Tips for Interior Photography: architecture of an office

[andramont726]

HI guys, i recently just bought myself a d3100 nikon. Very basic, but i think itl do for now.

Anyways, I recently joined my brother in the family business as we supply office furniture systems, office chairs, tables, parititons, etc.

We are currently in the process of creating a website, also it would be good to ahve pictures of our done projects.

obviously skill and experience is more important. As such I already enrolled myself in photography class.

But here are my questions,,,,so for my reference:

1. would my d3100 do?
2. What lens would i need? what brand? exactly what type?
3. Assuming ill be taking a lot of photos of offices with flurscent light, etc. what settings would you use? why?
4. What are points to consider when taking interior photography?
5. what flash, hoods, and other accessories would i need and why?
6 What tripod would i need?
7. what settings would i generally be using (iso, aperture, shutter speed, exposure settings?)
Again, i know learning more about photography would be best, but our project will be turned over tom. and its quite nice, so aside from hiring a pro, i wish to take some shots as well.

Thanks

 

[Nod]

Hi Andra and welcome to the forum and hobby.

Not an expert in lighting or TBH in interior photography but I'll happily give my opinion!

1. Yes, your camera will do an awful lot! It'll certainly give you great results at a far greater quality than you really need for posing on the web - after some practice, you'll be turning out shots good enough for you brochures too.

2. In My Opinion, you'll need a wide angle lens, either a zoom (which allows a choice of focal lengths in one lens) or a prime (a fixed focal length). Primes just have the edge as far as ultimate image quality goes but zooms will be plenty good enough for your needs at the moment and have far greater flexibility. My recommendation would be the Sigma 10-20mm zoom, although some people have reported quality control issues with Sigma's lenses, so buy from a shop and check the image quality (right into the edges and corners) of the actual lens you'll be buying before handing over the payment. The kit lens you probably got with the camera may well be wide enough (? 18-55 ?) for your current needs, saving the expense and time.

3. Some people would recommend using the raw format of file, which allows far more lattitude for rescuing shots made with the wrong settings but especially for your uses, I would suggest using Large Fine JPEGs, with either a custom white balance set (see the manual for how to do that) or with a sheet of white paper (not out of place in an office!) somewhere in frame as a reference for any corrections you may need to do after using your camera's Fluorescent setting in the white balance (WB) menu. There may be a button on the back of your camera marked WB, if there is, press it and twiddle the thumbwheel until the right setting shows up - again, refer to the manual. As for aperture and shutter speed, they rely completely on the light levels. IMO, the ISO (sensitivity) should be kept as low as possible but as high as necessary - your camera will be tripod mounted, so you won't need a very high one - try 400 as a start and go up or down depending on your results.

4. Mainly what you don't usually spot, like a grubby desk or a particularly untidy one. Rooms often need people in to give them some life but the people will need to stay very still during the exposure to avoid blur which would spoil the picture. Watch out for hot spots too, where a mug or other shiny object reflects so much light towards the camera that it shines like a beacon, distracting the viewer. Litter has a habit of hiding under desks and on them!

5 & 6. Flash? At the moment, you don't really need any and lighting is a subject that has many books dedicated to it, it can be that complicated! Offices tend to be quite well lit for the workers and that should be enough for your purposes. Hoods? Well, Nikon lenses tend to be supplied with suitable hoods, so use the one that came with your kit lens. And IIRC, the Sigma comes with its own too, so you shouldn't have to worry about any other hoods. You will need a remote release, although as an option, you can use the camera's self timer to allow you to fire the shutter without touching it at the time of release (to reduce the chances of you adding camera shake or vibration). Yet again, read the manual! Not sure which release the D3100 uses but I'm sure there will be plenty of cheap options available from Amazon. Now for the tripod. IMO, you need something very sturdy - it needs to be rock solid for possibly several seconds. The usual wants are something good, light and cheap, pick 2 from that list! You wont go far wrong with a Red Snapper tripod and head, do a forum search and see what they're offering in terms of member discout at the moment. Ring them to ask which of their heads they recommend for your use.

7. I've answered the ISO question already, as high as necessary but as low as possible. The other 2 parameters depend on the light available, although I would suggest a small aperture (large number) of f/11 or f/16 for large depth of field to get as much of the office as sharp as possible. Unless you want to isolate a particular part of the office, in which case a larger aperture should be used. The shutter speed is less important - the camera will be tripod mounted so operator shake won't be a problem.

Product photography is a whole different subject, although most of the points above still hold true. Get the objects well lit and the rest should fall in to place.

 

[andramont726]

Thank you so much for your reply. It's so helpful

 

[jon ryan]

Adding a bit to Nod's good advice:

Keep your uprights...upright! Common error when shooting interiors is to get things crooked. Try shooting into a corner with the camera at half the ceiling height. Using a tripod will make it easier to get the lens parallel to the walls, which is important. Tripod plus remote release will allow you to get long exposures, thus use the available light rather than needing flash or whatever. This can give a better shot, but lighting is not something you can learn overnight.