I was first introduced to high dynamic range (HDR) photography about a month ago as I was searching for some photos to include in my personal finance blog. I came across some HDR photos on flickr, and at first wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. Lately, HDR photos are about all I use anymore because the pictures are simply stunning. So yesterday I noted with interest an article about the use of HDR photos in real estate marketing.

These vivid HDR photographs can be taken with a DSLR camera, but do require software such as Photoshop to process the image. Here are some nice shots I found on Flickr that will give you an idea of what an HDR photograph of a home would look like.

Photo Credit: chefranden

Photo Credit: Chad Jones of Gold Coast Real Tours

Photo Credit: salendron

I included the last picture both because it’s such an unusual shot and also to show you that HDR photographs can get a bit weird. Done right, HDR photographs may be a great way to showcase your real estate offerings, but you’ll need to make sure the tones in the image don’t get too spooky.

Note, the first photograph in this article is courtesy of CodyR.

This week, PaidTwice hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance and challenged her arch-nemesis and this week’s host of the Festival of Frugality, Being Frugal, to a face-off of Super Bowl proportions. We chose to cast our lot with PaidTwice, with our article, Homeowners–Avoid Foreclosure By Thinking Like Investors, and regardless of the outcome, we have no regrets.

OK, maybe the battle was all in fun, but I just sense something below the surface.

Banker Girl, on the other hand, rose above the fray, and let the Carnival of Money Stories stand on its own merit. We threw neutrality a nod with our submission, The Renting of No Basement–What We Accomplished and What We Didn’t.

Check out the carnivals because, at some point, you just gotta choose sides, or not, or whatever…

Here are some other posts from the Carnivals that we enjoyed:

Mr. Cheap at Four Pillars talks about the importance of saying “no” in the right circumstances, even if “you have a sweet, sensitive soul like Mr. Cheap.” A silent tear falls.

The Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life tells the story of her first foray into the stock market based largely on investment advice from Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul. While the strategy seemed basically sound to me, whenever I invest in paper assets I try to diversify by including foreign markets, such as Australia per Men at Work. Perhaps SVB can join with TWA in forming an ’80s Pop Mutual Fund.

Randall at Credit Withdrawal talks about the habit of adding expenses as income rises and asks, Are you Afraid of Money? For my part, I’m not afraid of money at all. . .except maybe when it’s held by a circus clown.

It’s been on my to-do list for awhile now. So I wanted to take a moment to recognize a couple of fellow real estate investors/TWA commenters who also share information from their own investment experiences to the interweb viewing public.

Terry @ Fixer Uppers and Rental Houses is an individual real estate investor that takes a hands-on approach. (Rob and I tried the more hands-on approach with our first investment property. The fire and subsequent insurance claim are still under investigation.) Terry has recently written a series about using the tax exemption available to homeowners as one option to build wealth with real estate investing. This is a great option if you have the flexibility to take advantage of it. You can read the first article of the series here.

Connie @ conniebrz.com has made her real estate investments a family affair. She has a great story about her launch into the real estate game and, in addition to providing useful information for investors at her own site, is a regular contributor at Bigger Pockets. She has also compiled a detailed tenant screening resource that you can access here.

Check ‘em out.

This week’s Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by The Digerati Life. The Silicon Valley Blogger highlighted our article, In Denial–Tips on Rejecting the Tenant Application, in a category all its own. While that may have had something to do with the number of real estate investing submissions, I like to think that SVB singled us out.

Here are some of the other articles that we enjoyed:

Madison at My Dollar Plan offered an alternative view of credit cards in Our Credit Limits: Over $1,000,000. Debt is our friend.

Steve at BripBlap wrote about adding some alternative sources of income in Spend Less Than You Earn–The Wrong Way to Think, although I’m still looking for the part where he talks about rental properties.

Patrick at Cash Money Life offers a simple choice–Nintendo Wii or a million bucks. Rob read the article and then, inspired, ran out and bought an X-box 360. I’m not sure Rob got the point.

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Money Smart Life, who did a great job hosting, with highlights in full video format, including our article 65+ Online Tools and Resources for Real Estate Investors. Seeing TWA on the small screen has got me spitballing some sitcom ideas. The common thread for all of them is Rob in the role of the wacky neighbor.

Here are some other articles that we enjoyed:

My Dollar Plan offered some thoughts for end of the year tax planning. It’s still not too late!

Pinyo at Moolanomy offered an illustration of the power of compounding and the costs of waiting to start investing.

Randall at Credit Withdrawal wrote about an interesting and unfortunate story about some people’s desperate measures in response to desperate times. It’s why I keep telling Rob to “trash the stash.”

PaidTwice provided a good article about a maturing personal finance perspective.

