Shooting a large estate, any advice welcome.

[dorian7]

Hi All,

I have a family friend who is a contractor and he wants me to shoot some photos of a house he recently finished to put into his portfolio. He has hired many photogs before and he sent me some sample pics of what they have done in the past and let's just say it is not going to be hard to match the quality of his previous photogs. I want to do the best job possible so any tips would be great. I got a great price on a used Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 so this should cover the interior. I am planning on shooting at higher apertures so that they will be as sharp as possible along with a tripod and a remote trigger. I also have two flashes with umbrellas but I am thinking I probably wont really use them that much. I was thinking that for brighter rooms it might be good to utilize HDR (lightly). The last guy took pics that looked REALLY washed out of the rooms that were hit with direct sunlight.

The house is HUGE it is a multi-million dollar house so there is plenty of space to move about and set up.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[ceejtank]

Higher aperatures dont necessarily correlate to increased sharpness.. find the lenses sweet spot.

 

[dorian7]

Higher aperatures dont necessarily correlate to increased sharpness.. find the lenses sweet spot.

Thank you, from the charts I have looked at it looks like 5.6-8 is optimal!

 

[2WheelPhoto]

HDR? Why not a tripod if you don't have ample off camera flash or bounce knowledge and such?

 

[dorian7]

HDR? Why not a tripod if you don't have ample off camera flash or bounce knowledge and such?

I have a tripod. I am talking about the case (that the last photog had issues with) where either the windows are blown out to get the room properly exposed or the room is underexposed to have detail near the windows.

 

[tirediron]

Buy, borrow or rent the appropriate amount of lighting and do it correctly. HDR is fine if there are no other alternatives, but when shooting interiors, proper lighting is the way to go.

 

[Designer]

tirediron has given you good advice regarding lighting.

Is the house going to be staged? Staging will help any house look better.

The 16mm focal length might still be not wide enough.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

tirediron has given you good advice regarding lighting.

Is the house going to be staged? Staging will help any house look better.

The 16mm focal length might still be not wide enough.

The 11-16 lens may suffice on a full frame.

 

[dorian7]

tirediron has given you good advice regarding lighting.

Is the house going to be staged? Staging will help any house look better.

The 16mm focal length might still be not wide enough.

The 11-16 lens may suffice on a full frame.

I have the 11-16 as well just in case. There are people living in the house currently so it is fully furnished.

 

[MLeeK]

A subtle HDR is often used in images of homes. SHoot for it and even if you don't use it you have it. You don't want the windows to overpower your room and that's where the HDR stuff comes in handy. Or double processing for the windows.

Don't be afraid to move cluttery things out of the way. The family living there may have a nice display of several things on a table, but minimizing it will actually help. It may be beautiful to live with, but remember to simplify for photos. Especially if you aren't trying to show the decor so much as the contractor's work

 

[dorian7]

A subtle HDR is often used in images of homes. SHoot for it and even if you don't use it you have it. You don't want the windows to overpower your room and that's where the HDR stuff comes in handy. Or double processing for the windows.

Don't be afraid to move cluttery things out of the way. The family living there may have a nice display of several things on a table, but minimizing it will actually help. It may be beautiful to live with, but remember to simplify for photos. Especially if you aren't trying to show the decor so much as the contractor's work

Thanks for the tips MLeeK, I will be aware of this!

 

[Designer]

The 11-16 lens may suffice on a full frame.

Oh, sorry, I missed that. Yes, that lens should be fine for interior shots.

 

[shortpballer]

You need some real lighting if its an ESTATE. When you say the word estate, I think of a multi million dollar house. For such a job, you need real studio lighting, or you need a very good handle on natural light and a great tripod. Pay attention to lines, keep your camera perpendicular with the farthest wall in order to keep the lines straight. If you are looking up or down with the camera, this will cause converging lines that will give an unreal aspect to the photo. Unless you have tilt/shift capabilities, this is very important for the photos to remain professional.

Hope this helps.

 

[The_Traveler]

Rather than HDR, think of blending.
Read about enfuse and enfusegui (EnfuseGUI)
It eliminates the ugly look of tone mapping; I've read a bit and am going to try it soon.