RPP’s Burke Walton recently had the opportunity to photograph an incredible $40 million Hawthorn home. Complete with nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms and ten car spaces, this was no easy feat! Shoots like these don’t happen every day, so we thought it was only fair to sit down with Burke and ask all about the experience. Although we can’t visit the home ourselves, we have plenty of incredible photos to share.
Of course, the first thing we asked is what walking into the home for the first time was like. We think we’d be just a little intimidated, but Burke says the front entrance was amazing. There were “huge glass windows with afternoon sun reflections on the parquetry flooring”, which—although a slight challenge when it comes to taking photos—sounds like something out of a fairy tale.
We were also curious how much planning was done before the shoot. “I didn’t really have time as the shoot was the next day from when booked. I had a look online at previous photos and gave Nik [Franchisor] a call to discuss a few things. Next time, I would like to visit before the shoot and get a feel for the property. As it turned out, I decided that because [of the] extreme afternoon sun, the internals would be better suited to a morning shoot. So I concentrated on the external twilights and went back to the property a couple of days later to do internals. I also discovered that I was not going to be able to capture all the property from just ground images so I had a crack at twilight aerials [for the first time].”
Understandably, the whole shoot took two visits to complete. However, it would have taken much longer if the floor plan had to be drawn onsite, “Fortunately I found a rather blurred floor plan online and the team were able to redraw—or I would have been there hours and hours.” During the time spent onsite, Burke’s favourite area to shoot was outside, while the living space—with huge furniture and light reflections on the flooring—was the most challenging.
When asked about favourite shots from the shoot, Burke had two come to mind. The first is a dramatic shot of the front, complete with the curving drive and luxurious fountain. When shot in the past, photographers went for a straight-on shot over the fountain—but we love how grand this angle looks.
The other favourite is a twilight aerial. This sweeping shot does a fantastic job of showing off the size of the home, and—as Burke says—it’s “always fun to get the drone out.”
When asked if he had any advice for someone doing a similar shoot, Burke’s response was short and sweet, “Plan and visit prior if possible.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at this amazing shoot—we definitely have! Thanks for taking the time to chat about the whole experience, Burke. While we’re still green with envy, these incredible photos have gone a long way to ease the sting. Stay tuned for more shoots like this—you never know what’s around the corner!
