Beginner RE: Setup for shooting internal building pictures.

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Luke
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Hi, New to the forum looking for some advice.

I'm a self employed builder and have been taking pictures of my work for years just using my phone for my website and any adverts which i produce etc.
I want to start producing more high end looking images for said adverts etc.
I have access to a tripod to use the camera on if needed for the more important shots e.g finished kitchen/bathroom.

The setup which I am considering purchasing is:
-Nikon D3500 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G Lens
-NIKON AF-P DX NIKKOR 10-20 mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Wide-angle Zoom Lens (thought this would be handy for photographing awkward spaces e.g. lofts or small rooms when there is only so far you can back up.
-Godox AD200 pro wireless kit.

What do you guys think to this setup and is there anything you would recommend instead? Thanks for reading.
 
Welcome to TP
 
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I thought we were nice to people in the beginner's forum? I mean, that why I don't come here often :)

@LFN89 There's no real problem with any of that kit - except watch the wide angle for making rooms distorted. Personally I'd suggest more tripod, less flash as flash can be really hard for stuff like this when you're starting. But as I think Phil was *trying* to say, it isn't all about the kit.

What do your images look like right now?
 
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I think it helps to avoid the word "distortion" as some wide angle lenses are very well corrected, much more so than your average 18-50mm kit lens.

What's happening when people see distortion is probably due to perspective and will be visible in the viewfinder before you take the shot. Actually I think that one important thing perhaps doubly important with wide angle lenses is to really look at the picture you're about to capture and see the effect holding the camera exactly level or tilting it one way or another has and what gets you the picture and the effect that you want.

One thing that often phases me is how surprised some people are at the amount of "distortion" they've captured with a wide angle lens. This makes me want to scream "LOOK THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WHAT'S HAPPENING!!!" at them :D

When I've taken pictures of rooms and building work it's just been for my own use and they're just really record shots and I'm pretty sure that a standard range kit lens and a wide angle will do that job and more but what will get very good results will probably be more to do with practice and lighting.

Other than that I'd recommend not pixel peeping as the ISO rises and instead looking at whole images, or indeed any crops, at the required output size.
 
It depends what you mean by distortion. In this context, there are at least three different possibilities that come to (my) mind.

1. What I'd call "genuine distortion" when a lens does not render straight lines as stright lines.
2. Perspective distortion, as in "big nose syndrome" because objects which are close look larger than those far away and if you come in close to a face from the front then the nose will always look disproportionately bigger.
3. Really almost a sub set of the above. Three dimensional objects will always appear larger as they move away from the lens axis - this can be easily demonstrated on paper - but it's only with wide angle lenses (or shift lenses at a large shift) that this becomes obvious.
 
The main bulk of my work is property photography. Personally I shoot a D500 and Tokina 11-16 2.8. Always on a tripod and always with an SB600. On larger rooms I have been taking my Godox AD600 Studio flash with me and layering the photos.

I find the flash really helps fill the room and lets you capture outside without blowing out the windows to get the balance.

I personally shoot 1/20 | F9-11 | iso 800

1/20 to give the light enough time to get across the room

F9-F11 to keep the sharpness

and iso 800 to capture the dark spots.

Multiple flashes layered
84_Hurn_Way_Property_photography (25).jpg


Single flash with the above settings.
84_Hurn_Way_Property_photography (16).jpg
 
I personally shoot 1/20 | F9-11 | iso 800

1/20 to give the light enough time to get across the room

F9-F11 to keep the sharpness

and iso 800 to capture the dark spots.

I don't understand why you would shoot at IS0 800, you are giving away a couple of stops of dynamic range and adding a lot more noise to your images by not shooting at your base ISO. As you are using a tripod why don't you just use a longer shutter speed.
 
I don't understand why you would shoot at IS0 800, you are giving away a couple of stops of dynamic range and adding a lot more noise to your images by not shooting at your base ISO. As you are using a tripod why don't you just use a longer shutter speed.

At ISO 800 there will be very little noise almost non existent unless you are using a 10 year old camera body.
 