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Cash Money Life with some fun currency facts. After last week’s results, Rob mustered all of his efforts to answer back with his article 5 Lessons Monopoly Can Teach Us About Real Estate Investing. I have to give him credit. This one was 100% written by Rob. Although I will point out that, before I nudged him towards Monopoly, his article was based on a different game.

Here are some other articles that we enjoyed:

Golbguru @ Money, Matter and More Musings offered Lessons from my Job Hunting Experience. Also check out the link back to his earlier article recounting one particular interview. It’s a pip.

Glblguy @ Gather Little By Little reminds that the road to financial ruin is paved with credit spending–little by little.

David @ MyTwoDollars provides a great reference list for some tax changes to look for in the upcoming year.

Money Blue Book offers some thoughts on going paperless. I’m in the 25% paperless category, which means I’m still rifling through the old school files for financing. Perhaps the 2008 resolution….

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Pinyo over at Moolanomy. Pinyo has a great site about saving, investing, and financial goal setting, and he did a fantastic job hosting the carnival. There was one major flaw in the carnival, however, and I feel obligated to point it out. Mike’s article on How Much Money Do You Need to Start Investing in Real Estate was included as an editor’s pick. I always knew the day would come when an article with Mike as the author would win an editor’s pick, but I assumed it would be an article I wrote in which we accidentally listed Mike as the author. Well, hats off to Mr. Mike on a job well done and color me surprised.

Here are some other articles from the Carnival that we enjoyed.
A Penny Closer had an interesting article on mortgage programs that allow you to avoid private mortgage insurance with a down payment of less than 20%.
Raising4Boys provides an approach to allowance for kids. Early financial lessons are important, and this article provides a great approach.
Plonkee writes about the no-car alternative. I don’t think I could pull it off, but sometimes I wouldn’t mind giving it a try.

There are a lot of ways to market a property for sale or rent. You can hire a realtor, advertise in the newspaper or use one of the many online services. (Mike also has used the sandwich board approach with varying success–both with and without a bell).

Now there’s a new way to advertise real estate for sale or rent–the virtual open house. As reported in November’s Money Magazine, Coldwell Banker recently advertised a real-world Seattle mansion in Second Life. For those who have never heard of Second Life, here’s what it’s all about:

So, will Mike and I start advertising our slightly less than $3.1 million properties in Second Life? I don’t think we’re there. . .yet. But if you decide to, let Mike’s Second Life Avatar know. You’ll find him wandering around under the name OneWiseAcre.

And FrugalTrader at Million Dollar Journey, one of our Canadian blog friends, rose to the occasion hosting this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance with 89 submissions. It seems like everywhere I turn these days, I run into a Canadian or two. Rob’s article In Defense of Home Ownership was included.

Here are some of the other articles that we enjoyed:

Eric at A Penny Closer shook a defiant fist while proclaiming, I’ll Be Keeping that, Uncle Sam. OK, I added a bit of dramatic license, but the point is, it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. Eric provides a good reminder to take those in-kind donation deductions.

Money Smart Life wrote about Extreme Investing for the Adventurous in All of Us. While I’m not much of a stock options type and not inclined to think of REI as that extreme, I’m a believer in the concept of increasing investing returns though your own skill and effort.

David at MoneyNing writes about the advantages of his Nintendo Wii–His Best Investment of the Year. While David almost has me convinced, this article pick was as much Rob’s. He’s still wishing as Christmas approaches.

This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Millionaire Mommy Next Door, is a reaffirmation of Democracy. Millionaire Mommy has called for a vote of the readers among various categories, including real estate where Mike’s article, How to Succeed in Investing by Doing Everything “Wrong”, was featured. We urge everyone to vote now (and, if you’re in Chicago, vote often).

While we feel confident in Mike’s chances based on the article’s content, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight that Mike is running under the political party, Dempublican Greenertarian Reformunists. The party platform is strongly supportive of all things that you favor and has an underlying philosophy of collective individualism. Mike’s opponents stand in sharp contrast, supporting measures such as taking your stuff (Mike believes your stuff is yours), slashing your tires (Mike won’t slash your tires), and puppy-kicking (Mike likes puppies).

But in the spirit of bipartisanism, we wanted to point out a few articles from the CoPF that we enjoyed. Despite the authors’ political affiliations, we were assured that no puppies were harmed in the making of these articles.

Brip Blap puts an end to the question of whether the Matrix was a indeed primarily about personal financial planning in his article follow the white rabbit to financial freedom. An astute analysis, but I defy him to explain the second and third in the series.

Grad Money Matters writes about the sneaky banks taking your money in Bank “upgraded” The Account and Started Charging Fees without Authorization!. I’ll wager a version of this bank theft has happened to nearly everyone.

Free Money Finance notes the path to riches may be paved with some dirty jobs in Get Rich by Doing Something No One Else Wantes to Do. It’s followed by a pretty lively discussion.