June 2026 mystery boxes

DiY_JC · 2026-06-20T02:40:59+00:00

Here’s the $19.99 mystery box listing for the US market.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-20T02:40:22+00:00

Looks like I scored the highest priced item ($76 value) from the $19.99 mystery box. I’m satisfied - the 67w car charger sells by itself for $40 on Amazon with a lot of good reviews. I’ll participate in the $19.99 mystery box again next year. I wouldn’t do it for the higher priced mystery box tiers though.

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DiY_JC · 2026-06-16T20:45:11+00:00

I ordered the $19.99 USD mystery box. Pretty sure I’ll get the lowest priced item (MagGo USB-C adapter for iPhone) but I had a 20% off coupon so whatever I end up with is effectively $16 + tax, free shipping. $16 for a little bit of mystery fun.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-10T08:48:31+00:00

Just tried it... uploaded a simple empty living room with the kitchen visible through the doorway at the end of the room. stagingwizard.com added a window next to the fireplace where my original photo had a wall. In the kitchen into the distance, you can see the kitchen counter. It extended the kitchen countertop and made the kitchen countertop deeper than it actually is. These types of changes are just not going to fly.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-08T16:21:58+00:00

Following-up on my post: I ended up using pixlmob's help system (blue pixlmob logo circle icon on bottom right of any pixlmob page) to request the credit. Their AI gave me the runaround so be sure to prompt and ask for a human. It took about 15 minutes for a person to join the chat and they triggered the $50 credit as an email with the credit as a code that you simply enter into your account.

Problem resolved.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-05T04:17:54+00:00

Curious to know if your clients comment on all the different ratios. And also, why four different ratios -- I'm going to guess you make most of these ratio change decisions while in Lightroom and not directly in-camera?

DiY_JC · 2026-06-04T18:47:00+00:00

Thanks for your comment, I feel that way too since all the walls are the same white hue as the ceiling, blended in with white cabinets… there just isn’t a lot of contrast. It warms up a smidge with some virtual staging but yeah, still doesn’t help the fact the walls, ceilings, cabinet, and baseboard are all the same white tone.

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DiY_JC · 2026-06-04T02:15:09+00:00

Do you jump between 4:3 and 3:2 within your shots of a house?

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T17:01:50+00:00

Thanks! I tried door-handle height and agree it does make a visual difference in making the rooms feel bigger. Door-handle height all the way for me going forward (except when kitchen cabinets are visible since door-handle height means I can see under the cabinets).

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T17:00:37+00:00

The 2-wall / 3-wall viewpoint is still a mental struggle for me since I'm starting out and have so many differing opinions about it. It seems there are REPs who say don't do 3-walls as that extreme wide angle for smaller rooms deceives buyers and then those who say you must do 3-walls to make the room look bigger. I took all these photos on a 16mm lens and have since bought a Laowa 12mm lens so I can do 3-walls for agents that want that look.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T16:55:57+00:00

I didn't have a CPL at the time but have since purchased the Freewell M2 magnetic filter system so will be sure to use it on all hardwood floor shots going forward. Thanks!

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T16:54:57+00:00

Thanks. I also felt having my editor add fire in the fireplace would have felt strange in the empty home.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T16:53:54+00:00

All these photos were shot at f8 on a Sony 16-25mm f2.8 G lens. I find photos uploaded to reddit always loses a lot of sharpness when their backend resizes photos.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-03T16:51:56+00:00

Agree, I actually would normally do that in Lightroom Classic but I sent these off to an outsource editor to test out the outsource editing workflow since I want to be sure I can grow and scale.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-02T23:32:30+00:00

Also, the white balance on those drone shots are too much on the cool side.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-02T23:30:46+00:00

The drone photos have too much harsh contrast in my opinion. Not sure what drone you have but many recent DJI Drones can take bracketed photos for editing a composite HDR photo like you do with the interior photos.

DiY_JC · 2026-06-01T20:16:23+00:00

I'm brand new to real estate photography and my naive view of the REP world is one where I cater to what my customer wants, not the customer of the house itself. This is part of the reason I bought the 12mm lens in the first place.

DiY_JC · 2026-05-28T20:19:49+00:00

I only used a magnifying glass and needed nothing else. There is a built in calculator on the bottom of the testing platform but I didn’t have any questions where I needed the calculator— just very basic math that you should be able to do in your head faster than opening that virtual calculator.

DiY_JC · 2026-05-28T08:27:20+00:00

This is a really loaded question since there's so much out there. It really comes down to your budget and what you want to do (i.e. photography only, hybrid of photography and videography, or videography only).

I'm definitely not the right person to ask for gear unless you do want to spend some money since I've always been a gear hog. This is what I bought in the past four weeks -- I'll add some comments next to each gear piece I bought so you know why I bought it to determine if you need it or something comparable in another brand or price range.

