This impressive Southlands estate didn’t last long on the market. Over 31,000 square feet in the middle of horse country. Teak hardwood floors span the huge open plan interior, and of course, the tennis court and indoor pool. Realtor Patrick Weeks sold it a couple of days after I sent him the photos. Coincidence?
I have photographed a lot of private homes in the past few years, but I must admit I was pretty impressed by this west side work of art. It is designed by Evoke, and features a Swiss pearl exterior, open plan main floor, and huge sliding doors that open to a flush concrete pad in the back yard. Lorne Goldman can fill you in on all the details.
Jim Niebuhr from Niebuhr Homes booked me for a one-day shoot recently, at several of the beautiful homes he has built in the past few years. Here are some highlights:
I shot this display suite the other day at Montgomery Townhomes, a collection of luxury residences in the Oakridge area of Vancouver.
A truly unique home in one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in Vancouver. This beautiful house designed by Stuart Howard Architects sits at the top of Mackenzie Heights with an unobstructed view of the city. The ribbed ceiling on the main floor eliminates the need for walls and columns so the view can be enjoyed from anywhere. The entire house can be run from your iPad. It’s always a pleasure to shoot homes of this calibre. See Jay McInnes for the full listing details.
The lobbies of most residential buildings are forgettably drab — you walk through them on your way to the elevator and nothing registers. Not so with the entry to Kenstone’s Sage in the Wesbrook Place community of UBC. The lobby reflects the forest surrounding the building, with huge planks of rough cedar that look like they were painted on the walls with a palette knife. Designer Merike Lainevool of Kodu Design filled the main floor lounge with comfortable sofas and low-slung tables that invite you to sit down and enjoy the reflecting pools that grace the building’s front.
When you are shooting for a busy, successful custom home builder like Odenza, you don’t have the luxury of waiting for the perfect time to get your shots. There’s usually only one day between the time the home is completed, and it is turned over to the owner, as was the case with this west side beauty. On this day, the afternoon sun was low in the sky and blazing in the windows, which had no shades or blinds, since the house was still undergoing a few last-minute touchups. The hardwood floors magnified the sunlight and sent it flying around the bare walls and ceilings. We had to shove construction materials out of sight, sweep the sawdust off the floors, and dodge the plumbers, electricians and house inspectors who were finishing up their work. We tried to keep out of everyone’s way as we worked our way through each room. At the end of the day we had 30 images of this beautiful house for Odenza to add to their portfolio. 
Here are some images of a recent shoot I did at Bayswater, a new development by Mosaic Homes, nestled among the yoga studios and coffee shops of Kitsilano. Jen Eden of Occupy Design put the Presentation Centre together, and asked me to document it for posterity. With only a handful of units left to sell, the Centre won’t be there very much longer.
The Bayswater
Back in February I spent a couple of days taking pictures of Shannon Station, a group of luxury condos in the heart of Kerrisdale. At the time there was still a lot of construction going on, and the suites were barely finished, let alone furnished. This week I was asked to go back and shoot a couple of units which have been staged in preparation for a big marketing push by Judith Matheson in September. Here’s a sneak peek:
Contact: JohnBentley.ca
The sun has been shining so rarely these days that when it does, my phone rings off the hook with realtors and builders wanting to get some nice view shots. The other day I did a shoot for realtor Monique Badun out on the UBC campus. This top floor condo has a large wraparound patio that looks spectacular when the sun is out and the sky is blue. However, as most people know, shooting in the direct sun can be very problematic. The highlights are often blown out, and the shadows turn into inky black holes. So, flashes to the rescue: one on the camera, and another in my hand. Although my flashes are pretty powerful, they only have a range of about 20 feet in the sunshine. So the trick with shooting a sunny scene is to position the camera so the immediate foreground is darker than the background. That way the flash can light up whatever is right in front of you, and Mother Nature can light up the background. Here are a couple of samples of flash fill.
The image below was lit from on camera and the right side of the frame, and it stretches the limits of what a flash can light up outdoors.
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