Lessons in Virtual Tour Photography

by Chris Bachelder

The wealthy photographer Ansel Adams once wrote, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand." How simple, how true—and how difficult! Even though Adams's heart failed him well before the whirling magic of virtual-tour technology was introduced to our world, his mysterious words ring true. In the high-tech, "fast-paced," paperless freelance international real-estate-photography industry of today, those eight words still cut. Because a good virtual tour—just like a good photograph of a boulder, or a pinecone—is knowing where to stand. And in Lessons in Virtual Tour Photography, available now, for the first time, as an e-book, you will learn where to stand, and how to know where. But that's not all you will learn! Picture this: You, conversant in the three types of display apartments. You, ably overcoming some of West Texas's most intransigent property managers (or "PMs," as we in the business prefer to say). You, expertly, almost lovingly, caring for your valuable tripod. You, photographing mirrors and windows and swimming pools without trouble or fear—taking their pictures "like a pro." You, equally oppressed by the stultifying loneliness of the endless freeway traffic jam and the shimmering ache of your disappointments. Are you visualizing it? Can you add a sullen, pregnant ex-girlfriend to that mental image? Well, in just 71 illustrated, "easy-to-follow" lessons, filled with step-by-step instructions and exclusive insider's tips, affluent virtual-tour photographer Chris Bachelder will show you how to realize that dream. The now-dead Adams once wrote, "There are no rules for good photographs; there are only good photographs." But how could he have seen into the Great Tomorrow? It is now known that there are rules, hundreds of them, and Lessons in Virtual Tour Photography reveals all. Why wait? Download your future today.

e-book pdf

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Chris Bachelder is the author of Bear V. Shark, U.S.!: Songs and Stories, Abbott Awaits, and The Throwback Special. His fiction and essays have appeared in McSweeney’s, The Believer, and the Paris Review. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Cincinnati, where he teaches at the University of Cincinnati.

Reviews

[Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da "Chi vincerebbe in un combattimento fra un orso e uno squalo?" passando al ritualizzare un tragico infortunio in un campo da rugby, Bachelder firma un altro immenso lavoro centrando le ossessioni e l'alienazione dell'uomo contemporaneo fino a raggiungere un risultato: il trionfo dei mass media nei giorni nostri.

In seconda persona singolare, stracolmo di riferimenti pop e satira, l'autore porta avanti ,certamente, la bandiera del postmodernismo.

"Many people think virtual tours are filmed, but they are not.
They are not filmed. They are photographed [...]".

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wild and trippy story is told in the second person, which I'm a sucker for. It reads like a user manual for "your" new job as a virtual tour photographer, but it's also a story about "you" and your Estranged Girlfriend. Would recommend if you're in a weird mood and aren't sure what to read next.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

sad, hilarious, and a very quick read.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The OG PDF text

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really just a novel about an ironic twenty- or thirty- something, working as a virtual tour photographer and living with an old girlfriend. Pretty standard modern fare. But it's written in second person, like an instructional booklet (thus the title.) So:

1. Set up the tripod.
2. Align the doodad.
3. Remember that you should have had a fight with your girlfriend the night before.

and so on....

If you like McSweeney's, you'll probably like this--it's certainly that same stuff.

[Dan Kauppi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A (free!) novel with grace and understanding - served up with a number of laugh out loud kind of moments.

On the surface a comedic look at America's class preoccupations and commercial practices, the book offers a somewhat bleak (yet ultimately quite accurate) take on contemporary life. A wise sadness pervades the work.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh. The best. Teach me.

[Jason Wilki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wondrous. I could read this over & over again. In fact, I have.