Hey guys. I'm planning on going to shoot an apartment for a client's website. I'm planning on doing a 9 shot panorama from a corner of the studio apartment.
Any advice?
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Apartment Shooting
- Thread starter alansmallen
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Try the Canon Digital Learning Center
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2887
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2887
This is one of those styles in which HDR can really help. We're not talking cartoonish here, but rather tone mapping that helps to get good window exposures in combination with appropriate exposure of the rest of the scene.
I would advise (as Kronie said) metering for the window to make sure the outdoor scene is not blown out, and then adding exposure compensation above that to capture the rest of the scene, which will be much darker than the outdoor light (obviously).
Get at least 3 exposures per shot (0, +2, +4 EV, with 0 EV being the correct metering for the window light), create panoramas from the RAWs first, and then tone map the pano (if you tone map the RAWs first and then do the pano, you'll get some strange results because the tone mapping wont be consistent across the scene).
I would advise (as Kronie said) metering for the window to make sure the outdoor scene is not blown out, and then adding exposure compensation above that to capture the rest of the scene, which will be much darker than the outdoor light (obviously).
Get at least 3 exposures per shot (0, +2, +4 EV, with 0 EV being the correct metering for the window light), create panoramas from the RAWs first, and then tone map the pano (if you tone map the RAWs first and then do the pano, you'll get some strange results because the tone mapping wont be consistent across the scene).
The problem with this type of photography is that you're dealing with two vastly different scenes with vastly different lighting: the indoor scene with indoor light, and the outdoor scene with sunlight. The difference between a sunny day and a typical indoor light can exceed 10 stops or more; that is, depending on the time of day and degree of sunlight, the outdoor light can be 2^10 (1024) times brighter than the indoor light. This exceeds the dynamic range of all current DSLRs.
Thus, if you expose for the room, the outdoor scene will be completely overexposed, while if you expose for the outdoor scene, the room will be completely in shadows. One way to get around this is to make multiple exposures of the scene, and then merge them later. You could, I suppose, add your own light to the room (i.e. multiple strobes), but HDR is much easier in this case.
Frankly, I've seen indoor photos that have the window light blown out, and they're still just fine, so bracketing might not be absolutely necessary. But I find that the use of exposure bracketing and HDR can really add to the final product.
If you're not into this type of fancy PP, then I would suggest just getting the best possible exposure for the room, and let the outdoor scene overexpose. As for the panorama, make sure you use Av (aperture priority) mode on your camera, so that the depth of field does not change as you pan and reset your exposure.
Thus, if you expose for the room, the outdoor scene will be completely overexposed, while if you expose for the outdoor scene, the room will be completely in shadows. One way to get around this is to make multiple exposures of the scene, and then merge them later. You could, I suppose, add your own light to the room (i.e. multiple strobes), but HDR is much easier in this case.
Frankly, I've seen indoor photos that have the window light blown out, and they're still just fine, so bracketing might not be absolutely necessary. But I find that the use of exposure bracketing and HDR can really add to the final product.
If you're not into this type of fancy PP, then I would suggest just getting the best possible exposure for the room, and let the outdoor scene overexpose. As for the panorama, make sure you use Av (aperture priority) mode on your camera, so that the depth of field does not change as you pan and reset your exposure.
The apartment is in the middle of Times Square here in NYC so I really want to show the window. I'm gonna give it a go at my place tonight as a test.
Use your widest lense that isn't a fisheye. Wide angle shots will make the rooms appear larger than it is.
Kind of limited by that. My widest lens is a 17mm.
I'll probably go with the panorama and HDR.
Yeh.. but you don't want to go too wide. An ultrawide lens is going to give a false impression of space.. that's almost false advertising. You gotta find a good middle ground.
If your going to stitch, then you may NOT want to shoot at 17mm or you will get distortions from your lens. I don't know what lens you have but most zooms have barrel distortions at 17mm, so window frames and doorways may look a bit off.
I have a 17-55 now that has practically no distortion at 17mm, but I used to own a 17-85, that was worthless at 17mm (for architecture) everything was bowed in.
I have a 17-55 now that has practically no distortion at 17mm, but I used to own a 17-85, that was worthless at 17mm (for architecture) everything was bowed in.