How do you think my shoot went? (Photo feedback)

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charlottemarie_15

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Recently asked a local developer if I could photography his £1.5million show villa for some portfolio shots. I researched soooooo much about how to light both naturally and with my Nissin Di622 Mark II. I used my Sigma 10-20mm, remote trigger, tripod, custom white balanced every scene, then in post (shot in RAW) I straightened verticals, barrel distortions, edited, then re-sized and sharpened etc etc- think I literally did everything textbook to try and get some decent real estate work.

I tried single ambient shots, HDR, single flash, flash HDR, Spot metered HDR and mutliple exposure to try and pretend I had more flashes lol.

So here's the shoot; Feedback wanted! I'm not sure which ones were which technique, or if this shows EXIF data- let me know...

By the way the show home was unfurnished- a tad annoying as it didn't really leave me much to shoot...so I decided to concentrate on a few key areas.

I hope they have some potential!

But noisy, tried to reduce it whilst still making it realistic but I had to get out and was rushed- no light at all in room.

0218--Gym.jpg


One of my faves- naturally lit I think....

0209--Staircase.jpg


Pretty bland but realistic- those lights on the floor really annoyed me. Should have turned them off.

0141And8more_Spot-metered-Ambient-Bathroom.jpg


Bit of an in your face shot and the flash bounce on the stairs is off putting, but I like the stars :)

0088-staircase.jpg


Nothing in this room at all so panoramic looked best- This was deffo a flash HDR to bring in the windows- not a bad attempt I guess?

0082_3_4_Flash-HDR-Lightroomcroppedpano.jpg


Probably my fave shot of the day, flash behind me, bounced. Perhaps a tad blown out on the bar bit but I just like the composition. One of the only ones that have a slight 'commercial' feel to them.

0034--Flash-Single-kItchen-crop.jpg


Honest opinions and advice please! I've been looking at them all day, so naturally hate them now...
 
I think you did well. Good portfolio photos. Lets hope they bring in some business for you.
 
I think they look pretty good (y) Well done. Did the flash work okay, or rather more importantly, did it work in the way you intended? Were you in control of it, or the other way round? ;)

Comments I would make, what have you learned? What would you do differently next time? Does it fit the brief as a real estate shoot? What does the 'client' think?
 
Seriously? I was preparing to get slated lol- maybe I've looked at them too much, thought they weren't great- you guys have really boosted my confidence :)

I am pleased with the verticals and such, think it really makes a difference to the pro look- just need a tilt shift now so I don't have to do it in post :p

Yeah I feel the flash worked how I wanted it...kinda- I did all the techniques properly but they didn't all work, and sometimes the flash just wasn't being my friend- and I see why one flash can sometimes not be enough, but I reckon I managed. I plan to read a lot more on flash- I underestimated it!

Learnt loads! Mainly- to ask if the next show home is actually furnished lol.

Also exteriors weren't possible as it was in a very tight spot and was completeley in shadow until sunrise- so thats something I need to be aware of next time. Spent way too long in the kitchen, burnt out by I got the rest of the house. I'm hoping as I get more experienced I'll know which lighting technique and composition to use right away instead of having to try loads of different things- cutting the time down in half I reckon!

And some were bright- trying to replicate a 'commercial' look- also I calibrated my laptop with the Mac calibrator and set the brightness to around 40% as advised, so at full brightness they may appear brighter than supposed too...

I haven't showed these to the 'client' yet- wanted to get an opinion of whether it was worth it! (It was a freebie shoot for my portfolio anyway) but I feel more confident now!

I plan to shoot a few more show homes for practise in the future- any tips?
 
Personally, I think that the composition of the photos is good but the shots of the gym and the kitchen are too bright and lack a little definition.

The staircase shots are great and the one of the bathroom is what it is - a nice clean modern bathroom.

