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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Office Interior Photography - Lighting?
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06/24/2010 12:16:53 PM · #1
Hi guys, I have recently found a job working for an interior design company mostly photographing offices. As you know lighting in offices generally sucks as it is generally all florescent and very flat just coming downwards from the ceiling. The general lighting is adequate to take photos but I don't think it would be enough to give it the professional edge which I want.

I was wondering if anyone here had experience doing office interior photography or general interior photography of any kind and could give me some information regarding lighting. My main questions are:
-Is extra lighting other than the default office/room lighting really necessary?
-If so what type of lighting would be best (strobe/model - through softbox or bounced off umbrella etc.)
-Would more expensive, brighter flashes/model bulbs be required to make any effect at all?

I already have experience using lighting working with models and objects but never to fill a room.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance :)
06/24/2010 12:41:21 PM · #2
just off the top of my head, one concern would be color balance. Make sure your flash matches the color temperature of the ambient lighting. (You use gels to accomplish that).

I pretty much always refer to Strobist for info on lighting and I think he's got some info on lighting interiors. From my understanding a lot of it is dependent on the space.
06/24/2010 01:33:48 PM · #3
Use HDR, it should make just about any lighting work, and has the added advantage of looking great in the end..
06/24/2010 02:15:25 PM · #4
tripod, lowest possible iso, expose for the hottest spots in the room, fill the shadows as necessary (preferably with additional ambient lighting)

check out this portfolio for examples and ideas. afaik, he only uses available light (be sure to take notice of the image with the dog going out the door...).
06/24/2010 02:28:10 PM · #5
Thankyou guys, this has been very helpful,
low ISO HDR sounds like the best so far. I could possibly add to that with minor lighting to fill shadows.
06/24/2010 04:05:39 PM · #6
Now that I think of it, we had a presentation at my photo club from a guy who specialized in this . Part of his signature style was shooting at dusk for the rooms that had windows. That way you'd have the nice warm light inside but outside was cool blue and it made the room seem more inviting.
06/24/2010 04:19:35 PM · #7
For decades I was an architectural photographer based in California. We did a gazillion offices. We always used available light, there really is no practical alternative. The spaces are just too big to light them yourself without hot-spots in various places, especially ceilings.

If I were doing it now, I'd be using HDR for sure in the processing wherever possible. Where there are windows, choosing the correct time of day does the trick.

We used 500W photofloods for fill as needed. We used either blue or regular bulbs, as the ambient lighting dictated. Most flourescent office inmteriors are "daylight" flourescents, so the blue photofloods weren't too bad a mismatch usually. We dis have magenta and green gels we could use on the floods to better balance in some situations.

R.
06/24/2010 04:23:05 PM · #8
Originally posted by Skip:

tripod, lowest possible iso, expose for the hottest spots in the room, fill the shadows as necessary (preferably with additional ambient lighting)

check out this portfolio for examples and ideas. afaik, he only uses available light (be sure to take notice of the image with the dog going out the door...).


He's VERY good. That's the kind of work we did, as far as using available light. Great find, Skip.

R.
06/24/2010 04:30:07 PM · #9
Originally posted by Citadel:

Now that I think of it, we had a presentation at my photo club from a guy who specialized in this . Part of his signature style was shooting at dusk for the rooms that had windows. That way you'd have the nice warm light inside but outside was cool blue and it made the room seem more inviting.


aaah...here is the gentleman who presented to us (I think)

//www.johnbilodeau.com/

Here is what he says about his gear
//www.johnbilodeau.com/photography-equipment.html

edit: fixed URL on second link

Message edited by author 2010-06-24 16:30:28.
06/24/2010 10:01:59 PM · #10
Scott Hargis has some good stuff too. Peruse his blog perhaps.
He talks a lot about how he shoots things, which is a big help as well. If you go to his Flickr Stream you can read shot by shot breakdowns for lighting and technique on many of his shots. Lots of his stuff consists of relatively gear simple lighting, which is a big plus too.

I've been reading up on some of the same stuff because I'm considering doing before/after shots for a painting company.
Searching for information on real estate photography will help you too. Some good info pops up here, as well.

Message edited by author 2010-06-24 22:02:37.
06/24/2010 10:13:24 PM · #11
Originally posted by TomCubis:

Thankyou guys, this has been very helpful,
low ISO HDR sounds like the best so far. I could possibly add to that with minor lighting to fill shadows.


depending on the effect desired, you can add some intrigue to otherwise boring offices/interiors by simply placing a few mood lights around, I find the battery powered florescent lights that are about 22" or so long work really nice to throw a bit of light around.. For even more impact, you can try using some colored gels to place over the light and really make the space look as much like a trendy nightspot as a boring office interior..

Then again, I think this place has seriously started to rub off on me.. And no, the Tide pen doesn't remove this stain... :)

ETA: Don't forget to shoot in RAW, with HDR it does make a very, very nice difference..

Message edited by author 2010-06-24 22:14:17.
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