Aerial Photography Continues to Remain in High Demand

by CT Perez | Oct 30, 2023 | Lake Tahoe, Marketing, Photography, Video

The first known aerial photograph . . .

[W]as taken in 1858 by French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix Tournachon, known as “Nadar”. The modern aerial photography I’m writing about began on June 25, 2014, when the FAA granted the right to use drones in aerial filmmaking. Operators are required to be licensed pilots and must keep the drone in view at all times. Drones cannot be used to film in areas where people might be at risk. Below is the latest video edit I completed today for a client who wanted to be listed on the Tahoe.com Real Estate Page.

Sierra Blue works with several professional FAA licensed aerial photographers with numerous years of experience. If you seek aerial photography for an upcoming, let me know.

Carl Costas: Visual Thinker
Carl served in the United States Marine Corps as a sergeant. After serving with some of the bravest people I’ve ever met, I traded my weapons for cameras — and learned about myself.

Carl says he was, “reborn through photojournalism.” His work has since taken him around the world, “and into the lives of countless beautiful people.”

Today he shoots a healthy mixture of commercial, editorial, and personal work.

Below is a video that showcases Carl’s work in a great light, no pun intended.

Westlake, Sacramento Video

by CT Perez | Oct 18, 2023 | Marketing, Photography, Video

I’m CT, owner of Sierra Blue – a full-service creative agency based in Sacramento, CA with roots in Lake Tahoe and the Bay Area. Video is the #1 consumed content online and I’ve decided to put more time into showcasing my production and post-production skills.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Westlake is a planned community just a few miles north of downtown Sacramento. I put together a marketing project for a homeowner who wanted to showcase the area’s unique natural beauty. This is that. She sold her home in about 40 days from listing and actually got about 5% over asking.

2020 Palm Springs Summer

by CT Perez | Oct 5, 2020 | Palm Springs Lifestyle, Photography, Travel

Photos from Palm Springs and Indian Wells, Summer 2020

Summer began and closely thereafter the LNU Lightening Complex (fire) ignited around Napa, California. The smoke permeated nearby Sacramento causing AQI’s to reach upwards of 500+. It would burn from August to October 2, 2020 and become the fourth largest wildfire in the recorded history of California.

Choked by the smoke, we packed the dogs and hit the road for bluer skies; destination, Palm Springs. Technically, Indian Wells, but we spent a lot of time throughout the beautiful Coachella Valley; seven weeks to be exact.

I was able to continue servicing my clients and even picked up some new projects while I was there. Virtually all of my clients use Zoom, Google Meet and GoTo Meeeting for communications which made being hundreds of miles away, a non-issue.

This gallery represents some of my favorite photos from this trip. I forgot to pack my Nikon so I made do with my trusty iPhone. Still, I think they came out just fine for displaying on the web.

One of the new projects I began in Indian Wells was a virtual tour for a real estate agent. More on that later. It definitely got me thinking about expanding my services to include virtual tours.

Oh yeah, while we were visiting, this fun hulu flick came out, called, “Palm Springs.” Kind of “chick-flicky,” all funny, with a pinch of zombiesqueness for good measure.

Photography

Homes, Cars, and Things of Palm Springs and Indian Wells

Testing Zillow’s new 3D Tour App

by CT Perez | Sep 11, 2020 | Photography

Real Estate Photography

Zillow’s 3D Home Tours is new app (Sept 2019), for iOS and Android that just about anybody can use as long as you have a steady hand and an eye for detail. The virtual tour I posted below took about 20 minutes to shoot and render, then about 20 more minutes to process and load on my website. I think it’s better than much of the stuff we see on countless real estate websites. Just a few years ago, only serious professionals with high-grade equipment were doing this. Now – it’s in the palm of your hand, literally.

The real estate industry has seen a major surge in the development of “virtual tour,” applications in the last year alone. And then there’s the drone stuff. Drones can really increase the presentation of high-end properties to showcase vast amounts of nature like beaches or mountains.

Another cool feature, invented by Google, is creating a “walk-thru,” presentation as many of us use with Google Maps. I’ll be testing this asap, too. Here’s a video of this feature used by a company in Sunnyvale, CA called Matterport: https://www.facebook.com/Matterport/videos/1680999475274141/

I’ll be testing other applications, cameras, and equipment to find a setup that provides the best result at a good price-point.

SIERRA BLUE AGENCY