Bought a DSLR.....

[NorthDave]

....so expect a load of numpty questions.

Basically I need to get good at interior photography so I can take case studies for work (think interior design type shots). I have a full frame Canon camera, tripod and a 16-35mm lens. The camera will connect to the laptop which seems great for experimentation as you can actually see what you are getting.

Can anyone recommend any tutorials so I can get some practice in? I'm a complete novice but very keen to learn and experiment.

P.S. The reason for taking the plunge is because our PR company sent someone to do a photoshoot who had never even held a camera before. The pictures are shocking to say the least!

[Elderly]

NorthDave said:

... I'm a complete novice ...

.... our PR company sent someone to do a photoshoot who had never even held a camera before....

Good commercial interior shots to a brief can be technically very difficult
and it's not a quick learning process.

As you are a complete novice, there is a risk that you might just be replicating the error made by your PR company, who appeared to send in a complete novice.

Have you asked something like this before? I seem to remember seeing those
interior shots on your company's website and thinking ....................

[Simpo Two]

Hmm...

Route A: Hire a PR company to employ a photographer who may or may not be any good and pay an extra margin.

Route B: Send in the chap from marketing. Fair enough, that was me once.

Each has their pros and cons.

But they didn't think of Route C: Hire a photographer. Doh!


Can't recommend any tutorials but other than the obvious things consider lighting and perspective/distortion. Learn by doing. Be critical.

[NorthDave]

Elderly said:

Have you asked something like this before? I seem to remember seeing those
interior shots on your company's website and thinking ....................

Yep I have asked before. I'm hoping the fact I can see the viewfinder on the laptop will make the shots easier. It certainly makes trying stuff easier.

Was just hoping for a tutorial with exercises to help familiarise myself with the camera. I'll get there anyway I suppose though by trial and error.

[K12beano]

NorthDave said:

.... our PR company sent someone to do a photoshoot who had never even held a camera before....

(What was the poor chap/chapess qualified in?)

[Elderly]

NorthDave said:

I'm hoping the fact I can see the viewfinder on the laptop will make the shots easier. It certainly makes trying stuff easier.

Back in the days of film and using cameras with movements, there was a big advantage to standing alone on the top of a step ladder peering at a dim ground glass screen with an inverted image ..... nobody else knew exactly what you were shooting .

Once people were able to crowd around a laptop, they all wanted to have a say
and it was rare that you were able to get the shot exactly the way YOU thought it looked best.

That's when I decided to retire .

[markmullen]

There is quite a lot to good interior photography, and to be honest it isn't really a job for a beginner.

Off the top of my head (from the last job I did for an interior designer) you've got the following to contend with:

• High dynamic range, from the darkest corners to the brightest lights is more than a dslr can manage to photograph in one frame
• Mixed white balance. The designer will want the colours of the wallpaper, furniture, cushions etc to be spot on accurate. One room can have several different colour temperatures, the table light, the chandalier, the downlighters, natural ambient light, they'll all be a different colour temperature. Get it wrong and you'll have all sorts of colour casts going on, stuff won't be represented in the right colour.
• Angles / perspective. To show a room off to its full potential the temptation is to shoot with a really really wide angle lens. Then you find none of the verticals in the shot are straight, walls are bending inwards, verticals aren't vertical any more etc.
• Getting enough light onto the scene, have you got portable studio flash to light it up? If so how are you going to shape the light to do what you want it to do?
• Reflections. You don't want to appear in shot, nor does your camera, or light source.

These are just a few issues off the top of my head, as you can see there is a lot to contend with. Pull it off and the client will be delighted, fail on any one of these (and loads of other) aspects and it will look awful. Shooting tethered will help you get instant feedback but if you've only just started will you be able to correct the issues you see on the laptop? Remember that non-photographers won't understand the challenges you're having, they'll just be annoyed that it doesn't look like the shots in the glossy mags.

If I've not convinced you fire up rightmove and have a look at quite how ghastly the majority of the photos taken by estate agents look, most of them exhibiting perfectly some or all of the above.

Sorry if it looks like I'm trying to piss on your chips, just a warning that it is a difficult area.

[Xerstead]

One of the benefits here is that the OP cares about the final image more than some guy sent over with a camera.
An external flash and coloured gels* would help balance out the different lighting and colour casts.
To combat the cameras limited dynamic range you could 'flash' the room up to the brightness of outside so you can see detail through the windows, not just a big over exposed blur.
Combining multiple shots at different exposures (HDR) could also be used to handle higher dynamic ranges.

You need to really look at the room and pay merticulous attention to detail.
Does everything in shot need to be there?
Anything else that should be?
All furniture in line?
No trailing electrical cables?
Decorations straight?
No clutter anywhere?
Shadows from any light source?
Blown highlights on windows/lights/reflections?

There are quite a few videos on youTube if you have a look

(*coloured plastic film to cover the flash to change the flashes colour temperature.)

[NorthDave]

Xerstead said:

One of the benefits here is that the OP cares about the final image more than some guy sent over with a camera.
An external flash and coloured gels* would help balance out the different lighting and colour casts.
To combat the cameras limited dynamic range you could 'flash' the room up to the brightness of outside so you can see detail through the windows, not just a big over exposed blur.
Combining multiple shots at different exposures (HDR) could also be used to handle higher dynamic ranges.

You need to really look at the room and pay merticulous attention to detail.
Does everything in shot need to be there?
Anything else that should be?
All furniture in line?
No trailing electrical cables?
Decorations straight?
No clutter anywhere?
Shadows from any light source?
Blown highlights on windows/lights/reflections?

There are quite a few videos on youTube if you have a look

(*coloured plastic film to cover the flash to change the flashes colour temperature.)

I agree - thanks for the input. I find the above much easier to do when you can see the picture at high resolution on the laptop first.

I'll post some picture up when done! Probably have the first few pictures next week and you guys can critique them for me.