“Dwelling in Dusk” was created for clients who designed and built the luxurious estate-style home in the image. The husband built this to be their primary residence with a large amount of the custom features selected and designed by his wife. Its blend of modern and classic elements were absolutely stunning inside and out.
They specifically requested a twilight photography appointment in order to best showcase the professional lighting on the exterior of the home, expertly accentuating its multiple pitched rooflines, dormor windows, and Juliet balcony, as well as the string lighting casting a welcoming glow from the courtyard at the main entrance.
True to its title, this image was captured at dusk on a Nikon Z6 body with Nikkor 14-30 mm f/4 glass. I create almost all of my real estate and architectural work using ambient lighting only, and this was no exception. A blend of 5 brackets at 3 stops each were hand blended to achieve the smoothness of exposure throughout, as well as retain details from the brightest highlights to the darkest shadows. My aperture was set to f/8 and ISO at 400, with the camera mounted on a tripod for stability on the slower shutter exposures.
I decided to leave many imperfections in this image that I considered removing initially – some discoloration in the driveway, struggling spots in the green blanket of grass covering the yard, and the knarled texture of the trees where branches were removed and trunks were damaged at one point in time as a way to preserve the ambiance of real life occurring here – this is a scene from a real place made by real people where stories are shared and memories are made, not just a rendering of customized perfection. I don’t regret that decision.
I titled the image “Dwelling in Dusk” as an alliterate wordplay with the concept of not only a physically built dwelling, but a mental, physical, and emotional state of calmness that comes with evening – winding down, relaxation, and a sense of satisfaction at the end of a hard day’s work or the culmination of a task completed – as the creation of this image was for me. It now hangs on a canvas on our studio walls.
This image was actually submitted for PPA’s Merit Image Review as my first ever submission, and to my surprise and excitement was awarded Imaging Excellence in addition to the coveted merit – my first ever merit and the first step towards earning my Master of Photography degree. Since then, I have continued to submit only real estate and architectural client work, and I am currently just one merit away from completing my degree requirements and am hoping to walk the stage at Imaging USA in Nashville this coming year.
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