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Really? This is such a nice shot as is. Your problem is just the time of day. The outside looks properly exposed and rendered. Shooting with the sun before noon would give you the blue sky and ocean. I'm shooting some beach properties next week, and all rooms with a ocean view are being shot in the morning, then we're coming back late afternoon for other shots.
Example:
Shot this home 10:00am -
Or do what Jeri does and drop in a view from another time!
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Interface Visual edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Yep, time of day is the issue there, you're shooting into the sun, so you're going to lose saturation in the outside colors no matter the exposure.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I run into this problem a lot too; south facing water front views. Sometimes it seems there is no good time to shoot! The sun is beaming in from sunrise to sunset! So with that in mind, is morning still the best bet?
Posted 41 months ago.
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Coastal: if you have no marine layer... early morning. Otherwise, late in the afternoon, when the marine layer clears of. Angle shots and.. hope for the best!
I have this problem with north facing properties... all time in shadow. Brackets and masking + a bit of luck, maybe a cloud or so...
I'm thinking of a solution for this... but a bit later, if I get time.. A huge rflector...
See My Portfolio
Posted 41 months ago.
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north facing...south facing.....morning...afternoon?? Will someone please agree? ;-)
Down here on the Sunshine Coast it's east facing and afternoon.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I guess it's safe to say we want the sun behind us( anywhere less than a 180 degree angle from the horizon of the image ), when we shoot at the window, to avoid the harsh, direct power of the sun. So now try adding in some snow to that scenario and you know what I'm dealing with right now! :)
You know they say in photography, light is everything, but I think there is such a thing as too much light.
Cheers!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Are you facing south when you look through those windows? If so, then like you say, the sun will be blasting through those windows all day long.
There isn't a lot you can do in this situation. Sometimes home owners, who aren't photographers, don't see or understand the technical challenge in such a situation. They think that since we are "professional" photographers then nothing is impossible.
However, you might have better luck on a cloudy day when the light is more diffused and muted. The sky won't be blue but at least you'll see more detail of the deck and ocean.
In my opinion, if you really want to show off a nice view through those windows, you need to be closer to them anyway. From where the camera is currently positioned, there isn't much of a view to look at.
Posted 41 months ago.
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@ Jon:
11:14 a.m. is the best time.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Scott Hargis edited this topic 41 months ago.
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David,
Assuming the windows are clean, it's seems to be a good idea to take one exposure that is strictly for the view, so that if need be, you can layer it in. This of course means that you have to have a tripod.
This can save you a trip...
This is also what I did on this shot. too bad it was a hazy day.
Posted 41 months ago.
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What I am thinking of doing is blasting it with light (strobes - shoot through umbrealla placed sort of far away to make the beam of light as wide as I can). Also underexposing the outside by about 1 - 2 stops.
There is no "good" time of day to shoot this. We are a South facing beach. The sun travels from left to right... in the summer the sun is higher so that'd be good but I can't wait until summer.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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davidpalermo edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Dusk or just after sunset can be a really nice time too.
This is some of my old inferior work, but this is a southwest facing water shot. This is not an HDR..
www.danachatz.com/2007-24i.html
Posted 41 months ago.
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Another try at HDR...
Posted 41 months ago.
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Better blues, but it looks like ND shades pulled halfway down the window.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Yeah that is fog below the blue sky. Pure white fog hanging there. Difficult shot no matter how I try it! This home is a few hundred feet up... sitting on a hill - huge view.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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davidpalermo edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Hey David, is this similar to what you're trying to get?
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Brandon Rowell edited this topic 41 months ago.
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David,
Knowing the area I would suggest a dusk shot from inside to get the background view and then go on the balcony to get the wide angle of the harbor etc. with the night lights at sunset, That would be the money shot. Maybe some staged wine glasses in the foreground on the table outside. I assume its the SB Riveria.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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davesalgado edited this topic 41 months ago.
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David,
I don't think any of these no matter how you cut will make it clear that we are looking at ocean..unfortunately.
I think a day without fog and maybe when the sun is sinking..
Posted 41 months ago.
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David, I would love to see your darkest exposure...
Posted 41 months ago.
