Tips for taking photos of a houseboat

[furtive]

I'm going to be taking internal and external photos of a houseboat for someone. Can anyone offer me any tips?

I've got the following at my disposal

Nikon D80
2 x speedlights
shoothrough/bounce brolly
35mm prime
50m prime
Tamrom 11-18mm wide angle
17-55VR
70-300VR (probably not a lot of use)
Tripod

Any hints on how to make the photos look professional rather than taken by a shoddy estate agent?

[ruaricoles]

Nice canal boats look cosy and appealing when looking in from outside; could you put the flash(es) inside with remote triggers then take pics from outside?

[CivicMan]

HDR the interior and hack off the pedants!

[Ed_P]

As long as you don't "over egg" it, HDR can look great on interiors. Might be quite interesting to try out!

For the interiors, what I'd be tempted to do though, is to put the camera in Manual mode and get the view(s) through the windows properly exposed first. The interior will then probably be several stops underexposed. Bring this up with your speedlite flashes. Start by trying the flashes in TTL and making any adjustments with Flash Exposure Compensation. If this gives unpredictable results, switch the flashes to manual too and adjust output until it gives the desired effect. It's a sort of pre-HDR way of getting a "balanced" exposure across the range!

Let us know how they turn out.

[Furyous]

CivicMan said:

HDR the interior and hack off the pedants!

[furtive]

Nice tips, except it was dark outside. Anyway, here are my efforts:

[Davel]

I think that those are stunning shots.

Technically I know stuff all about photography but,to me, they are really good!

[V8S]

furtive said:

Any info on how you lit that?

Very nice shot.

[CivicMan]

Wow, now that's my idea`of a houseboat!! Beautifully lit,can't see any evidence of strobes being used! Looks very natural. Well done!

[nick_bbb]

Great job, great boat

[furtive]

V8S said:

furtive said:

Any info on how you lit that?

Very nice shot.

It's just lit by the lights on the ceiling! Camera on a tripod with remote shutter release, 0.5 sec shutter speed

I tried using my speedlight but the natural light was so much nicer

Edited by furtive on Friday 6th November 15:30

[CivicMan]

CivicMan said:

Wow, now that's my idea`of a houseboat!! Beautifully lit,can't see any evidence of strobes being used! Looks very natural. Well done!

Simple is best!!!

[Scraggles]

nice place to live, had pictured the sort of house boat that you find stuck on canals up and down the country, does it work well as a boat or is it stuck in one place ?

pictures look really good

[furtive]

I think it's permanently moored. There was a hatch to the "engine room" which I didn't go through, but the wheelroom looked devoid of things to make it go and stop

[furtive]

My pics have been published on a boat shop website:

http://www.houseboatsinlondon.co.uk/Forward.html

And will be in the Sunday Times property section this weekend

[beano500]

Well done! Looks impressive.

[N Dentressangle]

Looks great.

Your pics compare really well with some of the other boats - you must be pleased!

[jon-]

Great effort!