Shooting rooms filled with LED uplightig

Dominik.S · Jul 17, 2015

Hi
This is my first post on this forum so hello everyone

I'm not a pro or even an amateur photographer, but I need to able to shoot photos of rooms that are filled with uplight LED lighting.
I have a Nikon d 3000 camera with a standard set of lenses and a tripod + Photoshop. This is my whole arsenal for this task.

I've attached some pictures demonstrating uplighitng that I found on the Internet. Almost every one found is wrong in such a way that there is to much white color in the beams of these uplights. Normally you would see a "calm" gradient from the center.

http://mdmentertainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/AHP0051.jpg

http://www.ptymedjs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/upp1.jpg

Third pic was shot by me and composed as hdr from 5 pictures. I have a feeling that hdr can be a good choice to show and what these uplights can do to a room to improve its mood.

Last pic was shot with iPhone 5

I have 50 of these lights, I set them and decorate the room room. Sometimes I only have an hour or so before people show up.

Can I ask for some tips on how to get good pictures? Is the "hdr way" a good direction?

Thanks!

Designer · Jul 17, 2015

The first three are underexposed. The iPhone was able to get a better exposure.

You are not allowed by forum rules to post photos for which you do not own the rights, so please take down the first two and post links to them.

As to the HDR, I don't think it is absolutely needed, just a better exposure should do it.

Dominik.S · Jul 17, 2015

Ok, I post is edited.

I played a bit with exposure and I wasn't able to show full effect that these lights create. When the beams were soft the overall light in room was too low, and when the light around the place was ok, beams were white. So from there I came up with this hdr thing.

Designer · Jul 17, 2015

I presume you want to show the light in your photos to appear as one would see them in life. I have not seen this in person, but I think you do this:

1. Capture the RAW files so you will have the best chance at adjusting the colors as displayed on an electronic display or in print. The colors will be affected by each other of course, and any other lighting that is present in the room. Adjusting the colors displayed begins with correcting the white balance as captured by the camera. Additional adjustments can be done as well, but you'll need to start with a file containing the most useful information and done at a good exposure.

2. A proper exposure will probably require a longer exposure time than you can hand hold, so you will have to use your tripod and cable release (or the self timer).

3. The human eye and your camera will "see" things differently. Whereas the camera will record light data, our eyes and brain will "make some adjustments" to light/dark images to even things out to look more natural.