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6 Tips on 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 are few things that can help anyone take their interior visuals to the next level.
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 tries to achieve it by choosing the right angle.
Don’t go too wide, the 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.
Include all the key component of the design, from flooring, furniture and light fixtures.
While you don’t have to shoot end to end or include all elements in one visual, it is important to show case the big picture including all the elements that are eventually the design.
angled visuals are the most hard to keep straight.
click the image to enlarge
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.
Great trick to avoid color contamination is dimming the light to the minimum, this will allow you to see the light fixture working (light bulb on) but won’t impact too much on the colors in the image.
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 continuous 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 a few options when it comes to photographing windows within your space :
Don’t include them, the easiest way and the most beneficial for quick photography and for those that don’t have the tools to overpower them just leave them outside the frame.
Blow them out, is simply letting the exterior light overpower the interior exposing to the light inside. If you are on mobile, just press the inside part 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 overpower 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.
click the image to enlarge
click the image to enlarge
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 photoshoot, it’s to translate the work of the designer in a few images that the client can see the overall results.
Try to avoid empty walls, too much ceiling or too much details.
Framing your shoot should focus on showcasing the overall visual, surface, texture, color and feel and not showing how big is the celling or how much space around your shoot.
When the surrounding is distracting or taking away the focus, keep them out of the shoot to better highlight the design.
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 beautiful photos, it needs to come with an 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 image justify the client buying into your client services.
click the image to enlarge
06. Keep it straight
The basic rules are leaning on straight images, this is our starting point.
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 a distortion of the image 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.
A great way to help you keep those images straight is balancing the camera to straight lines.
It can be done by choosing a straight line on the tiles and also on the celling.
I hope those tips will help you to take your photos one step further.
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