3364 Hermitage - Mountain Brook Real Estate Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

This beautiful upscale home in Mountain Brook was photographed by Tommy Daspit, a Birmingham, AL Real Estate Photographer.

This fantastic house in Mountain Brook was a little bit of an unusual situation. It’s not on the market, yet. I was contacted by Regions Trust to photograph this home as part of an estate. The home isn’t for sale but maybe in the future. They wanted to get the images created while it was still full of really nice furniture. That way when it is for sale it won’t be empty. Photographing empty homes might seem easier, and in some ways it is, but the end result is not the best. People don’t like looking at empty rooms. It’s hard to get an understanding of size and space without some reference point. The furnishings not only provide that reference but also tell a lot about the feel of the property. That’s why I love working with agents and architects that pay to have a property professionally staged when empty. The presentation is just so much better.That in turn makes my images look better!

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1024 Navajo Trail - Alabaster AL Real Estate Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

I get a call from the always enthusiastic Melanie Siow of Realty South. She’s got a house in Alabaster that needs to be photographed and she needs lots of photos. It’s got an amazing back yard. It’s huge, flat (a rarity in this area), and there are tons of beautiful flowers. So of course I’m thrilled to shoot it!

When I get there the home owner tells me how excited she is that I’m photographing her home. She says that she’s a fan of my work and can tell which listings are mine as opposed to other photographers! She tells me that I have a distinct style that she loves. How cool is that! I can honestly say that this is a first and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t disappoint!

The home is a modest three bedroom, two bath ranch but you can plainly see that they've put a lot of work into it. The kitchen especially has been totally modernized and has a great style. With that back yard this is a perfect home for a young family (I know my kids would go nuts out there).

So if you’re looking for a really nice home in Alabaster give Melanie a call! View the complete listing.

See more of my work and learn more about my Real Estate Photography services.

Ridge Crossings - Birmingham AL Google Maps Business View Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

Recently I created a Google Virtual tour and commercial photos for Ridge Crossings, an amazing luxury apartment complex in Hoover. This was easily the largest complex I’ve ever seen and had the most amenities that I’ve ever seen. There’s a nature trail, a huge exercise facility, movie theatre, racket ball court, playground, tennis courts, grill pavilion with three grills, a huge clubhouse with free coffee, a dog park, a carwash facility, and two swimming pools! I’ve never even heard of such an apartment community, let alone photograph one!

Needless to say I had a lot of fun with this one. The Google tour covers the clubhouse and pool area, while the conventional still images cover the other areas, including a couple of model units. Out of all the features I will say that the movie theatre was my favorite. It was a special challenge to photograph. The black ceilings and windowless walls meant that it would be difficult to light in a way that wouldn't be harsh. I also wanted to convey the feeling that a movie theatre should provide. You don’t want a bright room for movie watching but I still needed to show what it was. The solution was to combine many exposures into one. I did an existing light image of the room as the base image. It was dark of course and you couldn’t really see much detail. That was ok, the next part of the process would fix that. I attached a speedlight (small flash unit) to a stick. It had a grid mounted to the front. This kept the beam of light from the flash narrow and only on the parts of the scene I wanted to light. I then lit each chair and each photo on the wall with individual flash bursts. All total it was about 20 photographs combined into one final image. The result is a photo that lets you see what the room is without compromising the mood of the space!

This is just one of the things that I do to create unique images to help my clients separate themselves from their competition. It’s a more time consuming process, both during the initial creation of the image, and in the computer post processing. I feel that the results speak for themselves!

Learn more about Ridge Crossings on their Google + page where you can see more photos and the virtual tour!

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2217 2nd Ave N - Birmingham AL Real Estate Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

The Birmingham metro real estate market is on fire. Homes are selling fast and inventory tight. The downtown Birmingham loft market is burning brighter than most. Downtown is experiencing an amazing resurgence. New shops, restaurants, and recreational scenes are making it more attractive than ever before. 

That’s why I was so excited to photograph this loft for Clint DeShazo of ARC Realty. Clint really specializes in the downtown loft niche. He runs the Birmingham Loft District Facebook and Twitter profiles. If you’re interested in some swanky downtown living, Clint is the man to talk to.

This particular loft is no exception. Right downtown in the historic Rhodes Carroll building, this one bedroom screams cool. With the exposed brick, hardwood floors, and spot lighting, it’s just perfect. A great space for me to photograph already, Clint kicked it up a notch by having Swag Home Staging and Design furnish and decorate the space. I’ve worked with Erin Dunavant and her team at Swag before on another downtown loft. I was thrilled to learn that they had done this listing as well. It makes my job so much easier and makes it so much easier to sell the property as well. It may seem counterintuitive, but a blank slate is not what potential buyers want to see. Having it styled in a fashionable way shows the possibilities of what it can be and helps people connect in a way that an empty room cannot.

Click here to see the full listing. 

Be sure to check out The Birmingham Loft District Facebook page and Swag’s website as well!

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Willow Homes - Birmingham AL Architectural Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

Last week I got the opportunity to photograph an amazing project for Willow Homes of Birmingham. Jason Hale, owner, hired me to create images a house in Homewood that his company had remodeled. 

For most of it’s life this was a two bedroom, post WWII, Craftsman style ranch home. From the “before” photos I’d seen, it’s better days seemed to be well in the past. That was until Jason went to work. The transformation is nothing less that stunning. Many people would have torn down the old home and started from scratch. Instead, the new owners have a home with all the modern touches with a history and a character like none other. This one of a kind creation fits the character of the historic neighborhood in a way that no completely new construction could. 

Some complete and so impressive was the remodeling of this house, it won a gold medal in the recent parade of homes. Seeing the before and after first hand I can say that I’m not surprised. Jason and his team at Willow Homes are obviously very skilled and talented. It was an honor to create these photos to showcase their work. 

I know that if I ever need remodeling work for my home, Jason will be the first I call! See more of their projects on their website.

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