I had four real estate shoots yesterday and all the properties were inhabited by tenants who just didn’t want me to be there. Some were still in bed at 10am. Some didn’t clear away their mess. One woman was downright rude. She later apologized. Nobody is happy that they have to move against their will.

What’s a photo gal to do when she doesn’t have much to work with? It’s a challenge. You have to see the beauty in the shit hole. Detail shots. Creative framing. Clever angles.

This super cool property is a retired railroad station. Now it houses a beauty salon and several small apartments. The tenants were around, the units weren’t clean. I got interior shots, but I like this one best.

This was a decent house with a separate cottage on a nice quiet street. One apartment was vacant and the other had meh decor. The realtor thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything with the cottage, but I thought those shots came out better than the house. When I opened the barn doors and saw that old VW, my heart skipped a beat. I’d buy that house just for the van!

What do you do with a bland new construction that’s cluttered floor to ceiling with kid’s toys and moving boxes? I got tired of moving things around by this point. It was the end of the day and I was like “Oh, so there’s a box in the shot.” This was the one piece of space with nothing but….space.

Previous real estate photos here, here and here.

All Flickr here.