The Obsidian Stock Blog

A little Central Oregon photo stock agency we are no more. Behold - the *new* Obsidian Stock!

Obsidian Stock is happy to announce that we have officially expanded the geographic range of our image library from Central Oregon to all of Oregon - read the complete news release here.

Obsidian Stock is now also accepting submissions from photographers interested in having their images of Eastern, Western and Coastal Oregon represented. Read our submission guidelines to find out how to go about it.

Kudos to the New York Times for writing an most excellent article on the importance of hiring a professional photographer to take pictures when trying to sell a high-end property or residence.

In real estate, a picture can be worth more than a thousand words. Much, much more. When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first - and sometimes the only - chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses.

“Good photos will grab people’s attention and help you sell a home,” said Jacky Teplitzky, an executive vice president of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York. “Bad pictures will absolutely give you trouble, because you won’t have any calls on it, and nobody will come to see it.”

Eighty percent of people across the country who bought a new home last year used the Internet while house hunting, and they rated photographs as the most useful tool in their search, according to a survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors.

New York Times tech columnist David Pogue has an interesting article today about Nikon’s 18-200 millimeter “superzoom” VR lens.

He raves about the VR (vibration reduction) feature (Nikon says that the VR on this lens lets people take sharp pictures ‘at shutter speeds as many as 4 stops slower than they ordinarily could shoot.’ But I’d put it more bluntly. I’d say that this VR is—what’s the technical term?—magic.) and enlightens about the controversy of a couple of major camera manufacturers’ battle to even include a VR feature right into their camera bodies.

Interested in buying that sweet little lens? Get in line. Even B&H is sold out.

Oh, and something Pogue doesn’t mention: the lens sports a 3.5-5.6 aperture.

From the wonderful new world of podcasting comes a special gem today:

Bend designer Brian Hinderberger interviews Obsidian Stock co-owner and CTO Lance Hardy about the company, our approach to stock photography, and the Artist Directory.

To listen to the podcast, go here.