 Randy Platt |
Interior lighting I will be shooting interiors for Real Estate for sale. I have a 30D, and 3 580EX's, with the sto-fen diffusers. I want to use the flash to be able to see through the windows. Would you suggest an umbrella? I don't have any experience with them, but will a 60 inch umbrella on a stand do a better job of filling the room with light, or am I still better off bouncing off the ceiling? If you suggest the umbrellas, do I need a certain color? How would I use the umbrellas--where do I aim them? Would they be on a stand? If so, how high off the ground?And lastly, would the umbrella also be bounced off the ceiling? My main goal is to see what is outside of the windows. I don't want to shoot at the twilight hour, or on cloudy (uncolorful) days. Or would you suggest some kind of other lighting source? if so, which kind, and how much would they cost? Thanks,
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W. |
Hi Randy, You need only a good tripod to employ "HDRI", High Dynamic Range Imaging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDRI. If you don't want to use HDRI, you can use the flashlight to light the interior AND longer shutter speeds to let the outside light register on the sensor too. Bouncing off the ceiling and/or with the Sto-fens will distribute light more evenly than umbrellas can. But more distribution also means less intensity... Set WB to daylight and shoot RAW. Worry about color in PP.
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Randy Platt |
Hello, thanks for the input. I have tried HDRI, and do not like the "fake" look. The colors are always very odd looking do matter which HDRI product I try. When you said "flashlight", what did you mean by that? Can you be more specific? Thanks, Randy
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John H. Siskin |
I have done this work and I would suggest an umbrella over a ceiling bounce. You can’t use the ceiling if it is more than 10 feet high or any color but white. Use the umbrellas as high as you can set them. Umbrellas are like sawed off shot guns, point them in the general direction of what you want to light, and the light will go there, and everywhere else. The biggest problem with using umbrellas is that they suck up light, but not as much light as the ceiling. Get silver umbrellas, they suck up less light. I think that you will want stronger light sources for doing this sort of work. Battery powered lights would be quicker to set up, but more expensive and lower power. I would consider the Alien Bees or the Calumet Travelites; you could get a set of the bees for under a thousand anyway. You could also check out used Norman 200B strobes, but there is a limit to what you can do with 200watt-second, still it’s about 4 times what you have now. High Dynamic Range images are a wonderful new feature of Photoshop CS2. I think this would be a very effective way to do what you want, but there are some considerations. You need a very fine tripod. The camera needs to take exactly the same photo a bunch of times. You will need to process the shot in Photoshop after the images are made. If you are working for real estate agents it may be difficult to explain to them why they can’t see the shot now. Of course post shoot processing adds to the time you have involved in the shoot. And unlike spending time lighting the time you spend won’t impress your client. You could check out an article on interior lighting that I wrote. It is at my website: www.siskinphoto.com on the magazine article page.
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