Getting the perfect shot of your interiors can be tricky. You’ve done the research, bought the furniture, arranged it meticulously – but every time you try and take a photo, everything looks… a bit flat. It’s a common problem that so many who have a flair for interior design suffer from.
To the naked eye the room looks perfect but as soon as it’s exposed to a lens the harmony is mistranslated. There are a number of challenges with architectural and product photography, the most notable being that the conditions and subject or often synthetic light behaves differently around furniture. What’s do be done about this, you ask? Well here are three steps you can take to making your shots look great!
Get the right gear
Yes, it’s obvious but so often under emphasized. We like to think that you can do anything with a smartphone but unfortunately photography is a definite limitation. Smartphone cameras have come on leaps and bounds, however they still don’t have the pixel density or light sensitivity to accurately capture the ‘essence’ of a room.
To deal with the varying conditions and capture a room’s composition, you’ll need decent DSLR and a range of lenses. The ability to switch between say, a prime lens or wide angle, will give you much more control over every shot. You might be shrinking away at the prospect of having to invest in this calibre of equipment but relax; there are ways to get around the huge price tags. When it comes to getting hold of a camera or specialist lenses you can now rent them from nearby photographers on sites like Fat Lama. Platforms like this mean you can get your hands on the expensive gear for a fraction of the price.
Know how to use it
This will come naturally after you start using more specialist equipment but its worth mentioning that you need to know about photographic composition if you want you shots to truly reflect your interiors. Knowing about and ISO, aperture and shutter speed are all vital if you want to take a stylish photo. The fact that you are indoors dealing with a lot of synthetic light will of course have an impact on shooting, so make sure you are factoring this in. My personal advice would be to invest in a decent flash (the one that comes with most DSLRs tends to wash-out photos).
Prepare your room
Touching up your furniture is a finishing touch that can make all the difference. What I mean by this is making sure your subject matter is cleaned. If it’s wood or leather, make sure it’s polished. This sounds obvious, but can often be overlooked, as it isn’t visible to the naked eye. However dirt impinges on light, so if something is dusty it will look dull and flat when photographed. Just a quick polish is all that’s needed and it will make all the difference.
Your interior design choices deserve to be communicated effectively to the outside world. Taking a little extra care in the documentation stage, and you’ll get more out of sharing your aesthetics with others!