BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Questions

Shooting rooms in the house

I have a question about shooting rooms in the house, as we are leaving the place in which I started my family, and would like some archival photos that could help us remember it. I'm also keen on taking good before and after shots of our "new" home; an old fixer-upper that will be fairly demolished and renovated.

I'm frustrated with getting pictures that don't show at all what the room is all about, not getting enough of it in, and lousy lighting. Could you share some tips that would help me take attractive pictures of my rooms? Kind of a broad question, I know. Any help is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Katarina Kuhn

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March 03, 2002

Here goes. If you have white walls in the house then use them to bounce your flash off of. Ideally, I would set up a flash with a white translucent umbrella in one corner of a room (use another light for larger rooms). I would then meter the outside light if there are any windows visible in the shot and balance my flash for that light. Use a moderate wide angle lens (24-28mm) being careful to keep the film parallel to the scene (to avoid converging lines). If you don't have flashes then open all the windows (when the sun is on the opposite side of the house - you don't want direct sunlight streaming in) and with your camera set up on a tripod (which is should be for all of these shots) take a long exposure. Your goal is to try and get the room as evenly lit as possible.

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March 04, 2002

If you don't have the gear for off-camera flash with umbrella or softbox, or cannot hide the light stand, the next best thing is on-camera flash with a small softbox on it to highly diffuse and spread the light everywhere around the room. The same method Jeff mentions about balancing your flash power to match what can be seen through any windows applies with this also.

Besides shooting parallel as Jeff described I've also done it from a corner doorway. When using super-wide lenses (18mm to 24mm) both the angle looking across the room diagonally and camera elevation are important. The risk is a very unnatural looking perspective; the wider the lens, the greater the risk. If the angle looking into the room is too much to the left or right, one wall will look very square and the other will have radically converging lines. If camera elevation is too high or too low, either the ceiling or floor will look flat and the other will look radically tilted.

The best looking perspectives balance the converging lines of the two opposite walls looking across the room diagonally to *approximately* the far corner. Best camera elevation is usually found *close* to halfway between floor and ceiling.

There is usually an acceptable range for both camera elevation above the floor and angle looking across the room. It doesn't normally have to be directly at the far corner or dead center elevation. Exact perspective is often influenced by room dimensions (square or rectangular), furniture placement and its perspective as well.

Doing it from a corner doorway is often more difficult, but with some patience and adjusting angle and elevation, you can usually find a decent perspective into the room.

As Jeff mentions, use a tripod if at all possible, and keep the camera level!

-- John

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March 05, 2002