I agree with you that it would have been much better if the place had been furnished. Even a few adornments like a vase of flowers, wine glasses or a chopping board, would make the place seem much more lived in. Maybe you need a prop bag if this is a regular thing - you could make it a signature thing for your images ;).

That said, the customer may love them, so what do we know.

Thanks for sharing (y)
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
<snip>

I plan to shoot a few more show homes for practise in the future- any tips?
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Get another gun (a cheapy manual Yongnuo will be fine) and a pair of cheap RF-602 triggers from Amazon. Also a couple of cheap stands (Konig). You could get the lot for around £120. And a shoot-through brolly - good for filling large areas much more evenly than bare flash, for when you can't bounce.

Do everything in full manual - allows you to use cheap guns/triggers, you'll learn more, and you can hide them anywhere and they'll always fire, even behind chairs, curtains, in dark corners etc.

Have a go at panoramas. You can obviously go as wide as you like that way, up and down, and done properly it looks more natural with less of the edge-stretching you get with a super-wide lens. Image quality is fantastic, because you're multiplying the sensor area several times.

This is where it gets tricky though, as you need to pivot the lens around the nodal point (actually the entrance pupil, but everyone calls it nodal point) to get the images to match up. This isn't normally necessary with landscapes, but for interiors with close objects, ie the kitchen worktops, you need to do it. You can spend a lot of money on nodal rails and fancy panning clamps, but if you're prepared to juggle about with the tripod a bit, all you need is a rail for about £15.

Maybe leave that until you've got everything else totally nailed, but it's the ultimate architectural technique and sorts the men from the boys ;)
 
I like the last few very much but not the first two. The composition on the gym room doesn't view well for me and the second image has quite a lot of motion blur, look at the light switch and the thing above it on the back wall. Did you use a tripod for all of these?
 
Mate, My all first impression is : I may need a sun glasses to view your photos :D
and i think that overbright can kill the details and deepfield on what you want to capture.

;)
 
Shame you blew out the bar in the last shot- I reclon that one is the best of the bunch (y)


Les :cool:
 
Yeah they do look a little bright don't they? It's just I did it at 40% brightness because I was advised too, so at full brightness they're a bit over-powering, maybe I should be darkening slightly for web output?

Its just last time I did it and it looked good on screen but printed way too dark, so I was trying to avoid that this time.

And yes, the stairs and gym were handheld! I can see the motion blur now- grr! Most of them were tripod shot though.

All these details is what seperates the amateur from the pro I guess? Do you reckon I'm showing potential though? I'm planning to shoot a few more show homes soon and I'm taking all this advice in!
 
Well for me it as to be the 2 stairs shots. I find the gym the bath and and kitchen shoots too blown out for my like. But hey thats just me.
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
Yeah they do look a little bright don't they? It's just I did it at 40% brightness because I was advised too, so at full brightness they're a bit over-powering, maybe I should be darkening slightly for web output?

Its just last time I did it and it looked good on screen but printed way too dark, so I was trying to avoid that this time.

And yes, the stairs and gym were handheld! I can see the motion blur now- grr! Most of them were tripod shot though.

All these details is what seperates the amateur from the pro I guess? Do you reckon I'm showing potential though? I'm planning to shoot a few more show homes soon and I'm taking all this advice in!
Click to expand...


They all look a little overlit but you could fix the brightness somewhat in post, you really need a calibrated monitor though or your colours and brightness/contrast levels will never match when you go to print.

I think the last one is your best shot, I'm not keen on the tilt in the gym. Good start though, keep at it and don't rule out using a couple of exposures blended manually so you can match your exterior levels and and fix any dark or light areas by using layers and masks in photoshop if you find yourself in a tricky situation and don't have all the lighting gear.
 
While they are sharp like several others I think many are far to bright with little detail in lighter areas. Also while it may be artisitic I really dislike the angle you have used on the gym - not to my taste at all.
 
