Looking for tips for photographing holiday accommodation

[altyfc]

Hi everyone

We have a holiday apartment between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales that we opened this year. At the time of opening, we were in a bit of a hurry so I just took a selection of semi-adequate shots on a Canon IXUS.

You can see them at Lake District / Yorkshire Dales Self-Catering Cottages

I’m not really that happy with them as I don’t think they paint the accommodation in the best light, but they have kind of done the job for the time-being. Now I would like to look at upgrading the images.

Recently, I bought a new DSLR – the Canon EOS 50D with the 17-85 lens. I am still learning with it, but am pleased with the results so far.

I am going to have a go at doing some better shots later this week and am just looking for tips. For instance:

Would I be best shooting in RAW? I normally just use the highest JPG setting…
Do I need to use a tripod? I have an old one somewhere…
Do I need to be using a different lens? A wider angle, perhaps? If so, any recommendations?
Should I be using reflectors or additional light sources? Don’t have any so any recommendations welcome if it’s something I need…
Should I be using HDR? Never done it before but willing to learn…

My main concern is the main shot – the one with the balcony, the river, the bridge and, in the distance, the castle on the top of the hill. I want to show them all to their best in one shot, if I can, and am wondering if HDR is the best way to achieve that.

I’m also considering ‘setting up’ rooms. Ideas so far are:

Balcony table with bottle of Champagne in ice bucket and couple of glasses.
Fresh flowers.
Nice bowl of colourful fruit on one of the tables.
Kitchen surface with a nice loaf of homemade bread on a chopping board, with knife and a couple of slices.
Cafetiere with coffee, and cups, jug of milk, sugar, etc.

- all things that will hopefully make the place look a bit more lived in, and give people a more welcoming/cosy impression.

Any more ideas like this or any tips at all would be most welcome, and I’ll gladly report back with some new shots in due course…

Thanks!

 

[tirediron]

Wow, you've set yourself quite a task there. In no particular order, here are my thoughts on those aspects upon which I feel qualified to comment:

-The balcony shot. Relatively straight-forward, but a matter of waiting 'til the light is right. Most likley earlier in the morning or later evening. Ensure you have a nice, blue sky (ideally with just a few puffy, white clouds) and use a polarizing filter to reduce the glare on the water and increase contrast and saturation. I would also use a much wider lens or produce a panorama so that potential customers can see more of the view.

-Yes, I would definitely recommend shooting in RAW as this will give you much greater flexibility in post-processing and allow you to more easily adjust white balance, exposure etc. You will need special software; Adob'e Lightroom 3 is very good, but pricey. A quick Google will find you a slew of software, including some good freeware.

-You should definitely be using additional light, whether reflectors, strobes, or even just bright work lights. Reflectors can be something as simple as a mirror, tin-foil or large sheets of white card stock. You can buy cheap, off-shore flashes and optical triggers for very little money and make diffusers (to soften the light) out of any translucent plastic, again very inexpensively.

-A wide lens will be very useful for the interior shots; my suggestion for the best budget vs. quality is the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 zoom. I'm not sure that the tripod will be a lot of use; I tend to find myself moving around a lot trying to find just the right spot when doing work like this. I don't think HDR will be necessary, but if you're unable to light certain areas well, it might be a good alternative.

-I like your room staging ideas; I'm fond of the turned back bed, some clothing [carefully] casually laying about, and perhaps a book or two here and there.

Good luck!