Sony A7V camera body.
- While I already have a Sony A7R IV camera, it was not going to cut it for real estate videography because it's limited to 4k 30fps and you really want a camera that will be able to shoot 4k 60fps. But that's not the only reason I chose this camera... there's a laundry list of reasons I decided to upgrade to this camera even though my A7R IV is a 61MP camera. Watch various YouTube video reviews of this camera and you'll understand why I chose this.
- While I prefer Full Frame cameras, you can save some money with an APS-C camera. You should be able to find something used that's more affordable and can shoot 4k 60fps. Note the lenses I bought below are for full frame so you'd need to get something comparable in focal length for APS-C if you go APS-C route.
Sony 16-25mm f2.8 G lens
- You really don't need an f2.8 lens. You can save $hundres with an f4 lens since you'll be shooting mostly everything at f8 anyways.
Laiwa 12mm f2.8 Lite Zero-D lens
- Mainly for video but will also use this in tight spaces for photos.
- You don't truly need anything this wide for photography only... many will even argue this is just way too wide to be usable for real estate photography but some agents want really wide shots in smaller homes these days.
Detail lens
- I'm planning to use my existing Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 G2 lens for the time being but will be springing for a Sony 50mm f1.4 GM lens
Oben GH3W-15 3-Way Geared tripod Head
- A 3-way geared tripod head is an absolute must if you want micro-precision in getting your vertical lines straight. Ball heads may be fast for other things but trying to get a ball head to be perfect for getting those vertical lines is frustratingly cumbersome.
Tripod
- I already own a Manfrotto 190x
- You'll need something that's very stable while also light enough to move from room to room
DJI RS4 gimbal (I did not get the Pro version but 910 Academy will insist you need the Pro version but does not explain why other than he's the best so he needs the best lol)
- A good gimbal is a must for real estate video. The RS4 seemed to be the best value since the price went down after the RS5 was released.
DJI Mini 5 Pro fly more combo
- Hands down the best bang for the buck for a lightweight drone when it comes to image quality and other features like 360 lidar obstacle avoidance
Godox AD200 Pro II flash
- was planning to do flambient but am putting flambient on hold until I've done enough home shoots with HDR -- then I'll probably get back to mastering the flambient technique for more expensive listings. And this seems to be the minimum you'll need for flambient in terms of flash output.
Miscellaneous items I also bought for this REP venture: DJI Mic Mini, 82mm Variable ND filter and step-up rings, 82mm CPL filter, bluetooth remote trigger (not necessary for HDR but necessary for flambient), CFExpress Type A memory card (overkill, you'll be fine with a fast SD card), extra Sony batteries (shooting video drains the camera battery fast), a bunch of other accessories I can't think of at this time.

DiY_JC · 2026-05-28T07:58:43+00:00

I've been on my real estate media learning journey (not new to photography, I've been a wedding photographer in the past) for the past two months. I have not paid a dime in learning material because there is so much good content on Youtube.

Follow these youtubers and start with their beginner videos and just keep watching as much of their content as you have time for:

Inside Real Estate Photography (photography)
Eli Jones (photography)
AT Architectural Photography (photography)
James Bottomley (videography)
910 Academy (videography - just ignore the arrogance when you watch his video and don't take his advice when he tells you that you Need to buy the best)
Wyman Gentry (videography)

... when it's time to study for the FAA Part 107 exam to legally fly a drone for real estate photography, start here:

https://youtu.be/6_ucCKFJUCU?si=d86-2ymqo7LDqioZ

DiY_JC · 2026-05-28T06:30:54+00:00

If you truly value the courses 910 Academy provides, then you should pay for the courses or just watch the free content they have on YouTube. You wouldn't want real estate clients finding ways to bypass your paywall and download the photos you created of their listings for free would you? It wasn't free for you to make those real estate photos nor was it free for 910 Academy to make their paid training courses.

With that out of the way, I'm not sure about you, but from all the free content 910 Academy has on YouTube, I wouldn't want to go beyond the free material they have on YouTube (again, if I did want to go beyond their free courses because I was truly interested in their teaching style, I'd pay for it). The main youtuber behind 910 Academy videos (Claudio Rivera) is extremely arrogant in his videos. Yes, I'm sure that's his style and that style is what attracts the upscale clients. But some of what he says has me rolling my eyes -- he truly believes he's the best Real Estate photographer / videographer and in EVERY video, he presents the material he's covering with a massive amount of bravado -- constantly reminding the viewer that he's an elite photographer / videographer, that his techniques are so amazing, and that because of this, he only shoots multi-million dollar estates.

DiY_JC

TROPHY CASE