Looks like I talked myself into shooting an interior for a local designer.

So, I have no idea how to shoot this. Any ideas? If you could direct me to a resource or two that would be awesome!

It is a bar, so I don't think there is much for window light and I imagine it will be very dark.

Thanks.

Grab your tripod, a wide angle lens, and do some long exposures. You'll be surprised how little light is necessary to make some great images of interiors when you can let the tripod and camera work for you. Of course this will only work if you don't have people walking around in your shot, but that should be an easy request.

The other option is to rent a couple 580's, place them strategically around the room (possibly with some colored gels) and trigger them remotely. Move them around and let them hit different parts of the room until you find something that works. If they're giving you a decent amount of time to shoot when they're closed for business you should be able to experiment and come up with some good stuff.

/.02

Thanks Masen!

The bar hasen't opened yet, so I should have plenty of time to setup and won't have to worry about people.

I figured I would be using a tripod. This will be unique because I never use a tripod. I have a really crappy one too. I think it cost me about 30 bucks.

This should be interesting. If I get any good shots I will post them.

Turn on all the lights you can. I've done this stuff - will try and post photos.

hahaha, me neither! LOL, Looking forward to those examples Matt!

The key for us was multiple exposures, bracketing in case we were wrong, using a tripod in both the center of the room (multiple shots spinning it around) and a tripod in the corner of the room (overviews), take multiple angles, turn all the lights on you can, and if you need the outdoor shot in a photo, double shoot it - very dark, very light, with the same tripod position - layer them and blend the exposures HDR style.

Here we go:

Aaron, you may want a shutter release too. Long exposures with your hand trigering the shutter can cause camera shake which translates into blur. If you don't have one then put the camera on timer (3-5 seconds) push the button, let the camera settle, and then let it take the pic. If you can lift the mirror prior to the exposure that is even better, because sometimes mirror vibrations are enough to cause blur.

bring some supplemental lighting incase you need to add some

Hi Aaron,

Last week, I shot this church in Wichita for a pro audio company. They did the sound reinforcment.

Canon 20D, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6

I went with the wider aperature because I wanted the speaker to be the sharpest object in the image while capturing the depth of the room.


Info: .8 sec, f/5.6, 11mm, ISO 100

For other images, I used a wider aperature for greater D.O.F.


Info: 3.2 sec, f/16, 10mm, ISO 100

Other info: mirror lock-up was active, a remote trigger was used in all shots, tripod used was a Bogen 3001D with a 486RC2 ballhead.

Perspective correction achieved with Photoshop.

One other thing- I used my 580 with a 1CTO gel in several shots. I had to go back and blend layers to get the color temp closer because the single gel wasn't enough.

A few thoughts on this: While Matt's images are very impressive, it is not always advisable to turn on all interior lights... or any for that matter. Just like with any other photography, you have to decide what look you want.

It is very customary to leave all lights off for home interiors, for example. My opinion on this is, if there is daylight coming in windows, why does the homeowner have all the lights on?

I think you mentioned that this is for a bar. In that case, you should arrived prepared with many kinds of light bulbs at EXTREMELY low wattages... lower than you could possibly imagine. The reason is if you are going to do very long exposures (about 20-30 seconds sometimes) those practicals will let in a ton of light if you have 60 watt bulbs in them. Dimming sometimes helps, but it also lowers the color temperature. If you have no daylight to contend with (causing mixed light) then you probably could get away with using some dimmers and white balance accordingly. It is also imperative to bring ND gels to cover lights that you can't dim. Seriously consider scouting the location, seeing what kind of bulbs they have and then buy lower wattage bulbs accordingly.

Rent or borrow a good, solid tripod. Consider buying a hot-shoe spirit level (they're cheap).

If you use very small apertures, which you generally should to achieve long depth of field, be careful of dust in the camera. The smaller aperture will create a more prominent shadow on the sensor.

Definitely follow the advice above about bracketing, mirror lock up, remote shutter release/self timer.

Don't forget to shoot detail shots as well. It's not always about big, wide spaces.

Bring a laptop and review the images BIG at each setup to ensure everything looks good. Don't trust the camera's LCD.

It's very different from wedding photography, but fun and creative in its own way. The good news is, it's most likely not a one-shot deal. Despite some embarrassment, if it's a total disaster you can always do some more research and reshoot.

Thanks for all the replies!

Man...more crap to buy. This is seriously never ending...

I really hate my tripod probably because it is so cheap. I bought it a long time ago before I was making any money. So, maybe it is time to upgrade. I suppose I could rent one.

The shoot is this Saturday. I will post some images when I am done.

I might go super ghetto and bring the maglite with the paper snoot, a la Alt F painting with light.

Nothing says professional like a flashligt!

Don't forget to practice at home!

I was thinking the same thing!

I was going to suggest painting with light where you need it, but just said supplemental.
I think it would be great to paint some stuff in.

Over on flickr there is a guy by the name of Scott Hargis. He has some very good interior shots and a lot of his stuff has lighting details in the description. He is also a very nice guy and probably would give you some pointers if you pm'd him.

Sweet, thanks Ryan.

Frank, great minds think alike!

Hmmm....I really appreciate all the posts with images and links to others.

But, I want to try and be a little different then shooting a standard lit interior. I guess I should have said that earlier. But, I probably I needed to see the standard stuff before I realized that is not the direction I want to go in.

Thanks everybody.

Wow Ryan. That flickr link is great! Something to strive for.

Man, it must be so easy to shoot finished interiors...I just had to shoot a bunch of interiors that were only at the drywall stage for my day job's website. it was so boring. haha (precisionsd.com if you really care lol)

You'll do fine Aaron.

Try to make sure you deliver perspective correct images. You can get a somewhat decent passable so-so shot with converging or diverging verticals, but that same shot jumps when those elements are correct. It's subconscious. Even people that don't know what they are seeing pick up on it. If you're shooting for a designer who is used to buying real architectural photography, to them, bad verticals will be the first and biggest sign of an amateur shoot.

Here is some mostly 4x5 Really Old Work of mine when I used to work in that field:

http://climie.com/post/archsamples/

Marc

Look at this guy's site. This is the kind of stuff you attain only when you live, eat an breathe architectural photography. But there is lots to draw inspiration from, seeing how things are framed, etc. Now, when you look at his mid/high rise exteriors, he has a habit of overcorrecting a tad, but I have to believe it's his 'style' as it's very consistent and part of his overall look.

http://brphoto.com/main.php

Marc

Thanks for the links Marc. And by the way thanks for telling Zack to take pictures again. You are responsible for inspiring A LOT of photographers!

Alyssa, we'll see...

Lately, I have hated using my wide lens 11-18 Tamron (for cropped cameras). The barrel distortion is almost unbearable to me.

This will be a fun little project that if it turns out yucky, no biggie. I am doing this for FREE.

Ok, so the the bar wasn't finished so I will have to go back in a few weeks.

Here is a quick shot I took of the doorway/entrance.