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Bringing the view indoors ... what's the best way?

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace NV License # 56750

One of the things I love most about real estate is taking pictures of different architecture and interior designs to use for web content and marketing. Outdoors I usually do pretty well with the basic rule 'Keep the sun at your back'. Just about every day in the Las Vegas valley is sunny so we get plenty of chances to practice!

Wow, it's really bright outside!The big challenge I have is capturing both the interior of a home and the view outside. I use an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom in portrait mode with flash. About half the time I end up with pretty good balance between indoors and outdoors, but the other half results in 'window flare' like in this photo.

I've read one solution that says to take one photo of the room, a second of the view, and then layer them to create a final image. What aperture and shutter speed adjustments should be made to shoot the windows and view? And while this approach is a litle more involved than 'point and shoot', is it the preferred method for quality photos?

Even better would be taking one picture that accurately depicts both the room and the view. I've stumbled across decent results using auto settings. Are there adjustments or tweaks I can use to make my results more consistent? I'm looking for which settings to change, plus tips like 'don't point the lens directly at a window' or 'shoot interior photos at mid-day when the sun is above the house'.

The statistics consistently cite that consumers want to see photos online. So it naturally follows that better quality photos will lead to more leads and clients. Between all of the Rainers and the great photographers we have here, it should be pretty easy to build a list of tips that will help us all improve our photos. So please, give me your best shot (pun intended) and let's show the world some great homes and great views!

Jane E. Haas
Jane Haas Photography - Davenport, FL
Well, hard for me to advise you since i don't know what kind of camera you use, but I use a big on-camera flash and a diffuser, which gives me nice, soft, ambient lighting like this:
Soft lighting
Or you can close blinds slightly to diffuse incoming light and just use a slower shutter and wider aperture for a look like this:
aperture
You can bounce flash off the ceiling for foreground light and use indirect light from the window to light the background like this:
indirect lighting
And for this one, I used very little light inside the room, relying only on my bounce light in order to really capture the view:
view
And this, I took just yesterday, no flash, only the one lamp and natural light from the windows along with a slightly over exposed since it was a fairly dark room, but the view out the window wasn't the greatest so that was why I wasn't worried:
dark
Hope that helps!  The best thing you can do is really stage the room.  I do like to utilize pets now and then, since they give a real sense of "Home" to the photo!
If you want to see more examples, you can visit either http://hauntinglybeautiful.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=4  or my myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/janehaas - maybe they wil give you some ideas!
Apr 27, 2007 07:53 AM
Sharon Simms
Coastal Properties Group International - Christie's International - Saint Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS
John, that's always a problem for me, too. Wish all my photos came out like Jane's sunset shot. I saw a demonstration of Photoshop Elements that from one picture made it into two layers and adjusted one for the proper interior exposure and one for the proper exterior view exposure, then combined the two. That's a bit complex for me - like you, I'd like to just point and shoot and get them both.
Apr 28, 2007 08:35 AM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher
Beautiful photos!  I am also just a point and shoot person which is why I can NEVER get a gorgeous view the way you captured that!  Thank you for the lovely shots.
Apr 28, 2007 09:44 PM