The proper use of flash for interiors in real estate photography
When it comes to real estate photography, interiors do matter a lot. Your clients will want the perfect home inside and out, and it is your job to deliver the right pictures. There are several options available to you when it comes to using the flash to brighten up the interiors.
Flashes add complexity and time to your setup; however you gain a lot of control over lighting, which is a plus. This generally requires you to invest in a couple of flash units and accessories like a powerful studio flash. You must avoid direct usage of flash whenever you can, because a flash pointed directly at the room will give you horrific results.
Using a bounce flash can help you control the way the light bounces off the ceiling giving you the illumination you want without the side-effects. A hot shoe flash can be used when it comes to lighting up a small room, for it does an excellent job. If your flash head pivots, you can simply aim it back to bounce off a white wall behind the camera; helping you spread light all over the room. Try opening your aperture a little bit more when it comes to a bigger room; however, as this diminishes the flash. You must remember, no matter how powerful your flash, it can never compare to the daylight outside.
Some photographers use multiple flashes to add power and extend the range you cover; especially to light up adjoining rooms and hallways. You can place a slave flash unit in a large room; when they detect another flash firing, these optical slaves tend to fire off aiding your camera work. While others need a radio or wired sync cords from cameras to set them off.
When you are faced with photographing a bathroom or a hall, you can open the doors and windows helping the natural light flood in, to aid your flash. If however, the areas outside are also dark, you can simply place powerful flashes there to aim in the light through the window. This way you tend to cheer up the dining area and complement the warm interior.
Make sure you let some of these techniques guide you, the next time you find yourself clicking a dark interior and you will be surprised by how helpful they will be!
