Recently I have started playing around with multiple off camera lights with my real estate photography. I use a Canon 580EX and 580EX II triggered with three Pocketwizard MultiMAX units.
By the way, my wife wanted me to mention that this home has already sold, but if you would like to discuss selling or buying a home with her you can contact her from her web site.
The first light is rather easy to place. Typically I attach it to a silver umbrella, then sometimes bounce it off a wall or aim it straight at the room but reduce the power. Sometimes this is enough to light a room. For example, in this room I wound up using just this one light – which was to the left of the camera.
The tricky part comes with what to do with the second light. First, I have come to realize that the second light isn’t always necessary. For many pictures, it is best left turned off and to the side. However, there are times when having the second light really helps.
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Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 1:17 pm. Add a comment
OK, I wouldn’t exactly call this technique “new” because I suspect a large number of real estate photographers already use it, but for me it is new. Before I get into explanations about the workflow, here is one of the shots.
First the basics. This is not an HDR shot and was taken in a single frame. I used a single flash with this shot, although very soon I will move to using multiple flashes triggered by Pocketwizards. The agents that have seen this so far really like it, though I suspect some photographers may not like the effect. Continue reading for the workflow I used.
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Posted 2 years, 3 months ago at 4:15 am. Add a comment
Recently I had the chance to take some shots of one of my wife’s properties. I am still working on my real estate photography, and I am not yet at the stage where I really want to be. I currently take all of the shots with my 16-35 2.8 II on a tripod. Although people seem to like the shots, I more and more feel that I should move towards the strobist approach. Mainly I feel that the lights are blown out, as well as the windows with views. I tried creating HDR pictures from some of my shots but the results looked fake so I didn’t use them. The following is a panorama I took that wound up on the top of the flyer.
In the ultimate comment to my shots though, was the fact that several agents commented about the pictures and the property sold after being on the market for less than a week. While the Seattle market isn’t nearly as depressed as elsewhere in the country, that is still pretty impressive given the current state of things.
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Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 5:15 am. 4 comments
