canon Lee wrote:
Hello Gene... so nice to share our ideas again... What time of day would you suggest.. Im thinking NOON where the light will be directly above & won't be directly hitting the window... what do you think? I will only be using a Fong diffuser.. Not bringing lights and umbrellas.... What do you think of me using my Canon EF17/55mm 2.8 for the small tight rooms? I am concerned about lens distortion with the wide angles ( although I have experience in photoshop to correct lens distortion), shooting in Manual and bracketing rather than HDR>? Have you ever shot open aperture long time exposure and no flash? would that correct the window blow out? I think having so many techniques is confusing me..
Again so nice to chat with you .... Lee
Hello Gene... so nice to share our ideas again...... (
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Thanks!
You may want to take a look at Scott Hargis' work - he shoots a different style than Nachtwey, and I have no connection to him other than being an admirer of his work.
https://fstoppers.com/strobe-light/fs-reviews-scott-hargis-lighting-real-estate-photography-video-series-4414The key is to use a combination of off camera lighting (gelled with a color correction filter if necessary to balance the color), to simulate and enhance the natural and ambient lighting in a space.
Under no circumstances should you bring the fong thing. You will tear you hair out trying to control it. The lighting will be contrasty and the shadows harsh, unless you are in a small room.
You can't fix wide angle distortion easily in post processing. I am not talking about keystoning, but rather the nasty extension distortion that makes things closer to the camera really BIG, and everything else tiny. It can make a bathtub look like a lap pool, if you catch my drift. I suspect you are looking for something that will provide some semblance of truth in advertising. I don't think that a 17mm lens on a crop sensor is necessarily so bad.
Watch for shadows on the ceiling from ceiling fans. Watch for glare and flare. Watch for reflections.
I don't know the house you are shooting, but my normal gear pack would be a 24 PC-E, 45 PC-E (tilt/shift), and a 14-24 - and a pair of D810s, a tripod, a dozen speedlights (cheap manual things I get off ebay for $5-$20 each), radio triggers, flags, diffusers, snoots, grids, etc. to control and shape the light.
Or I may do it with a single light, and rely on compositing the final image. Each approach has it's merits, and it completely depends on the budget. Many RE people want a
$200 job, others will go for the $3000 (or more) on the $8M house with all of those rooms and the amazing views.
Here is a single light approach:
https://lefeverphoto.com/methods/speedlite-interior/http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-light-real-estate-photography.htmlNote the time of day and the quality of the light coming through the windows.