Shooting in Quail West, The Port Royal of Bonita

I have long held an interest in real estate photography for some reason. Maybe it’s all the home renovation shows I watch or the sub-par photos of homes I have come across in my own house search. Regardless, taking photos of well-designed homes seems to call out to me, about the same way automotive photography does. I was never quite sure how to go about getting into real estate photography, and kind of forgot about it for awhile. Until about a month ago. I was given the opportunity to shoot a recently built home in Quail West in Bonita Springs – a place I now like to call the Port Royal of Naples. If you know Port Royal, you know what I mean.

I credit the opportunity to my grandfather – who actually managed the building of the home. We were out to lunch one day when his former boss (whom he built the home under) walked in and saw us. He came over, conversation ensued, and somehow the talk turned to me potentially photographing cabinets (he has a cabinet business here) and houses built. The real estate photography urge ran to the forefront of my brain once again, and I jumped on the opportunity.

Cue the following Saturday, where I was introduced to the community of Quail West and my first real estate photo gig. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous, mostly because this was a two million dollar home, and frankly I was scared to touch anything. Once I was reassured it was okay to touch (ha) I settled in and went to work. It was pretty cool, seeing someone’s design and dream come to life in a house, then into my photos. It is hard to describe – it was just awesome.

This place was undoubtedly the fanciest house I have ever stepped foot in: the kitchen has two ovens, two dishwashers, and two fridges, an induction stove-top and huge island, and breakfast bar; a huge pool with a built-in hot tub; and outside cabana complete with an entertainment center and mini kitchen; two dining rooms; a three car garage; a huge master bath with a two-way entry shower, separate tub, TWO separate toilets, three vanities, and varying mood lights; two master walk-in closets; and a lot more.

Overall, I took about 200 photos of the place. In the end, after the shoot and the hours editing, I was satisfied with the photos. It is also pretty damn cool to see your photos on official real estate listings across websites like Zillow and Trulia (below, I blocked out the address).