Need Suggestions on how to improve

Welcome to the forum.

What do you want to improve about them? Do you mean the very bright light coming in through the windows?

There is just too much of a difference between the outdoor light and the indoor light. You can't capture them both with one exposure. You could add light to the interior...but just turning on the lights probably won't be enough...as you have found. You could use flash, but on-camera flash looks terrible and off camera flash is harder to accomplish.

You could shut the blinds.

Another option is to use two exposures. Use a tripod or some support and take two images. On that is exposing for the inside, and one that is exposing for the outside...then use software to combine the two.

Will the pictures improve if I set the white light exposure?
Click to expand...
Sun light and your indoor lights are a different color temperature. So if you set your white balance for one type of light...the other will look colored.
 
Big Mike,

Thanks for your quick responds and suggestions.

I take pictures for real estate agent for their web-sites and they are commenting/complaining about the bright light coming from the windows. Will photo shop be of any help to balance the light? However, at this time the pay is not enough for me to invest in any other equipment.

Ron
 
everyone i know waits until the light gets the way they want it to be.
 
Shoot later in the day and balance for the interior light.
 
everyone i know waits until the light gets the way they want it to be.
Click to expand...

ladyphotog said:
Shoot later in the day and balance for the interior light.
Click to expand...

I have no control on the scheduling or timing. The real estate agent schedule the time and place. Every house is different, and you do not know what the situation is until you get there.

Thanks
Ron
 
I think you should try to explain to the realestate agent the realities of photography regarding lighting indoors. As you know, with photography the possibilities are many, however, there are some impossibilities!
 
The 'bright light' can be controlled by the Shadow/Highlight tool (pull the Shadows slider all the way to the left, and move the the Highlights slider right to your desired position) in PS, up to a certain extent.

I'd go with Big Mike's suggestion - merge the two exposures.
 
I'd start looking into HRD like mike hinted at. One exposure metered for the indoors with white balance for tungsten light (light bulbs) and the second exposure metered for the windows with white balance set for sunlight. combining the two will result in a picture that is as close to the eye as possible.

Google High Dynamic Range photo's or photography, and I'm sure others will give you better sites.

http://www.anyhere.com/gward/hdrenc/pages/img/Apartment_float_l15C.jpg
the above link is an example of interior shot using HDR techniques. I trust it is EXACTLY what you are looking for.
 
My mother is a realestate. I worry if someone can not sell a house based on the photograph they have being miss-exposed. I had to take a photograph on a camera phone once since mum's camera batteries died on location. The house sold just fine.

Give him the options. Going HDR is a waste of resources and takes effort and time that I would put into a million dollar home but not into anything less. Exposing for the window means you won't see the house, exposing for the house means a blown out window. In slightly more politically correct words tell him to deal with it or let him know you need to pick better timing if he wants better photos.
 
Now if I have this right your camera will snyc a strobe or more than one strob using your on camera light as the trigger. This may have already been suggested but a couple of light weight light stands and a couple of large strobs should deal with your problem. it would take about half an hour the first time to get the setup balanced but after you should able to walk into a room set it up and shoot till your hearts content. A couple of 283's one on each side of you should tame the window lights. It's how I always did it. Of course I fired with sync cords but a couple of optical slaves should work peachy keen.

Not much whiz bang I know but it will work.
 
There are three main ways to do this... the best is to take the photo early or late in the day, when it balances a little better and is not so harsh. Natural light is the best light, and if it works use it. explain that you need to take pictures at the right time (when the light is balanced ) or you can't take them properly and they will have to live with the glare. 2). Or use photoshop to quieten down the brightness. (I've not tried this , it may work but I think you MIGHT just get a window which looks "Wrong". Don't know but it's worth a try especially if it works.
3). The last is to invest in some very powerful and very expensive studio flash kit.........................you fill the room with so much bright, white ,even lighting, that the windows loose their power by comparison (Contrast). everything then looks wonderful. You will need to practice with your kit first to get it spot on, and will need a wheelbarrow and a half of money to start with.

P.S. Like the cactus
 
Garbz said:
My mother is a realestate. I worry if someone can not sell a house based on the photograph they have being miss-exposed. I had to take a photograph on a camera phone once since mum's camera batteries died on location. The house sold just fine.

Give him the options. Going HDR is a waste of resources and takes effort and time that I would put into a million dollar home but not into anything less. Exposing for the window means you won't see the house, exposing for the house means a blown out window. In slightly more politically correct words tell him to deal with it or let him know you need to pick better timing if he wants better photos.
Click to expand...

waste of resources? Aside from taking 10 minutes or so to blend the two (doesn't have to be super pro quality, they'll get the idea) I dont see what else is needed. two pictures and you can use photoshop, or gimp if you cant afford/ dont want to use photoshop.

I agree that the picture doesn't sell the house and that the guy should just deal, but if he is looking to satisfy his boss (which is usually how things work) HDR is a viable solution.
 
Although the links I follow indicate that you've deleted the images, the classic problem is that the camera cannot handle the dynamic range of exposures needed to correctly capture the shot in all areas.

The exposure needed to produce a good looking shot of the image seen through a window (outdoor sunlight) requires an exposure set for bright light (e.g. the "Sunny 16" rule). But the exposure needed to produce a good looking shot inside is dark and shadowy (even if it's a "bright" room... it's still probably pretty dark compared to full sunlight outside.) If you set the exposure so the window isn't overexposed then the inside is dark (near black). If you set the exposure for the inside then the window is blown out (over-exposed.)

You can either use HDR or you can use supplemental lighting. With lighting... if you bring up the lighting inside so that it comes close to the exposure for outside, then the image will look balanced. In other words... a flash might help. But there's a problem with just using a single flash... for any given amount of power on the flash, there is a distance at which the amount of light looks good. Too close and the flash will seem too bight. Too far and the flash will seem too weak. The quality of the flash has nothing to do with it since this is a rule of physics (it's called the "inverse square law"). Really this means that just ONE flash is probably not enough. You need lighting that can handle the foreground illumination and separate from the lighting that handles the background illumination in an effort to even out the lighting.

For this reason... HDR (high dynamic range photography) is probably easier. Some cameras can shoot "HDR" in the camera. You will want a tripod. The camera (when set to HDR) takes three photos and the exposure is different on each. The computer then merges these three photos taking the best parts of each to produce a final result.

You can create an HDR with any camera which allows you to manually control the exposure ... taking your shots (you may need several of them... three is usually thought of as the baseline but you might need 5 ... or 7...etc.) Again... all images should be taken from the same spot (use a tripod) and vary the exposure only by adjusting shutter speed (not ISO ... not f-stop).

Probably one of the better and most popular programs for processing HDR is Photomatix.

I do recommend using the right tool for the right job if you want life to be pleasant. Sure you can use other stuff and "make it work". But with the right tool you can get the results you want without a lot of pain and in just a minute or two.
 
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