Back to the big one

A while ago, I shot the most expensive house I’d ever tackled – a behemoth mansion called The Birches in Tranwell Woods, Morpeth on sale for £3.65m
It’s still out there waiting for a new occupant, as the top-end market is slowing down considerably throughout the country. The price is a tad under £3m now, which would afford you the luxury of a third bedroom in your London flat. Up here, that price scale is reserved for the A+ people such as successful Premiership footballers, pop-stars, and the major captains of industry. It’s a hell of a lot of house with more spec than Dollond & Aitchison, & more marble than a 1960’s schoolboy’s pocket. The whole house is full of massive spaces, beautiful fittings, and plush details, and walking around is akin to how you’d feel on the set of “Land of the Giants” back in the seventies. The owner was worried that potential buyers couldn’t grasp the scale of the interior, so asked the marketing agent to get me there with a view to conveying the size of the various spaces……..using people.

Now I’m not a fan of putting people into real-estate shots.It’s fine for lifestyle stuff, but with this genre it throws my workflow into the bin, as I don’t light the spaces to illuminate people within, and shoot a number of frames which are blended later in the post production process. I had to adjust things appropriately so that we could include a couple of estate agents (holding clipboards obviously) in each space – standing as still as they could due to the slow shutter speed being used.

I was giggling to myself as each shot took shape as it reminded me of the tactic used by some geezer a couple of years back who dressed as a Panda to try and sell his house.

I actually managed to add my usual highlights here and there, and did some creative touches such as switching the massive feature shower on, and backlighting it repeatedly until I had the water outlined successfully. Placing the models was interesting, and it all went smoothly. I’m not sure if it manages to add anything to the original listing shots, and time will tell if it generates any additional interest. The developer is currently building an even larger gaff on the land next to this one, and is in talks about purchasing extra land from a nearby place that I photographed in the summer.

I’ll let you make your own mind up about the effectiveness of the shots. As for me…. not sure?