Tips for shooting apartment interiors?

[AshD_UK]

Hi everyone!

I'm taking shots of several apartments tomorrow to be used in a portfolio to sell them. I will be using a Nikon D90 with an 18-200mm lens. I've never done this type of photography before so can anyone give me any advice if they have experience please. Any help, greatly appreciated!

Couple things I wasn't sure on were firstly, is this lens adequate? preferably I would have rather had a wider lens.

Also, Obviously I want to get as much in focus as possible so I was planning on putting the camera in aperture priority mode to get as much in as I can in focus. Is this the right way to go about it.

Does anyone have a rough idea on what sort of aperture I should be working with?

Any other bits of advice you can give would be great too.

also, should i use a tripod or is handheld accaptable?

Thanks! x

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[oasis]

why don't you ask an advice from an interior decorator? i don't know if you can understand my english.... they know tips to make their life easy

[gsgary]

A tripod is a must because with that lens you will have to use slower shutter speeds (probably 2 seconds or more), look out for unique details if there is a nice fire light it, a nice lamp turn it on because it can give a nice warm feel to the shot (take a custom white balance) place books on tables. Avoid objects close to your lens when shooting wide they will look unnaturally large or deformed, avoid shooting directly towards windows you will max out your exposure if using flash only use it to fill boucing off walls, and if possible (when there is a nice veiw) try and capture the veiw taking in the chairs to give an idea of the veiw from sitting position

[djacobox372]

That lens is not ideal, but it should work for you. Typically you'd want a 14mm or wider lens on a crop sensor camera like yours.

What you could really use is a flash that you can bounce off the walls/ceiling. Indoor lighting can look a bit harsh and unattractive without a little fill flash.

The key to using the flash is to aim it up and away from the subject, so it is diffused off the walls. Also shoot in manual adjusting for more or less exposure which will control how much the flash adds to the final image. You don't want all flash, just a little boost.

[skieur]

10 to 20mm lens on a crop body camera.
tripod
auxiliary lighting
fstop around f.8 to f11
Camera angles are really important to avoid distortion.
High ISO with low noise to avoid or reduce window blow-out.

skieur

[Biggs88]

Get an sb600 speedflash. Bounce flash from ceiling. You do not need a tripod if your using flash. Plus, the VR works GREAT on that lens.

Use an F stop of f11.

[SlickSalmon]

I'm seeing HDR technique increasingly and very effectively used for interiors. You can use ambient lighting, which makes rooms look more natural than bounce flash...at least in my opinion...and you can create very rich images. It also handles the light-out-the-window problem.

[StarPath]

Make sure adjacent rooms are lit well, and keep the camera under 4 feet to reduce distortion.

As a side note, if this is for a client, you might want to ask about how much distortion is acceptable because using a wide lens is a must...14mm or less. You might find yourself correcting vertical lines in Photoshop.

[MelissaMarieImagery]

This thread was quite helpful, I just got a job shooting the interior of a large "mansion" and wanted to check my facts. Thanks!

[Chris Stegner]

I've shot quite a few interiors for a couple of local listing agents. Of course these are my opinions so take them for what they're worth to you.

I NEVER use flash. Even bouncing flash gives you harsh shadows that to me are not natural. I shoot with my full-frame 5DMII and a 12-24mm lens. I try to stick in the f16 range. I bracket the hell out of every setup because as mentioned when shooting in the daytime, the windows are going to blow out. I will not HDR these images, but use some parts of various images on top of each other using layer masking. Say I have an image that's quite dark inside the room, but the windows are good. I'll take that and paste it into a layer behind the well-lit interior shot. Erase the windows on that layer revealing the well-exposed windows in the layer below. Since 95% of the shots are viewed on the web I don't have to be super-critical on the edits between layers, not to say they're crap. I'm just not as critical as a shot going to print.

Color balance can be a pain as well. You've got interior lamps and daylight exteriors. I usually do a custom white balance for the room's interior, and when the windows and incoming light goes blue I adjust for it in post.

I'm sure there's a gazillion opinions out there, this works for me..... and my clients.

Good luck!

[analog.universe]

Really focus on the lighting, can be flash or continuous, but the lighting totally sets the mood for an interior shot. Definitely use a tripod, and watch for distortions/converging verticals etc.... I'll correct some perspective distortion in post, but try to compose around it as best you can (keep the camera close to horizontal).

Did I mention pay attention to the lighting?

[OrionsByte]

Since this thread is 5 months old and just got resurrected today, I'd love to see the OP drop by to show us how the shots turned out. However, since they haven't been on the site since March, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.

[analog.universe]

Since this thread is 5 months old and just got resurrected today, I'd love to see the OP drop by to show us how the shots turned out. However, since they haven't been on the site since March, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.

lol, nice