I was just doing a little comparison between a couple of jobs I have done, one from last year and one from this - almost exactly 12 months apart. They were similar jobs in that both had dogs ;-) Both were also lovely homes, although different in style and character.
They do make a good comparison of how my style and technique have evolved over the first complete year or working in the field though.
First up, a fairly standard shot in a lovely home. I used a fill flash and single exposure on this one and have retweaked it in Lightroom before uploading here to just balance out the shadows a touch more. It is a nice shot on it’s own, but there are things I would change where I shooting the same house again.
In comparison, this is the more recent shot. Both were agency jobs, so both paid the same… but the latter shot looks more “expensive” I think.
So… what has changed?
First up, I am approaching my interiors more like a landscape photographer now that I am more comfortable with the genre and what is being asked of me - so I am looking for lines, placing features in strategic locations in the frame where I can and making sure that the angles just “look right”! Now, I do like an oblique shot to convey space, bit slightly off dead on is not a good look, so now I will generally shoot dead straight with horizontal horizontals and vertical verticals when going with this kind of angle. I will usually try and get at least one oblique “corner to corner” shot per room too, usually more, but sometimes there just isn’t a composition there to be had!
The other big change is that the first one was as prescribed - single frame, shot with flash. Wham bam thank you mam type photography… and it sucks. The flash kills the atmosphere, kills the natural light and makes the room look flat. These days, even though I am not being paid to go to these lengths, everything is shot natural light and often using HDR techniques. The result is a more more natural looking photograph which is more three dimensional and, to be honest, just more inviting. It also looks way more expensive… because it should be!
So… looking at the obliques next, here is an old shot from the same house:
Now, I am actually pretty happy with this all in all - modern houses do take flash photography better than old ones for some reason, but this room held up particularly well. I had already adapted my style by this stage from the very early shots anyway, but there was still room to improve and try to capture some of the atmosphere and just the general “feel” of the house.
And the current oblique. What has changed? Well, the lights show up and provide some nice patterns which would have been overcome by the flash, there is a softness and welcoming feel imparted too. The only aspect that I am less keen on with this HDR shot is that the window has not retained as much detail as I would have liked. Perhaps another exposure would help, or a slightly wider exposure spacing would help? I have another technique I have yet to try which is to blend the natural light exposures with a flash exposure to gain the best of both worlds… but that really is pushing things to the extreme for the low rates that agency work pays per house!
Just for the sake of interest, here are two shots from my very first job, the living room and bedroom for sake of comparison!
Again, not bad shots - I think I tried a little too hard in this instance as I turned up with portable studio lighting, and for the bedroom that seemed to work nicely holding the softness of the natural light and just helping a bit with the flash - the living room was completely overcome however!
So I have learned a lot, I feel like I am getting into the stride of things now and I feel like I am developing my own style. This year is going to be all about growing both my style and technique, becoming more confident in my approach… perhaps allowing myself a little artistic flair… and building on my reputation and business!
It will be interesting to see where we are next January!