectfully get past the last of a life’s stuff, I still must come up with capable shots.

Shooting New York’s Books of the Dead from David Paler Photography -

John S
Kodot Xgrizzled

Citigroup Building from David Paler Photography -

A lot of these signs and words have been completely swallowed up by the city, like driftwood slowly disappears into the sand. I hope to have more for you soon.

Manhattan Water and Electric from David Paler Photography -

We are responsible for great images, yes, but we also wear other hats: we are professional delegates of the agents, as we represent their company; we are also salespeople, because sometimes we gently have to let sellers know why we’re doing a particular type of shot; we’re often referees between the seller and the agent, for we must get them to meet in the middle when they demand different things, and we’re psychiatrists, and have to alleviate the fears of both as well.

Every time you walk in the door, it’s never clear what type of shoot you’re getting into. Ideally, the apartment is cleaned for the shoot, looking clean and starched, ready for its close-up, right? When you enter, the agent and seller are both happy to see you and are willing to do whatever you ask—after all, it’s your shoot, and you’re the boss. They have hired you for your expertise and are only too relieved to relegate what could be very stressful and confusing for them. As a matter of fact, they’ll just be happen to go into the kitchen and talk about the contract and let you do your thing.

In fact I’d love each shoot to be exactly that, but the reality is often far from the ideal.

The owner could be a total slob, or wacky, or angry at everything; he could be sensitive about his valuable stuff getting broken, or very snotty about you using the service entrance; or she could be nervous about strangers in her house and follow you around like you’d steal someone the moment her back is turned; or she could be a tenant and unhappy with the fact that you’re even there because you symbolize the end of her time there; or she could be thinking twice about selling, and subconsciously leaving it unready for a shoot. All of these situations and more I’ve encountered.

The point is that in addition to being prepared for the shoot with your clean sensor, charged batteries and tripod, you need to be mentally prepared to deal with every type of client, be they pleasant or prickly, and handle the situation with the utmost aplomb. In fact, your subtle self-assurance can often turn a possible downward-moving situation for the agent in the opposite direction.

So do yourself a favor, and put on your best game face every time you walk in the door.

Ambassadorial Duties of a Real Estate Photographer from David Paler Photography -

With the advent of the Internet listing as the norm, the photos have taken on a new role. Just a few years ago, 99% of residential real estate was marketed sight unseen, primarily in the classifieds sections of major newspapers. You might be interested in an apartment by its 100 words or less listing: FS: 2br, 2.5ba, gut reno, eik, isle, lg terr, pk vus, sunk lr, all new app, wbf.

Now you can see the entire apartment, in several full color photos, instantaneously. Could you imagine if you were asked today to decide on which apartment you wanted to see by picking through that jargon? You would laugh and say, “Where are the pictures?”

Thus there is a deal of pressure to have good photos. This translates into a great deal of responsibility for the photographer shooting the apartment. On my end, I am often walking into a $2 million, $5 million, or $20 million property, and I have to create the only visual record of it for marketing in a short time period.

With a classified ad, there has traditionally been wiggle room for, er…, shall we say, interpretation—with the photos, there is no margin for error or fudging the details, they must come out and shine.

Consider that when you hire a photographer: you can get decent photos, or you could spend not much more, and get great photos! One thing that ties 9 out of 10 successful agents together is their amazing photography. The return on their investment more than offsets the difference in price.

And it’s not just good agents that demand the high quality. Sellers are acutely aware of how the photographs will help or hurt their chances of a sale. There are a lot of stories where agents have had shots done on the cheap, and then face disappointment from the seller at the lack of quality. When an agent must have that apartment reshot, they end up spending more than what they would if they had brought in a premium shooter first.

How Photography Has Changed Real Estate from David Paler Photography -