If you learn from your mistakes, that's the main thing. I'm sure that the next set will be great, not just good. In the end, if the client is pleased that's all that counts.
I think the main thing is to use a tripod where ever you can for this sort of shoot. The subject's not moving, so why add a chance of movement from yourself? Possibly shoot several different exposures and combine them for the best balance.

Sorry if someone has already said this, I've had a tad vino and didn't read the previous posts properly. :)
 
I'll say what some others have said but less diplomatically...
Some of the shots are good in terms of composition and viewpoint, and look really attractive because of this. But the overexposed ones are technically awful and you need to nail the basics of exposure and shadow control.

Attractive shots that are inadequate at a technical level aren't good enough.
Technically excellent shots that aren't attractive are just as bad, it's a case of combining technical excellence (or at least competence) with good composition and good ideas - you're half way there, you just need to work on the quality aspects.
 
I've had some really good feedback- and my confidence has been boosted! So a genuine thanks- I feel so much better about my next shoot now.

I think I struggled with the brightness as I just couldn't adjust to 40% brightness to edit, so I over-cooked them all.

Should I be editing at full brightness? Or do you reckon its my exposure in camera that was out?

I do agree that whilst I have good (maybe not 'great') composition in most of them, the technical standard isn't there yet. But thats the best combo for me- as I think composition is potentially harder to master than technique, maybe thats just me!
 
Oh and I'm also definately thinking of getting another flash- I want a Nikon one though- any suggestions? Not sure my budget can stretch to a SB900 but at the same time I want a good one.

I presume it will be compatible with my other Nissin flash? At the minute I use the pre-flash slave mode as I'm not sure what triggers to be using lol...
 
A nice set. I echo many of the comments on here, but would just add:
- keep an eye on the verticals. There looks to be a bit of barreling going on in the two stairs shots. This is easily rectifiable in post.
- Not sure what the 'tilt' in the gym adds, (the first thing I have to do is 'tilt' my head to look at it!)
- Composition, try to keep the middle-foreground of the picture clear. It needs to 'invite' you into the room. If there's something blocking your way (such as the first stairs pic) it feels a bit cluttered.
On the whole great stuff. I love the 'sun room' with the view out into the fields. Fantastic.
 
Yes they are bright but I have to say I like it, they are very contemporary and I think the brightness makes it look so squeaky clean!!!
 
Photographing houses for Estate Agents can be very challenging, I do 2/3 per month, but you have got a couple of good ones.

Gym - Concentrate on getting the wall colours corrected when post processing. Too arty for most EA's.

Stairs - Unless it is a custom designed brochure you are photographing for avoid portrait shots. I wouldn't shoot a middle flight of stairs.

Bathroom - Nice shot, this would certainly get used.

Stairs - Not a bad effort. I would of shot wider to include all of the bottom step and railings to each side.

View shot - Again good but a polorising filter would of got rid of some of the distracting reflection.

Kitchen - I like the composition and can see this in a brochure.

If you are looking to promote yourself to Estate Agents they will be impressed with a nice glossy copy of your kitchen;)
 
Sir Harvo said:
Photographing houses for Estate Agents can be very challenging, I do 2/3 per month, but you have got a couple of good ones.

Gym - Concentrate on getting the wall colours corrected when post processing. Too arty for most EA's.

Stairs - Unless it is a custom designed brochure you are photographing for avoid portrait shots. I wouldn't shoot a middle flight of stairs.

Bathroom - Nice shot, this would certainly get used.

Stairs - Not a bad effort. I would of shot wider to include all of the bottom step and railings to each side.

View shot - Again good but a polorising filter would of got rid of some of the distracting reflection.

Kitchen - I like the composition and can see this in a brochure.

If you are looking to promote yourself to Estate Agents they will be impressed with a nice glossy copy of your kitchen;)
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Thanks very much :)

I agree, the bathroom and kitchen are the best. I've done another portfolio shoot now! They're on my facebook page but I've also put the link in another post for analysis- I think I've improved! Although I'm not sure if I'm over sharpening a few?

