I got started with nature photography back in the early ’70s, capturing desolate scenes on camping trips in my Jeep—my first car. One of my most loved photos is a sunset over the ocean, taken from high atop a ridge overlooking the Big Sur coast, just off the summit of the “Old Ferguson Road”—a name you might recognize from a Carole King song.

Later, I moved into commercial photography, shooting product and service images for companies like Lincoln Imports and Fun Services to use online.

For over a decade now, I’ve been photographing residential and commercial real estate all over Southern California—some of that work is showcased here.

It’s tempting to fill the Gallery in this site with just the best photo from the last hundred houses I’ve shot, but instead, aside from the album labeled “Miscellaneous,” you’ll find full case studies. Each one shows a complete photo shoot so you can get a real sense of what to expect from an actual job. You won’t find property addresses or personal family photos—just clean, professional work.

I’ve photographed everything from multi-million dollar condos on Wilshire Boulevard, to developer model homes, down to the roughest houses an agent could only dream of in a nightmare. From the magnificent to the disastrous. I take a certain pride in making even the most rundown properties look like someone might actually want to live there. There was only one place I just couldn’t do. It was in San Bernardino—dogs running loose in the street, jumping up on my car. I barely cracked the window to take a quick shot from inside the car. That one was a literal drive-by shooting. I don’t know what the people sitting on their car hoods thought I was doing, but I got out of there fast. That job? No charge.

Most of the homes I shoot are your typical blue-collar places—still occupied, a little cluttered, and not exactly in photo-ready condition. It’s rarely perfect, but that’s where creative angles and smart cropping come in handy to downplay that lived-in look.

I also shoot commercial properties—apartments, shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses, industrial spaces, strip malls—you name it. I’d love to get my wide-angle lens on a yacht sometime, but that one’s still on the bucket list. So hey, hire me and make my life more interesting. -Jim Carvin