Real Estate Archives • Valerie Ryan Digital Creative

Rental Cabin in Blue Ridge, GA

July 30, 2019 HDR, Photography, Real Estate 0 Comments

I’m always eager to photograph something new or different, so when the owner of a vacation rental cabin contacted me a couple of months ago I was grateful for the brief change of pace and scenery. I drove up to Blue Ridge, GA in early June and followed the winding roads until I arrived at the cabin on Fighting Town Creek. The cabin owner showed me around, pointed out the amenities and then I got to work.

The city of Blue Ridge is about a 10.5 mile drive from the Georgia/Tennessee state line along Highway 5. It’s a popular destination year-round, but especially in the fall, for shopping, dining and nearby vineyards, breweries and orchards. You can even go for a ride on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway!

Okay, on to the cabin photos…

Kitchen and dining area.

Dining area with living room and fireplace beyond.

Living room, fireplace and access to downstairs bathroom and den/sitting room/TV room.

Living room with access to upstairs.

The view down to the living room and front door.

Loft area.

Loft and upstairs bathroom.

Main bathroom upstairs.

Upstairs bedroom.

Downstairs bedroom.

Den/sitting room/TV room.

Rear exterior and fire pit.

Sitting area and fire pit along Fighting Town Creek.

Deck overlooking Fighting Town Creek

Front porch and yard.

Front exterior.

The cabin owner asked for a distant shot that showed the cabin in its surroundings.

Classy Bathrooms & Editing Out Reflections

June 17, 2019 HDR, Interior Design, Photography, Real Estate 0 Comments

I photographed these lovely, clean, classy bathrooms a few months ago. I love photographing uncluttered spaces – I feel like some of the work has already been done simply because the spaces are so tidy, light and breathable. It can be a lot of fun to photograph colorful rooms, but white and grey are by far the easiest colors to photograph and edit. I did some compositing to remove unwanted reflections. Check out the sliders below to see the images that I blended together.

This photo is actually a composite of two separate images. I didn’t want the reflection of the wall sconces to show up in the shower stall glass, so I photographed the room twice, once with all of the lights on and once with just the light on above the shower. I processed both images separately and then layered them together in Photoshop and masked the shower stall from the image with just the shower stall light on into the image where all of the lights had been on.

In image 1 you can see the reflections in the glass/tiles that I wanted to remove. In image 2 you can see the what the bathroom looked like with just the shower stall light on. These are the two images that I blended together. I had to make some additional edits around the edges of the shower stall and to the overall color and exposure, but mostly it wasn’t a difficult edit. I love making edits like this because it gives me something to actually figure out, there’s a little bit of a puzzle. It’s a nice change from basic editing.

Powder Room photo, vertical, charcoal grey and white, clean classic

The downstairs powder room.

Three Side-by-Side-by-Side Photos showing a jack-and-jill bathroom

Three separate spaces that make up the jack-and-jill bathroom.

More glass around the shower = more unwanted reflections! I used the same masking technique for this image as I did for the first photo. See below for the two images that I combined.

Master Bathroom without Sconce Reflection

In image 1 you can see the reflection of the wall sconce in the shower glass. In image 2 I turned the wall sconce off. I could have just used that image as the final image, but if you go back to image 1 you can see that the light from the wall sconce fills in the corner above the shower and I wanted to keep that light. It also adds a little light to the rest of the bathroom. This wasn’t a major edit, but I was happy to remove the reflection.

A different angle, same edit.

Light Grey Master Bathroom, Reverse View

Looking back out of the master bathroom, towards the hallway.

The hallway outside of the master bathroom, leading to the studio space.

Photographing an Animal Hospital!

April 2, 2019 HDR, Photography, Real Estate 0 Comments

Back in September I jumped at the opportunity to photograph a new animal hospital that was opening near Dawsonville, GA. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again – variety is really important to me. I’m always eager to photograph different kinds of properties. When I first started doing real estate and architectural photography I mostly photographed apartment complexes and MLS listings. It didn’t take long for me to start feeling a little restless and bored. Since then I have photographed quite a variety of different buildings and spaces and I am always open to the opportunity to add to that list!

Reception desk/lobby.

Exam room.

Pharmacy!

Procedure area.

X-rays

Kennels and doggie bath tub.

Close-up of the kennels (with a couple of friends inside waiting to go home).