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.224598017551618.66450.188379394506814
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
Thanks very much :)

I agree, the bathroom and kitchen are the best. I've done another portfolio shoot now! They're on my facebook page but I've also put the link in another post for analysis- I think I've improved! Although I'm not sure if I'm over sharpening a few?

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.224598017551618.66450.188379394506814
Click to expand...

Now those new ones are very nice indeed! Lovely use of flash and balanced daylight. Top marks (y) Love those shallow DoF details too - makes a house a home and all that :) I think any agent would love those.

Can't tell if they're over-sharpened or not on screen. Only crit I would make, and it's pretty minor, is that if you're going for vertical verticals, get them dead right. It really annoys me (and that's mainly my problem :D) if they're a mm out. Need to check your lens distortion too, there's a smidge of barrelling, very easily fixed with a mouse-click in something like Lightroom.

Edit: when using fill-flash, try to make any shadows cast to fall roughly in line with how they would look if they were natural, like from a window. So it doesn't 'look' like you've put a flash down low, eg bedroom shot.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Now those new ones are very nice indeed! Lovely use of flash and balanced daylight. Top marks (y) Love those shallow DoF details too - makes a house a home and all that :) I think any agent would love those.

Can't tell if they're over-sharpened or not on screen. Only crit I would make, and it's pretty minor, is that if you're going for vertical verticals, get them dead right. It really annoys me (and that's mainly my problem :D) if they're a mm out. Need to check your lens distortion too, there's a smidge of barrelling, very easily fixed with a mouse-click in something like Lightroom.

Edit: when using fill-flash, try to make any shadows cast to fall roughly in line with how they would look if they were natural, like from a window. So it doesn't 'look' like you've put a flash down low, eg bedroom shot.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm hoping they like them. Good point on the flash angle- didn't think of that and I was struggling with shadows so that would have been a good solution!

And yeah, straightening went well on some, on others I could only get one vertical straight, the others were still angled, tried nudging the distortion on Lens Correction in PS but that made it worse- think thats where a tilt-shift would come in handy? Any post processing tips on that? Verticals are something I'm getting really obsessive about!
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
Thanks! I'm hoping they like them. Good point on the flash angle- didn't think of that and I was struggling with shadows so that would have been a good solution!

And yeah, straightening went well on some, on others I could only get one vertical straight, the others were still angled, tried nudging the distortion on Lens Correction in PS but that made it worse- think thats where a tilt-shift would come in handy? Any post processing tips on that? Verticals are something I'm getting really obsessive about!
Click to expand...

I'm no PP expert - maybe post in that section for some specific advice but it can't be too hard. Maybe there's just some trick you're missing - do you have the custom lens-specific corrections available in PS? Flippin brilliant they are!

I don't have any problems correcting verticals in Lightroom. Fix the lens distortion first with the custom-specific default so lines are straight (eliminate vignetting and CA at the same time) then pull everything square.

For this kind of thing, I don't really lust after a T&S lens. Others may disagree, but wonderful optics though they are (and expensive) they are not completely immune to either distortion or vignetting, and verticals are so easily corrected in post these days. Sure it's nice to do it in camera, but for me what a T&S lens does so uniquely well is provide the ability to either increase or reduce DoF selectively and creatively. Not sure that applies much here.
 
The first GYM shot seems over exposed to me, maybe some of the others too, but maybe that's just your style - but great shot of the stairs.
 
You mentioned the verticals annoying you not being quite vertical enough.
Kitchenoriginal.jpg

Tweaked a bit.
Kitchen.jpg


Hope this looks right to you guys ;)
 
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charlottemarie_15 said:
That looks much better- how did you do it? I'd already tried my hardest in Lens Correction in PP. Just couldn't get rid of the distortion!
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1) Use custom lens distortion profiles. If you don't have those (eg Lightroom) then you'll find it very hard to get difficult 'moustache' distortion straight.

2) Then pull everything upright.
 
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