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Dan - here it is:
DaveSalgado - I thought of that. They want day shots, sunshine, etc...
This is a challenging shot to shoot in the daytime!
Brandon: Yes it looks like you darkened mine a bit more... I sometimes find HDR looking too "cartoony"... There is still something "off" about the image. Maybe because of HDR and maybe because the left side of the room is a pocket of darkness that is hard to brighten up properly without lighting.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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davidpalermo edited this topic 41 months ago.
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David, I agree. It's a tough shot, even with good lights & HDR. I'd like to get my hands on the full size files, the 700px wide image I was working with didn't give much latitude for adjustments.
Posted 41 months ago.
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David, I think your second image is much improved on the original. It is sharper, has more punch to the colors, and was able to bring in the exterior more. Perhaps the only thing you could do from here (without another shoot) is to actually isolate/layermask/select the windows and adjust them independently from the rest of the image. All in all, it represents the property well still, better than I could do right now.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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C.B.Thomas edited this topic 41 months ago.
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David,
i can see why you're having the problem.
i would go for the dusk shot. Too much reflection off the water.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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dan_achatz edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Hmmm... I find myself thinking that you can save any good view with the right balance of strobe and ambient, but this one is tough. Remember, I live in Central Ohio where the only water views we get are when there's a broken water main.
I'd try a layers technique. Meter the water's surface, set the camera on a tripod and take my first shot with that exposure. Then, take the other shots you need and layer in the background. Hold on, I'll see if I can make this even MORE complicated :-)
Posted 41 months ago.
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I think I like your second HDR better too David.
Posted 41 months ago.
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David,
I think a good solution would be to try and convince the owner to let you in just after sunrise. I'm guessing this house is in SB or somewhere along the beach between SB and Ventura. The angle of the sun to the house/deck will be shaded by the Ventura/Camarillo Grade mountains this time of year but the islands and channel will be lit with really nice soft sunrise light. I live in Oxnard and work in Santa Barbara and the last couple weeks made that drive at 6am to beat the traffic. Each day I was blown away by the light this time of year at sunrise.
Mason
Posted 41 months ago.
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go for sunset time / or twilight which is right after sunset, or sunrise for that matter. get to the house at least 30 min before the sunset and you will be in pretty good shape.
by the way, most people have NO CLUE what good twilight shots even look like. that's why they are saying " we want day shots ' they're thinking that during sunset/twilight the rooms will look dark and small. that's what I've heard from not 1 but 3 agents now. and guess what, now that's all they want.
Posted 41 months ago.
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David,
If you are stuck with the time of the day then I suggest manual blending using luminosity mask in photoshop.
You may try either blending 1flash exposure with 2 outdoor bracket exposures
or 3 shots manually bracketed 2 for indoor & 1 of outdoors manually bracketed.
Posted 41 months ago.
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My opinion matches Dan's. The problem is that the sun reflects in the water directly into the camera lens. I guess that if you go there a few hours earlier or later you'll be able to avoid the problem.
In this situation I think that an HDR with ~25 stops dynamic range is needed which is quite a lot. But still - a proper HDR with that many exposures and some additional tweaking with layers from the seperate images will do the job.
I've personally reached to 20 f-stop HDRs and I can only assume this method will work in such an extreme situation.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I tried HDR - see above images. I am pretty good with HDR but the colors in this case just are not correct. I will try a few things today. The shoot is in an hour or so.
I'll let you know how I do!
Thanks for all your input!!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Well, here is what I did today. I lowered the awning outside to reduce the sunlight blasting into the house. I also used strobe. I guess we'll see what the client says.
One good thing - the color is a lot more accurate since the main light is strobe. When sunlight pours in like the earlier images it bounces all over and reflects from colors in the room affecting the color of everything!
Scott H. you are a master at strobe so I'd really like your opinion please. What would you do differently? One thing that comes to mind - I should have let the sun shine in like the earlier image to create a less isolated feeling between the outside and inside.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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davidpalermo edited this topic 41 months ago.
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This is much more natural looking David. So you didn't take any with the stobe and the awning tucked away?
Posted 41 months ago.
