6 Tips how to improve your Interior Design Photos

Interior Design Photographer is doing a technical job, and requires a lot of experience and knowledge,

but there is few things that can help anyone take their interior photos to the next level.

Here are 6 tips that will help you get better interior photos

01. Choosing the right angle

It doesn’t matter what type of photography you do, choosing the right angle is always crucial.

Start by scouting the space, the elements and the view, understand what was the work that has been done to the space and try to achieve it by choosing the right angle.

Don’t go too wide, design is about the elements and not wall to wall like in real estate photography.

Stay away from ultra wide lenses and a 24mm is a good focal length to start with or slightly zoom on your smart phone.

Try to avoid corner shoots and keep it straight forward.

angled photos are the most hard to keep straight.

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02. Lighting

Work with the light, open all the interior lighting, try to avoid multiple color lighting such as tungsten, led and florescent used together as they can impact your colors.

Use the natural light and shoot according to the movement of the sun.

Open shades and close curtains depending on the result you would like to get and depending on the sun position.

Use supplemental lighting like strobes, flashes, speed-lights and continues lights to embellish the light gently.

Try to work with the sun coming from the side and not directly towards your lens to avoid glare and lens flare and to have some dramatic and natural light when the sun comes from the sides.

03. How do you handle windows

Windows are hard to capture, you always have to decide between blown our windows or the views from them.

You have few options when it comes to photographing windows within your interiors :

Dont’ include them, the easiest way and the most beneficial for quick photography and for those that don’t have the tools to over power them, is just to photograph with the windows outside of the frame or with the back to them.

Blow them out, is simply letting the exterior light overpower the interior by exposing to the interior. If you are on mobile, just press the interior and it will adjust the exposure.

This is also a great way to avoid un wanted views such as power lines or views that are not interesting or beneficial to the shoot.

The last option is the most tricky one, in order to view the exterior you have to over power the exterior light with interior light, this can be done by doing multiple exposures and than combining them in post production (HDR) or using supplemental (strong) light in the interior.

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04. Focus on the work not the details

While interior design is all about the details, the work of the designer is measured by the whole space.

Leave those closeups of furniture and accessories unless you are photographing for those purposes , focus on the overall experience of the space.

Don’t forget what is the purpose of the interior design photoshoot, it’s to translate the work of the designer in few photos that the client can see the overall results.

05. It’s all about the Details

Yes, it’s all about the details, and I am not talking about the last tip, I am talking about the actual details.

Having an interior design photographer is much more than just taking a beautiful photos, it needs to come with the understanding of what the designer did in the space, what makes him or her special and what their clients are looking to see in the photos.

Keep attention to details, things like garbage cans, cables, not straight rugs, carpets, blankets and pillows, turn the lights, fireplace, open the windows and close the TVs.

Make the frame to include as much work possible in one space and always have in mind how would the photo justify the client buying into your client services.

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06. Keep it straight

The basic rules of architecture and interior design photography are leaning on straight photos.

Use the level of the camera and tripod to make sure you are parallel to the floor, keep the camera direct and not up or down to avoid crooked lines.

Avoid using ultra wide lenses that can create distortion of the photo And try to avoid photographing from an angle.

Use the “Grid” function on smart phone, that will help you see if your lines are straight.

Hope those tips will help you interior design photographers to take your photos one step further.