| Good pictures of interiors are a must if you want to | | | | from near to far will be in focus if you are using a |
| make a good impression, but it is notoriously difficult | | | | wide lens) and start at an exposure of about one |
| to get good results with a consumer camera. In my | | | | second. Take a picture and look at the back of the |
| work photographing villas for holiday rentals I have | | | | camera. The approach is deliberately slapdash: forget |
| worked out some short cuts to getting good results | | | | the burnt out windows and concentrate on the |
| with minimal and cheap equipment and at great | | | | furniture. If it looks too bright then you are in the |
| speed. Here's how. | | | | right parish. If not, make it two seconds. Now |
| The problems you will encounter are practical and to | | | | shorten the exposure: half a second, quarter, eighth, |
| do with light. Consumer cameras are designed for use | | | | and so on until the shots you are taking are obviously |
| outdoors in daylight. Interiors are very dark in | | | | much too dark. But never ever move the camera |
| comparison. Most cameras respond by popping up | | | | even a little bit: you'll see why later. If you jog the |
| the flash, but the results of that are dingy: things | | | | camera, start again. |
| that are close to the camera are too bright, and | | | | Finally take a shot in which the windows look about |
| things that are further away are too dark. A similar | | | | right - that is to say in which you can see the leaves |
| problem is contrast range (that is the difference | | | | and the rest of the room is probably black or |
| between very bright and very dark): your camera | | | | something like it. Take as many shots as you like: |
| does not do as well as your eyes, resulting in | | | | digital storage is cheap! When you have finished you |
| windows that are 'burnt out', too bright and lacking | | | | have a number of shots (in my case, usually about |
| detail. Consumer cameras set to automatic exposure | | | | 10) ranging from the very light to the very dark but |
| will try to find a middle ground between the dark and | | | | with identical framing. |
| the bright which results in pictures which are too dark | | | | When you get back to base, all you have to do is |
| in darker parts and too light in lighter parts. | | | | stick it all together. Use whatever image processing |
| The use of light is fundamental to architecture and | | | | software you have: you will not need advanced |
| building design in general. You need to use the light | | | | features. In my case it is Paint Shop Pro. I think it fell |
| that is already in the room if you want to show it | | | | off the front of a magazine once. Alternatively you |
| off to the best advantage. Professional | | | | can use Gimp which is free and works on Windows |
| photographers use artificial lighting, but the skill is | | | | and Linux, but takes a bit of getting used to. What |
| balancing that with making the most of the available | | | | follows can be fiddly and time consuming at first, but |
| light. Flash units are used to fill dark corners and lift | | | | practise a little and you will find it easier and easier. It |
| the general light level to an acceptable level, so that | | | | should take no more than 10 minutes when you have |
| the windows no longer burn out and the camera can | | | | done it a few times. |
| cope with the contrast in the image, but the natural | | | | Choose two pictures. Take a shot that gives a |
| light in the room is what sells the picture. | | | | decent exposure of the furnishings, then take a |
| I don't have time for all that. I usually have an hour | | | | picture that gives a decent exposure of the outside |
| to photograph a house, and so have had to develop | | | | (the windows). The goal is to cut out the windows in |
| a technique that solves many of the problems of | | | | the 'interior' shot such that the windows of the |
| interiors. I don't claim that the results are as good as | | | | 'window' shot fit nicely into them. The way you do |
| those of a professional with professional equipment, | | | | that varies with the shot, but the simplest way is to |
| but they are just about acceptable which is better | | | | put the window layer behind the interior layer and |
| than most of the pictures our competitors publish. | | | | use the eraser tool or similar to rub out the windows: |
| But there is no time to set lights. The solution is to | | | | as you do that the properly exposed windows show |
| take a series of pictures that are each well exposed | | | | through like magic. Job almost done. Often that is all I |
| for a part of the overall image, and then stick them | | | | do. Use the eraser at less than 100% opacity to blur |
| all together electronically. | | | | the edges. |
| The way to take good pictures without lights is to | | | | Sometimes some extra cleaning up is necessary: table |
| take several shots with identical framing and different | | | | lamps for example are also often too bright, but the |
| exposure times. To do that you use a tripod. It does | | | | principle is the same: find a less bright lamp in one of |
| not have to be expensive: tripods that you can buy | | | | the other shots, and erase it into place. At this stage |
| for about £30 ($60) will be just fine, but the | | | | you are using the eraser set to less than 100% |
| table top type will not do. Be sure that its highest | | | | opacity to blur the edges a bit. Professional |
| position is at about your eye height or above. It | | | | Photoshop artists don't like this, and prefer to use |
| doesn't matter if it moves a tiny bit because you will | | | | masks and alpha channels and so forth. Let them. |
| be using a wide lens, so the usual advantages of an | | | | The goal here is to keep it simple! |
| expensive tripod are lost. | | | | This technique is very simple in terms of equipment |
| Pick a shot and fix the camera in that position with | | | | and processing, but does need some practice. Start |
| the tripod. You need a range of shots from very light | | | | practicing now and your next set of pictures will look |
| to very dark with no camera movement whatsoever | | | | great. Only you will know that you used a cheap |
| between shots. The way to find the starting | | | | camera, some cheap (probably free) software and |
| exposure is to experiment. Fix the aperture on f8 or | | | | no lights. |
| smaller (which helps to guarantee that everything | | | | |