Exterior

Close-up of the exterior with custom sign and new landscaping.

Exterior and sign.

Replacing Gloomy, Tropical Skies

January 16, 2019 HDR, Photography, Real Estate, Sky 0 Comments

It’s a new year and and a new opportunity to maybe stay more on top of making regular posts?? Hahah – we’ll see about that! Happy New Year!

My first post of 2019 is actually a group of photos that I took last May. I photographed a property in McDonough, GA on a day when the weather ended up being cloudy during the day and gloomy and drizzly at sunset. Although the client didn’t make the request, I decided to do sky replacements for all of the outdoor shots; it seemed like the only option! I had to cover my camera in a large plastic bag (with custom-cut holes) and stand out in the drizzle for almost 30 minutes to get the twilight shots (I know, poor little me). The ten photos below are some of the final photos that I submitted. The client was very happy (and therefore, so was I). Just click and drag the slider on each image to see the before and after for each image…

I don’t have an extensive library of blue sky/puffy cloud photos, so I only used three or four different skies for the first seven photos. I’m surrounded by trees where I live and it’s not easy to get photos with lots of sky and minimal clutter. Some of these skies are from vacation photos and one was taken from a big-box store parking lot.

Not only did I have to replace the sky, I had to Photoshop three of the lamp posts back on and add reflections on the water. The lights and reflections were an important part of the ambiance that had to be corrected.

The replacement sky that I used is from a photo that I took with my (now old) Samsung S6.

Photographing Architectural Wall Panels

July 28, 2018 HDR, Photography, Real Estate 0 Comments

All the way back in February of this year, when it was cool and lovely enough outside to wear jeans and a cardigan and not sweat through everything I was wearing in a matter of seconds, I got in my car and drove three and a half hours to Hunstville, AL to photograph a Planet Fitness (for a client, not just for fun).

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Expansive Woodstock Property

January 31, 2018 HDR, Real Estate 0 Comments

I got the chance to photograph this amazing, sprawling property in Woodstock, GA last August. It is situated just outside of Roswell (the eastern property line is the Fulton / Cobb County border) on 12 acres and it was a treat to get to photograph it.

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Elegant & Updated Home in Roswell, GA

November 2, 2017 HDR, Real Estate 0 Comments

I photographed this Roswell, GA home that overlooks the Chattahoochee River back in March. You can easily see the river from the window over the kitchen sink, the sun room and the deck (as well as other rooms not pictured here). The house was completely updated and most of the finishes were neutral, with a few exceptions, which are usually a bit easier to photograph and edit than very colorful rooms.

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Photographing Properties in Texas!

March 31, 2017 HDR, Real Estate 0 Comments

(Commercial Real Estate Photography) – This past November I traveled to Texas to photograph 20 properties for a client. I drove about 1100 miles in two and a half days driving from Houston to Dallas to San Antonio and back to Houston. The days were long and I slept like a log when I got home, but I actually enjoy doing this kind of work.

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Gwinnett Medical Building

March 14, 2017 HDR, Photography, Real Estate 0 Comments

(Medical Facility Photography) – This property was a lot of fun to photograph, especially the lobby and reception areas. Like all of the other medical properties that I have photographed I had to move a bit more quickly in some areas than I would have liked to, but getting in the way of any patients or staff is definitely not an option!

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Catching Up!

March 7, 2017 Real Estate 0 Comments

Somehow it’s already early March, although if you look at just about any garden in the area you would think it’s early April! What happened to January and February? They used to be the slow months when it felt like time slowed down just a little after the holidays. Maybe the warm weather this year made time feel like it was passing more quickly…which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year!

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Photographing Medical Facilities – Part II

September 26, 2016 HDR, Real Estate 0 Comments

And here is the “Part II” post! I got to do some slightly more architectural photography at these properties, which I really enjoyed. Here is “Part I” in case you missed it.

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Photographing Medical Facilities – Part I

September 26, 2016 HDR, Real Estate 1 Comment

Back in late spring a client asked me to photograph several medical facilities in Stockbridge, Snellville and Augusta, GA. I photographed everything from lobbies to waiting rooms, exam rooms, dental exam areas and the above Cyberknife in Augusta. I had to arrive pretty early in the morning to photograph areas where patients are usually treated. Shooting quickly was a must and I didn’t have time to tidy some of the spaces that I was photographing.

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