Dripping Springs

A double feature this month! I recently had the pleasure of shooting two interesting homes back-to-back in Dripping Springs. Both were fairly large 1-story homes with some unusual features for homes in their price range, but had very different floorplan design philosophies. The first was private and formal, while the second was open and casual.

It's unusual to see barrel ceilings in this price point:
The first house is divided by the entry and formal living, with the entry open only to the formal living (above) and the formal dining (below); the rest of the home was kept fairly private, accessible only by halls on either side.



Of course, potential buyers tend to want to see what the whole front of a house looks like, but sometimes it just isn't practical, so sometimes a real estate photographer has to compromise... The second home is on about 5 acres, with the front elevation blocked by seemingly countless oaks; this made for a mess of a photo, especially for the small images used in listings, so I had to move in for a partial shot, using the walk to guide you to the entry.



A gallery hall passes from the foyer along side the kitchen, with small openings into the kitchen at counter and ceiling heights, on either side of a niche:
A large covered patio... a fire always helps the photo:

Mountain City Secret

Modest in size, but big in luxury, this 2700 square foot home is tucked away in a small community near Buda, Texas. Some of the features and details in this house are high-end, such as transom openings above interior doors, limestone trim throughout (yes, all the white trim is actually machined limestone, not cast faux stone), stained concrete floors and lighting galore.

As with most properties, this home presented some challenges for a real estate photographer. The house was rented and vacated about a day proir to the shoot, and while the carpet was new and the interior paint fresh, the windows were still dirty and a fresh coat of wax on the concrete floors was highly reflective. The views out the windows were of no significance, so I exposed them to bright to to hide the dirty film. The rooms with reflective floors were saved until the sun dropped low enough that it didn't shine directly into the windows.