Fine lighting for architectural photography and interior photography makes a big difference in the effectiveness of architectural photography, whether it is for commercial photography to advertise an architectural or interior product; photography of hotels / resorts to advertise the hospitality market; interior design photography for the interior designer, or architecture photography for the architect or builder. In today’s competitive market, architects, interior designers, and the hotel industry need a good interior photographer to make their projects stand out from the crowd.

The ubiquitous trend in indoor photography recently (since the digital age) is to use little to no lighting and rely primarily, if not exclusively, on ambient light (existing daylight) combining exposures in HDR software or layers of PhotoShop. This technique, while popular and easy, results in a flat and uninteresting look that lacks drama and interest, thus presenting a very common or even banal look. No software technique can replace the beauty of fine lighting in indoor photography; interesting lighting can only be achieved by using supplementary lights. A good interior photographer doesn’t just light for technical requirements, because that’s rarely the case these days, but lights to create beautiful interior photos with life, style, drama, and emotion.

Indoor lighting is a tricky subject; in fact, it is an art unto itself. When shooting indoors, the indoor photographer must be able to control the effect of existing light and balance it with ambient light as well as the other brighter light sources, and for this, a high-power flash lighting system offers the greater flexibility and control. .

A flash system allows you to balance the exposure range with existing light, whether for residential interior photography, hotel photography, commercial photography or a large industrial facility. For example, when strong sunlight is streaming into the space, or when there is an outside view through a window that needs to be preserved in the photograph, using a powerful electronic flash will make a difference in clarity, contrast, and visual interest. from space. Electronic flash will allow one to “overload” or balance strong ambient light and this system also allows full control over the ratio, or effect of artificial lights in the environment, which is essential for creating lighting effects and for controlling the “look and feel” of the space, especially in smaller spaces, such as in residential interior photography. For example, if the day is cloudy and the illusion of strong sunlight entering through the window is desired, an effective technique would be to shoot a light through a window, or use a strong, direct flash head to create a main interior light. strong shadows and reflections. Conversely, if there was strong sunlight streaming into the room and one did not want to “burn out” the area that was illuminated by that direct sunlight, an electronic flash would be used to bring the room’s light level to level. of sunlight, so there is a nice natural balance. There is an exposure balance when the exposure time (selected from the brightest light) and the f-number (flash exposure off) are balanced. If the exposure range is too extreme, or if there is an outside view through a window that is important to capture in indoor photography, it can be exposed separately for the brightest areas, including light sources (wall sconces, chandeliers etc) and then blend the layers using Photoshop post-production techniques and layer masking.

Another advantage of electronic flash lighting is that corrective filters can be placed over them to balance them with the dominant light source, which is invaluable in corporate or industrial interiors, due to the fact that they are frequently illuminated by fluorescent lamps or some variation. of metal halides. which produce a very flat and uninteresting quality of light. In this lighting scenario, a Rosco ½ green correction filter in conjunction with varying degrees of warm-up filtration (Rosco 1 / 2CTO) on the flash heads will balance the 5000 – 5500 K color from the flash heads to fluorescents. If the scene is lit primarily by tungsten light, the indoor photographer would place a Rosco 1/2 CTO over the flash head (or maybe a ¼ CTO filter if it’s a mix of daylight and tungsten).

The use of these lighting techniques with a flash lighting system will allow the architectural or interior photographer full control of the lighting effect, thus having the ability to define their own personal lighting style. Bringing a higher standard of lighting to the shoot will also serve your client better as it distinguishes the level of your presentation and the marketing value of your hotel, interior product, or interior project. Fine lighting plays a key compositional role in high-quality architectural photography and should be considered a critical visual element over which full control must be exercised.