As photographers we have a bad habit of only showing off only our best shots (I'm just as guilty of this as the next). However, in an effort to give clients a better view of what a complete shoot has to offer them I've started posting select shoots in full (well where space allows) on my website.
I had the thought that by posting a full shoot here and putting down some notes on why (and how) I put the shots together- it might generate some fun conversation about styles and choices when marketing property visually. I might learn a thing or two from the feedback as well. :)
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A few general notes about this particular shoot:
This is a high end property which features significant water views from many rooms (note the amount of glass). That said the weather simply would not cooperate. We've had spotty sun and lots of clouds for days. As a result the client and I moved the first shoot to dusk (I'm going back for a sunny day shoot as well). Remember, dusk shots can work very well even on cloudy days.
Besides the standard cleanup I did very little processing on this set of photos. I've intentionally manipulated the color temp on several photos but that's about it.
For those of you who've followed my interior lighting blog - most of these are single exposures (a few are two exposures with a manual blend). I just one strobe in only one shot. Bonus to the first person who can guess which!
As always please feel free to ask questions or offer constructive criticism.
Let's get started!
Above: Here we are with two different living room shots.
I initially shot the wider view on the left but then wanted something closer in to the fountain outside. I'm a big fan of doors open in these types of shots. I think it really enables the viewer to 'step outside' if they like and get a feel for the space beyond the glass. Fairly standard composition 60/40, 70/30. There was a third shot I quite liked standing next to the doors and coming back into the room however, we then lose the glass doors from the shot and they are absolutely the main feature of this room.
Above: Reacreation room on left, living room on right.
The recreation room isn't going to be on the cover of arch. digest anytime soon. However it works well considering. Initially the marketing director and I debated including the exercise equipment (I wanted to exclude via composition) however I couldn't move it out of frame without losing the couch which provides the visual balance to the entertainment center as well as the primary depth cue. Plus she's my client so she wins automatically. ;)
The living room is actually a 45/45 center split with 10 on the left for depth cue. It's that little peek back into the second living room / hallway that really opens this shot up. This is a two exposure blend thanks top those white leather couches. They just came in too hot any other way.
Above: Two different shots of the formal dining area.
The shot on the left was taken towards the end of the shoot, the shot on the right at the beginning. Both have reasonably well balanced composition (though clearly different). The shot on the left is more clean, the shot on the right more busy, but it has the advantage of showing us more of the interrelation. Notice how much richer the dusk shot is though? I've let the color shift (warm) due to the long exposure largely alone to emphasize the depth afforded by the windows (cool). Personally I think the dusk shot is much stronger overall in terms of 'emotional impact'. How do you feel? :)
Above: We have a more stylized shot of the same dining area on the left, middle is pure color temp with center cross composition, on the right is a standard 60/40 split comp of a 'powder'.
The left hand shot of the dining area is one of my favorites of the shoot. It feels just a little 'mechanical' if that makes any sense (preventing it from being the best it could be). That said it's technically working very well. Nearly perfect complimentary lines / balance with a good strong color element. I really like these kinds of shots.
I ran out and grabbed this dock shot in between set up for other shots. You can see the weather is very poor (heavy clouds) - if we had shot this midday all you would see is white sky. I've intentionally let things shift very blue here with just the ground lights for warmth. I intentionally accentuated the bright horizon.
Despite being a 'low priority' shot - this powder was probably the most difficult single shot in the whole house. The walls are jet black (and reflective too boot!). I think I spent good five minutes just pondering how to go about this one. The challenge is to get at least some definition on a really dark room without creating reflections all over or even worse, lens flare. Otherwise a fairly standard shot.
Above: Casual(?) Dining.
Probably my favorite shot overall. Multiple depth cues, complimentary lines everywhere. Rich color. Warmth. Doors open to get that outside feel. One of the challenges of dusk shots with a lot of glass is dealing with reflections (you can see some here). It's difficult (and cost prohibitive) to get rid of all reflections but you can minimize them buy turning off any unnecessary lights. Alternately you can hit a second exposure with no lights and paint back in the second exposure over the windows.
Above: Kitchen shots, right side & left side.
These are very similar shots. Just giving my client two different perspectives to choose from. Both have good depth and saturation. It's critical that we have the color separation present by the rich blue in order to really get a feel for the outside, otherwise it would be lost in the 'busy' lines of the beams.
Above: Stairs, hallway & Master bedroom.
The stairway shot is a simple 'connective' bit. I like to show relationships where possible while still including some smaller details (metal rail, glass panels). We get a good feel for the openness and colors (hopefully!).
This master shot is working very well (with one exception I'll cover in a second). Strong composition, great complimentary lines. Even the shadows from the lights are following the lines of the shot. We see the bed and related space as well as the cabinets behind. Feels appropriately large. The downside is the reflections in the window. While I am happy with the shot overall I should have done more to reduce those pesky reflections!
Above: Dining details - fireplace, cabinets, and stairs / lights.
It's hard to overestimate the value of 'close in details'. I think these types of shots convey very strong mood even if they can be somewhat week on overall 'description' of the space.
These are all pretty much self explanatory shots. Technically they are still wide (very wide) being true 17mm shots (more or less). Even when working at tight distances like this I am still looking for strong compositions and complimentary lines. It can sometimes be harder to 'see' these shots but at the same time where as you may have a few angles to choose from for a wide shot of a room, there are hundreds for these type of detail shots just waiting for you (maybe that's why they are more difficult for most folks).
Above: Deck on left, master bath on right.
Nothing earth shattering here, the deck shot is maybe only notable for the blended exposure which allows us to see the light from the cupola on the right. Good color but maybe a little 'dull'.
This bathroom shot probably won't be used as is (remember I went back for a day shoot also). We simply lost too much light by the time we got here. If you look closely you can see that the upper left ceiling is actually glass. However, it's so dark (and there are so many reflections) this detail is almost completely lost. Overall despite depth cues this comes across as too flat for my taste. As a funny aside we later discovered one of the 'closet' doors is opens up to a passage to several more rooms we didn't notice at first (the house is that big).
Above: Game room, detail shot of fireplace and kitchenette(sp?), same room.
I was really happy with the wider shot of the game room. great depth, good color, open door is working well. The lights came in a little hot. Reflections could have been better (too strong). Still I think it works pretty well.
I had originally set up a tight shot of the kitchen area but the marketing director asked for a wider shot including the fireplace. She came back later and asked for the original tight shot instead. To cap off the humorous aspect, I ended up preferring the wider shot, lol. :P
Above: Master bath, hallway.
If we had only got the master bath earlier. This would have been a perfect shot if it hadn't been so dang dark by the time we got to it. You can imagine the rich blue of the other window shots. It's possible to p-shop the windows a bit and at some time I may get back to this and see if I can 'improve' it.
I like hallway shots. They give a nice feel for space between rooms. Here we have a fairly straightforward shot. Composition is deceptively center, if you look closely you see that's it's actually not center, but rather balanced by light and color (compare the bright / light area around the left picture frame to the darker / heavier door on the right side). Good balance of this type is subjective of course - however, learning to do this can open up a lot of different shots that might otherwise not work as well.
Anyway, hope this was helpful or at least enjoyable.
:)
Cheers, -B
Seattle-Real-Estate-Photography
P.S. I tend to include a lot of my posts in Stage it Forward as I have an affinity for good staging (very helpful to my work!) but I also guess that stagers might like to see some of this photo stuff too. However, if it's not appropriate for the staging group please fell free to let me know and / or remove it.
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