Meet Roy Sonboleh of RoSoFoto Real Estate Photography in Los Angeles County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roy Sonboleh.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Roy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have been a red carpet photographer since 2006 shooting movie premieres and various other celebrity related events. Someone enlightened me to the existence of real estate photography. I am drawn to more artistic endeavors and I saw real estate photography as an opportunity to use my creative eye rather than having to shout for the attention of a smiling celebrity in the hopes of the possibility that a magazine would pick up my photo out of dozens of other photographers’.

I began researching and practicing my new venture in real estate photography in around 2012 and have been working at improving my craft and getting the best gear designed for this niche of photography.

Since then, I have been enjoying the satisfaction of taking great photos of beautiful architecture and interior design and improving upon these images in post processing to create a final perfect work of art.

Today, I enjoy my loyal customer base who keep me pretty busy.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh no, not at all! This type of photography is VERY niche and requires a different skill set from any other type of photography. There are many things to be aware of to create a proper real estate photo. A lot of people think “What’s the big deal? You push a button and get a photo. How hard can that be?” The main issue with real estate photography is trying to get the balance of exposure of the interior of a room with the window. If you want to clearly see the gorgeous view outside the window, well… you’re going to have a pretty dark interior. On the other hand, if you want a nice bright room, the windows are going to look like big completely white rectangles. It takes quite a bit of skill and knowledge to “have your cake and eat it.” It requires, putting the right amount of supplemental lighting in the right areas of then room without making the room look like there was supplemental lighting. Then there’s the editing the photo which I’m not going to get into but it can get really involved.

The technical aspect above was only one part of the challenges. Finding and marketing realtors who’s last thing on their mind is to get solicited was probably and even bigger challenge. For over a year, every Sunday and Tuesday, I would get to all the open houses between 2 and 5pm and hand out as many of my business cards and collect as many as I can to build my database of over 500 realtors. That was hard work but I was surprised at how many realtors were kind enough to listen to my short pitch and even ask me about my services.

I also attended whatever real estate events I could find to show up and pass out my card in similar fashion as stated above.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Very simply, I take high quality photographs of real estate interiors, exteriors, commercial spaces, and architectural and interior designs.

My slogan for my business is: Focused… on Quality. Beside the photography reference, that is not just a slogan. Being creative and producing quality images is a passion for me. I would not be satisfied pumping out tons of photos at second rate quality just to make more money. It is this work and business ethic, that I am most proud of.

I think I price my services differently than other real estate photographers. I charge by the square foot rather than flat rates which I think is fairer to both the clients as well as myself.

What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been creative as a kid. Was going to go to an art college but that was too expensive. Got into playing music in my teens which was and still is another passion of mine.

I think I’m kind of introverted which certainly makes it more difficult to market a business.

My personal interests include music, my alternate day runs and physical fitness, and I like to get in a movie every week. I have to avoid watching TV because I can get addicted to a show too easily and I don’t like having that personal commitment of having to watch every episode so I just avoid it altogether. Rather spend my time watching random stuff on YouTube and Facebook.

Pricing:

• Mainly, I charge by the square foot of the property (not the land). .12 cents per SF.
• I do charge a travel fee of $50 to go outside of Los Angeles County unless the shoot is at least $250
• If I spend any considerable time having to prepare the property to shoot by cleaning of straightening up, I charge $50/hour.
• Minimum price is $100 even for smaller properties.
• If you have a very large property but only want a certain number of areas shot, I can charge $25 per shoot area.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.RoSoFoto.com
• Phone: 424.235.7676
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosofoto

 
Image Credit:
Roy Sonboleh

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.