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I think you might wish to correct the reflection in the glass on the right door.
Otherwise you've managed the sunlight very well. Very pleasing result, I'd say.
PS
There is also a small reflection on the window frame right of the wooden figure.
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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Stefan Solakov edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Stefan: This is not a final version. But yeah I agree with you. Those reflections have to go!
Thank you.
Posted 41 months ago.
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aaron2005 [deleted] says:
I like the first HDR image much better than this strobe version. The view isn't that much better but now the interior is so well lit that it distracts from the view. The room is pretty blah blah and that furniture is nothing to write home about.
I think most people in the US subconsciously know that when light is blasting through the windows that they are facing South-ish. The first picture really focuses my attention on what's outside (even though you can't see much) and lets me know that this place has killer Southern exposure.
I don't think your problem is a lighting issue, it's a compositional one. Why do you need to show so much table and chairs? Could you shoot above the table towards the window so that the shot is mostly the view with some table and maybe a chair in the bottom corner?
Originally posted 41 months ago.
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aaron2005 edited this topic 41 months ago.
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Aaron: Thanks for the reply. This is one of many shots. Shooting from a higher angle would have shown more ceiling which I didn't want to do.
I should have let sun stream into the strobe-lit image. Next time... next time...
Posted 41 months ago.
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Both the original and this newest photo are great pics but at the same I agree with Aaron2005. This is a pic of a dining room set. Great for a furniture catalog but if I'm shopping for a house I want to see a bigger picture of the room ... its size, shape, how it is laid out and giving me a better sense of space.
You're spending a lot of time and energy trying to get a clear view through those window and it looks better than the original pic but what is there to see? The awning and railing hide the most important feature, the ocean. Otherwise all I see are a table and chairs and bushes through those windows. Unless I'm the seller or the photographer, I won't have a clue that there is an ocean view out there.
Even though the photo doesn't show much of the outside scene, your seller is seeing something different. In his mind's eye he sees an expansive view of the ocean as if he were standing out on the patio. Thus he's asking for perfection. He doesn't see that no matter how much you remove glare there still isn't going to be much of a view.
With the camera at this particular vantage point, the priority should be the room itself. Go out on the deck/patio and take a pic of the ocean if you really want show off the view.
Or better yet, position the camera close to the doors with at least one of the doors opened. Move the dining room table out of the way and position the camera right in the middle of the space the table was sitting. Open one or more of the doors. The door opening will be a nice foreground and you won't have such a dynamic range problem and it will look very inviting to the viewer as if he is being beckoned to step out onto that patio and be treated to an expansive view of the ocean.
Aaron2005 wrote:
"I don't think your problem is a lighting issue, it's a compositional one. Why do you need to show so much table and chairs? Could you shoot above the table towards the window so that the shot is mostly the view with some table and maybe a chair in the bottom corner?"
Posted 41 months ago.
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I want the best look for the room. It's a small "nook" really. This was really the best angle.
I have shots from the balcony. I have other shots that are wider etc... my original focus on this shot was to make it the best I could - lighting-wise. I don't often use strobes so this was definitely a scene where strobes helped tone down the bright sun a bit. I only wished I had shot with the sunlight streaming in...
Thanks!
Posted 41 months ago.
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OK, I cheat, I put in water and sky from a different day. Sometimes when I'm in a hurry, it looks fakey. It helps to layer a very slight white screen over it. Or you could shoot in the morning, if it's clear. I've dealt with this so often, I've kinda gotten used to having to put in different water and sky, but I would prefer not to.
Posted 41 months ago.
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I may be opening a can of worms here, but why not raise the camera and tilt it down so that the beach shows through the upper part of the window? Correct the verticals in PS. I know some distortion will be introduced but all the elements will be there for all to see. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the proper techniques that we lose sight of the goal. (me included!) I agree that morning or evening would be better but it still won't show what the owner wants to see.
Posted 41 months ago.
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well, go figure - the owners of the home liked the new strobe-lit images best. Here is what they said,
"Fabulous! Incredible! Tell David Thanks and Great Job!"
Guess it pays to do things a bit differently sometimes...
Thanks all!
Posted 41 months ago.
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