This article was written by the New York Institute of Photography, America’s oldest and largest photography school. NYI provides professional-level training via home study for photographers who want to give their images a professional look, and perhaps earn extra income with their camera. HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH INTERIORS If you're listing a house for sale or rent, a good photograph of a luxurious living room or dining room might be a great promotion item. Good detailed photographs of a room and its furnishings might come in handy for insurance documentation. And, particularly as we grow older, who wouldn't value a photograph of a childhood bedroom from years gone by? Let's explore a few of the basic techniques that professionals who specialize in photographing interiors use to make stunning photographs. As you will see, there are a few easy steps you can take to make certain that if you want to take photographs of interior spaces you will get the best results. Let's start with New York Institute of Photography's Three Guidelines for Great Photographs. If you are unaware of these Guidelines, you'll find a full discussion of them in the Picture of the Month feature on the NYIP Web site. Guideline One asks, "What is the subject of my photograph?" Usually your subject will be a person or object in a space, but when you're photographing a room, your subject will be the entire portion of the room that you see in your camera's viewfinder.
Two ways to make sure that the key elements in your room are given emphasis involve color and lighting.
|
We all take lots of pictures indoors, and today's handy on-camera flash units make it easy to make good photographs indoors. But for most amateurs, the subject isn't the indoor space itself; instead, it is one or more people - family or friends, perhaps at a party or celebrating a holiday. Or else, a baby, or the family's prized pet.
So, in relation to interior photos, the most important aspect of NYI's Guideline One is to make certain that you select the best possible portion of the room to photograph. Show the best view of your subject. In addition to the most significant objects and details in the room, you'll usually want to use a wide-angle lens to take in as much of the room as possible. Most zoom point-and-shoot cameras have a maximum wide-angle setting of 35mm, and most point-and-shoot models without zoom have a lens that "sees" about 35mm or 38mm view. That's pretty good for indoor work, although this is a place where the user of a single lens reflex (SLR) has an advantage in that there are wide angle lenses of 28 and 24mm (or even wider) that allow the photographer to capture an even larger portion of the room.
Distraction One: Too much clutter, too much stuff.
Depending on the angle of your camera, there will be times that horizontal lines may tilt. That is less serious than the vertical lines that are created by the corner of a room. Those must be straight up and down. Otherwise, the sense of tilt is very distracting.
As we noted earlier, if windows appear in the section of the room that you are photographing, it is likely to cause exposure problems-the windows will be too bright and the room too dark. Even during the day, it often makes sense to turn on the lights in the room. Standard tungsten bulbs cast a warmish light, but that color-mix often looks good in an interior photograph. Another trick to quash bright daylight-pull the curtains!
© 2007 | New York Institute of Photography | 211 East 43rd
Street, Dept. WWW | New York, NY 10017 U.S.A. | info@nyip.com
