CARAT SKY APARTMENTS

Real estate photography for new developments on the Costa del Sol, especially in the high-end segment, is moving more and more towards two registers at the same time: a more architectural type of image on one hand and lifestyle on the other. In my day-to-day work I keep seeing how the line between residential and hospitality is fading, and shooting a project like Carat Sky Apartments, located in Reserva del Higuerón (Fuengirola, Malaga) makes it really obvious.

That was exactly what we talked about during the pre-production calls with Oliver Hornby, CEO of One Property Group, who I have been working with for years now. A few years back, a domestic space could explain itself. Today it lives alongside a whole range of services that belong to a different visual language. Saunas, gyms and cinema rooms are becoming standard in the new residential complexes going up between Nerja and Sotogrande.

So the plan was clear from the start. For the interiors of the apartment, we wanted clean, sober images that connected the rooms with the sea view. For the common areas, something closer to architectural photography, with the same intent you would bring to a hotel.

It might sound a bit against the rules of classic real estate photography, but we shot during the middle of the day on purpose. Strong midday light is what really brings out the lines of the architectural design, and it keeps the colors of the sea and the coastline at their most vivid. To make it work technically, I used a polarizing filter to cut reflections on the glass, bring the overall exposure down, and recover the exterior colors despite the harsh light. Inside, I added flashes with large diffusers in every space so the image stays sharp and full of information from edge to edge.

The common areas followed the same lighting approach, but the compositions were more geometric and direct, built around the idea that in spaces like the lobby, the coworking room or the indoor pool, the architecture has to come through before the atmosphere does.