My Name's Mark Delap
I am a real estate photographer and videographer, and the owner of 1400Media. I take pictures of single-family residences for sale in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
What I do is pretty simple. I take photos and videos of homes that people are trying to sell. By providing quality pictures, videos, virtual tours, and other marketing materials, I help Realtors and For-Sale-By-Owners sell homes faster. I work in Fort Worth and Tarrant County but also do a little in the larger DFW Metroplex.
When someone is looking at a listing, it’s a fact that they spend at least 60% of the time looking at pictures of the house. Photos aren’t just important—they’re critical to making a good impression! Even a house that isn’t super-gorgeous can look stunning when photographed correctly.
My Background
In the last 40 years I have owned and operated two businesses. For 33 years I owned an insurance agency offering life, health, and casualty. For the next 7 years, I owned a very successful landscaping business. In both businesses, I enjoyed working with the people I served every day.
Working these jobs taught me the value of getting to know your client, finding out what they’re looking for, and then providing it. One of the most important things I learned is to do your best to be a one-stop shop for your clients, so you can provide greater value.
One of my business mentors was a very successful businessman from California named Rich Baum. He taught me a lot of things, but I think the most important thing I learned from him is that you have to love what you do and not do things exclusively for the money. That’s a business philosophy I’ve carried with me throughout life, and I think it’s served me well.
What Else I Do
When I’m not photographing houses, chances are I’m outside taking pictures of wildlife. I enjoy going to parks and wildlife preserves to take pictures of birds. I especially enjoy stalking shore birds.
One of the most interesting things about wildlife photography is learning the behaviors of different animals. Eventually you get to know what they do pretty well and can predict what they’re going to do next. Understanding the animal you’re shooting is a key to getting good at wildlife photography.
Fortunately, in all my years of chasing wildlife, I’ve only had a few close encounters. A few were with some moose—some intentional, and some not. I came incredibly close to a bison once, and had to back off pretty fast when he thought I was a threat.
(By the way, you can click on any of these images to blow them up. That moose one is one of my top 5 photos in recent years.)
I also enjoy riding my mountain bike on long excursions and kayaking when I get the chance. And, I hop in my truck and head to the Rockies as often as possible.
When I’m not out having fun, I do a lot of home improvement and related projects (some of which are fun). One other hobby I really enjoy is getting my 8 hours of sleep every day.
I’m blessed to have a wonderful wife and I enjoy playing with my grandkids. I like living in Fort Worth for the old-school, Old West charm and the friendly people. The traffic isn’t so bad, either (not compared to Dallas, anyway).
One of my strongest traits is that I like things to be in order. I am a neat and tidy person. My office is incredibly organized, and even my ridiculous amount of camera gear all has a place.
I also like to be very efficient with my time. Wasting time, especially on things that don’t matter, is something I don’t like to do. Respecting my clients’ time is something else I learned from 40 years of entrepreneurship.
When it comes to personal expenses, I’m a pretty frugal person. But when it comes to business expenses, I’ll spend what I need to do the job right.
I think being very cautious of how I spend my money is one reason I enjoy helping my clients make wise choices about how to spend their money. I put myself in their shoes and ask myself if I would pay for the service I’m offering. They have to get more value from my services than from the money they don’t spend, and that’s what I try to convey to anyone who asks about pricing.
How Can I Serve You?
Well, you’ve read all the way to the bottom of this page, so I guess you’re at least somewhat interested in what I do. If you’d like to contact me, head over to the Contact page and fill out the form, or scroll down this page to my to give me a call right away.
I look forward to the opportunity to serve you.