A couple of technical constraints have been mentioned above. Keeping the camera level with a wide angle lens, and balancing internal lighting with what's visible through windows - without assistance the latter will likely bleach out. Up to you whether this last is acceptable.

Kit sounds ok. Play around. And however much technical information you take on board, another consideration might be how natural you want the results to look. For instance in an example above the interior looks over-clinical, but there still seem to be blown highlights towards the outdoors.

We might all strive towards technical competence, but the 'feel' of an image is generally more engaging (to ourselves individually and to many potential customers) than any theorised notion of perfection. It's all about finding a balance. And not over-controlling things, but finding where the balance lies according to your own consciousness.
 
1/20 to give the light enough time to get across the room
I don't understand that comment. The light "gets across the room" instananeously, what having a slower shutter speed does is allow more ambient light to be captured compared to the light from the flash. By changing the shutter speed you could control the exposure of the windows/outside and then alter the flash power to get the correct exposure internally.
 
Hi, New to the forum looking for some advice.

I'm a self employed builder and have been taking pictures of my work for years just using my phone for my website and any adverts which i produce etc.
I want to start producing more high end looking images for said adverts etc.
I have access to a tripod to use the camera on if needed for the more important shots e.g finished kitchen/bathroom.

The setup which I am considering purchasing is:
-Nikon D3500 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G Lens
-NIKON AF-P DX NIKKOR 10-20 mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Wide-angle Zoom Lens (thought this would be handy for photographing awkward spaces e.g. lofts or small rooms when there is only so far you can back up.
-Godox AD200 pro wireless kit.

What do you guys think to this setup and is there anything you would recommend instead? Thanks for reading.

I would keep it simple ... try in-camera HDR first. But I'm not sure which camera is best for that.

Perspective straightening can be done very nicely in Gimp.
 
I don't understand that comment. The light "gets across the room" instananeously, what having a slower shutter speed does is allow more ambient light to be captured compared to the light from the flash. By changing the shutter speed you could control the exposure of the windows/outside and then alter the flash power to get the correct exposure internally.

Not all rooms are equal, evenly spaced, well coloured or lit and with shooting many properties that are not show homes I have come up with my standard settings which 90% of the time get me what I want. Where you need to be in the furthest possible corner to get the overall size you tend to find this pinches your light as it bounces off the walls. By leaving the shutter a little bit longer I have found it gives the bounced light enough time to light the room evenly, especially if there is an alcove or change in roof height.

You can go 1/1 and a faster shutter but this creates what I call a stunned effect. The corners of the room have dark spots and very sharp shadows which makes the room look small and cold. Dropping the flash between 1/2 - 1/8 (room size and wall colour dependent) and increasing the shutter time I have found I am able to properly light the room, have soft shadows and a nice mix of natural and forced light. Since the focus is the room not the outside space this process achieves what I need.
 
I don't understand why you would shoot at IS0 800, you are giving away a couple of stops of dynamic range and adding a lot more noise to your images by not shooting at your base ISO. As you are using a tripod why don't you just use a longer shutter speed.

I barely see any noise at ISO 800. I always shoot on a tripod to ensure I am steady and to mange perspective. I have never had any issues pulling back highlights either.
 
One thing you might consider is can you fire the camera remotely, either through an App or Built-In.
When I worked at an Estate Agency our guy took external photos with camera high up on a pole, so as to get a better perspective and some of the shots looked really good but required a remote app, might not be doing that now but it will help future proof you.
 
Where you need to be in the furthest possible corner to get the overall size you tend to find this pinches your light as it bounces off the walls. By leaving the shutter a little bit longer I have found it gives the bounced light enough time to light the room evenly, especially if there is an alcove or change in roof height.
Well you reached the correct conclusion (longer shutter speed - increased exposure). But I have to say that’s the most arse about face understanding of exposure I’ve ever seen.
light travels at 299 792 458 m / s
It doesn’t take 1/100sec to travel across a room.
 
I took some external pics of the house and garden, and a video walk through for the inside. This was for a friend who wanted to let a period cottage.
 
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