Photographing Kitchens

KevArno

Hi guys,

I hope this hasnt been done specifically before, couldnt find much on it. I have a Nikon D3000, and I am a complete photography noob... I work as a kitchen designer and would like to be able to take some fairly decent shots of completed projects for the portfolio.
So basically I am asking for advice, settings, lighting setup etc to get decent shots on a budget! Not much eh!
I know I could get a lot of RTFM responses, and I wouldnt blame people, but its hard to make head or tail of ISO's and exposures...

Will be using a pro for any advertising shots, but would be nice to get fairly decent results for myself and keep the portfolio up to date.

Cheers for any help!

Merrion

I'd say the biggest difficulty is the fairly cramped space to take the photos from - this means maybe looking at wide angle lenses or a 1:1 (50mm)?

Also there's a lot of chrome in a kitchen so you need to take a great deal of care that you aren't reflected in any of it.

KevArno

Thanks for the reply Merrion. The space hasnt really been a problem, I have a wide angle lense for it anyway. I have had trouble with reflective surfaces alright, usually oven doors etc... This has really opened my eyes to the plight of photographers! Forgive the amount of pics that I am about to post, but I think if i post a few, people might get an idea of what I am doing wrong, or suggestions to improve.












Right, so there it is, just a few samples. Like I said, any help at all would be appreciated....Critisize away

uprising

They're not bad, lighting is good, perspective is off, wide angle distorts angles, but you just need to mix it up, stich photo's rather than distort them, show it how an adult will view it rather than from a childs viewpoint, you need a variety of shots from each kitchen, different zoom levels, different viewing angles, but they are well lit which is the biggest thing when trying to sell something.

Judge

I think you've got the right idea. You need to make the rooms look as big as possible so you're using a wide angle lens and shooting into one of the corners of the room. It's also a good idea to shoot from either a low or high angle.

The rooms also have to be as bright as possible. You've turned on all the lights which is the right thing to do. Personally, I'd increase the level of exposure in those shots to make them even brighter - it will blow out the windows but that's normal for this type of photography. The biggest problem is that you haven't managed to get the light even throughout the rooms. Unfortunately this generally isn't possible without investment in a lot of lights, especially off camera flashes (most pro shots are done by putting lights literally everywhere, usually hiding them behind the furniture).

One way around this would be to look at using HDR for your images. Don't get carried away - just blend a few exposures to even out the light.

Also, shoot RAW so you can pull the maximum amount of information from you images in post production. In post you should also increase the brightness and bring up the colours.

By the way, nice kitchens!

KevArno

So how would I go about combatting the distortion, if I dont use a wide angle I can't get a span of the room... Or is that just a fact of life with the wide angle? Will I need to address White Balances or Exposures or any of the other settings I know nothing about in low lighting. This pic has terrible lighting, but the spots over the units were adding a terrible yellow colouring to the kitchen so I couldnt put them on. Anything I could do on that?

uprising

Kev zoom in a bit closer 50mm (35mm format) is ideal and take 1 pic of the left of the kitchen, pan (turn ) the camera to get the rest of the kitchen and stitch the 2 photo's into one.

http://www.ptgui.com/info/photo_stitching.html

Check that out.
Or this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_stitching

free software

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/panorama-photo-stitching.shtml

Ghost Train

have you tried taking the photo when its dark outside or with curtains closed, tripod would probably be needed, longer exposure with just the kitchens lighting or more controlled lighting might help get rid of the reflections you don't like and give a different feel

Also agree that going for more exposure with the shots making everything brighter would also help

The lens distortion could be removed using photo editing software

KevArno

Thanks for that link Uprising, I'll have to look into playing around with the stitching alright, its not something I would have ever thought of.

As for taking pictures at night, I dont really think it is a runner. A lot of the rooms Kitchens are going into now are open plan, with Floor to ceiling glass in sections, too many surfaces to get caught in when its dark out... I have tried it, and the lighting was horrible, the shots just looked dead, but maybe thats just a setting I need to look at?


Thanks a million for all the help and suggestions!!

DaireQuinlan

The hardest thing I find is to get them to sit still, and not try and claw the front of the lens. I often find that ....

oh wait ...


... kitCHens. Gotcha.

Ghost Train

KevArno wrote: »

I have tried it, and the lighting was horrible, the shots just looked dead, but maybe thats just a setting I need to look at?

Might depend on the kitchen and mightn't be the look you want, but might give more even lighting if its a big space with not a lot of natural light, was thinking of these types of shots

KevArno

Yeah the first shot is closer to what I would like... But the second is what i seem to get. i also find most kitchen lighting changes the character of the timber. It adds a yellow look, which doesnt help with any finish.

thefizz

You are simply positioning your camera too low or too high and you're getting major converging lines. Position the camera mid height (just above worktop level) to correct this. There should be very little need for any fixing up on the pc.

Ideally you need a few studio lights to evenly light a kitchen but they cost money.

Bald? er, dash!

