Shooting a Recording studio... any suggestions?

[photbeatsfilm]

I'm an audio engineer by trade, but i enjoy taking photographs as a hobby. The recording studio I work for hired a photographer to take some pictures, but we are all less than thrilled with the results. I'm going to attach the pics that were taken (and edited), so that you all can have an idea of the kind of space we're working with.

I don't own a dSLR, but the owner of our studio agreed to buy me one if I can take usable pics of the studio (much better quality than these ones). I'm pretty sure that I can do it, but I was wondering if anyone can help me out with the lighting. The pics we have now are very flat, and I want them to pop more. I am, however, required to use a pretty wide angle lens, revealing mostly everything in the studio and making it difficult to put up lighting. At first I thought about doing a long exposure, since there won't be any movement happening in the shots, but I'm wondering if I'd end up with better results by renting and hiding some small lights.

Any suggestions on ow to improve these photos? I think that the console is overexposed, and the speakers were underexposed until the photog played with their exposure (but they now look like crap). And there are hotspots throughout the picture (i.e. on the wood trim running along the window into the recording booth). I have a history in Film lighting (silver screen), but I'm used to working with big lights that I (a) can't afford, and (b) don't have the strength to set up on my own. Should I be using strobes? Do I have to wire them all together, or can I set them up to set each other off automatically?

Should I try some HDR photography?

Please let me know any suggestions any of you have.
Thanks!!

 

[hurd300403]

well, i wouldn't say it's a horrible picture (though the speakers look pasted in), but i would first try and go for some different compositions to make things more interesting in the space. i too work with audio and photography, and the more gear you have with "pretty lights" the better. turn everything on, get an interesting angle on the console, and make it look like a happenin' studio!

HDR is worth a shot too! Cheaper than buying/renting lots of new equip too...

 

[KOrmechea]

Sorry you had some bad luck. Here's my idea(s).

First of all, have both monitors either on or off (I'd say off). And, either get rid of the chair or kind of center it at the desk (and push it in so it looks nice).

Second, I'd position the camera in the left hand, rear corner of the studio; in front of or on top of that counter we see on the left. Just don't include it like he did (it takes away from image and makes the room look smaller). I'd try to get a decent shot from on top of it. That might give a cool perspective. The straight on angle doesn't do much for me.

I don't know how much space is over there, but maybe try a shot or two from the right side of the board, just around that corner we see. That would put more emphasis on the console (which is kind of important), while cutting out things we don't need to see; that counter mentioned earlier and the whole right hand wall.

As for exposure, I think his was ok. I think it would be ok if the speakers were a little underexposed as, while they're important, we all know what they look like and can fill in the details ourselves (whatever you do, don't "fix" them like he did). To get the console right, shoot multiple images with different settings and see what comes out best for you.

And, as for lighting, I'd go with available light. I think it will keep things looking natural. The hot spots will be hard to avoid due to the type of lighting in the room.

Good luck.

 

[AmFotog]

You could definitely fix this photo up in photoshop to make it look better, and you might want to adjust the white balance since you're shooting in tungsten, personally i like my whites to be white, but not everyone feels the same. Goodluck!