The only comment I'd add to the above would be in relation to spurious objects appearing in the frame, which distract from the subject, i.e.

1. TV in sitting room
2. Corner of mat by door
3. Back of the chair(?)

Otherwise, light, light, light!!!

sineadw

if you shoot in RAW then you;ll be able to correct the colour temperature- that yellow cast you're on about - it's from the colour temp of the lights.

thefizz

KevArno wrote: »

Yeah the first shot is closer to what I would like... But the second is what i seem to get. i also find most kitchen lighting changes the character of the timber. It adds a yellow look, which doesnt help with any finish.

Studio lighting would get rid of any yellow colour from the kitchen lights.

KevArno

Thanks guys, ah I know its a learning curve, and as Bald? er, dash! said I know my attention to detail has to improve for better shots. I have been taking them all by hand so far, but I will be using a tri pod from now on, and i think that might help me set up the shots better, and see the offending intruders into the shot! What sort of money would I be looking at spending to get a basic lighting set up? What would be involved with it?

sineadw

Unless you know what you're doing I wouldn't bother with a lighting set up - or not yet anyway. As you said, you need to learn how to use the camera before you start to buy extra gear..

uprising

As Sinead said it's your colour temp, the white balance needs to be set to tungsten when using indoor lighting as your light source, if you have tungsten setting on your camera you can eliminate the cast and have a more natural look, if not a blue filter will take the cast out, but if thats the case buy a better camera.
What camera do you have?, if we know that kev we can tell you exactly how to get the pics you want.
Shooting RAW is preferable, but you just want decent pics of your kitchens without doing a masterclass in photoshop.
Buy a tripod if you don't have one.
I (used to:mad:) do building work, sunrooms, attic conversions etc and I always documented from start to finish each job, so I know the craic when photographing.
It's handy enough to get good pics with any half decent camera and a little know how.
Let us know your camera/lens and I'll advise you as best I can.

Ghost Train

uprising wrote: »

What camera do you have?, i

From his first post its a nikon D3000.

uprising

Kev forget the lighting setup, you dont need it.

EDIT: thanks Ghost train, I missed that.

Now that I know what camera you have kev makes it a bit clearer and me look a bit thick but anyway, the camera you have is more than enough to get better pics than you expect.
A tripod is your number one thing you need, longer exposures, Incandescent lighting setting will take the cast out of your pics.
I could show you how to best way to use it, you can set your camera for a long exposure and use a flash to paint the room by flashing multiple times during the exposure.

KevArno

Yeah its the D3000 I have, dunno what you guys think of it, but it seems capable enough... (and has plenty of settings to baffle the hell out of me ) I have the 18-55mm lense that came with it, and I bought a Sigma 10-12mm lense too.

I would love to delve further into all of this over time, and learn all about the post production, but I also can't let work slip by without photographing in the mean time, as people don't always care for rooms in the way you would like, and the fashions regarding kitchen furniture change so regularly that I need to keep up!

I know I am making a meal out of this, but its quite intimidating when you move into the world of actually changing some settings on your camera!! So I am totally appreciating all the help from everyone!

Ghost Train

KevArno wrote: »

Yeah its the D3000 I have, dunno what you guys think of it, but it seems capable enough... (and has plenty of settings to baffle the hell out of me ) I have the 18-55mm lense that came with it, and I bought a Sigma 10-12mm lense too.

I would love to delve further into all of this over time, and learn all about the post production, but I also can't let work slip by without photographing in the mean time, as people don't always care for rooms in the way you would like, and the fashions regarding kitchen furniture change so regularly that I need to keep up!

I know I am making a meal out of this, but its quite intimidating when you move into the world of actually changing some settings on your camera!! So I am totally appreciating all the help from everyone!

I think the only way to find out about the settings is to mess with them a bit. Nothing wrong with the camera or lenses you have. Starting from where you are I'd say have a look at the manual for the camera and read about the white balance settings so you can get colours your happy with and look at exposure compensation so you can adjust the exposure up and down and get more consistent shots. Take lots of photos, different angles, different lighting and learn what works best.

ttcomet

There is a lot of info on it here.

Some more info on using flashes to shoot real estate and interiors is available on Strobist.com, he also has several other articles on a similar subject.

This guys work is really impressive you may get some ideas from his pics.

The best way to fix the verticals in a shot is to use tilt shift lens, I think Nikon has some available.

To fix the reflective surfaces you have to remember that the angle of incidence = the angle of reflection, so you need to shift your point of view to an angle where you can't see the light reflect. Or change how the light is effecting the scene. In the the case of your shots maybe put something over the windows (like a curtain) to diffuse the light, it will make the light bigger and cause less blown out highlights.

If you are going to use a tripod maybe try a HDR shot, just make it a subtle one not a completely over the top one.

ThOnda

Tripod is a must, and if you are doing it on regular basis, I would be thinking about flood lights (construction lights) with adjustable power (supply).
Shooting raw and colour correction is without question.
If you have lots of reflection, masking tape and black (white) sheets of paper sounds like a reasonable cure.