# Lighting Interiors for Hotel



## bayareaphoto (Jan 18, 2012)

I am new to the forum. Looks like you have a great group here!

My question is about lighting hotel rooms for the hotel's website. I am torn between doing a single exposure and trying to get my lighting right in one shot (ambient, tungsten, and flash all mixed), or trying to light the room separately and do multiple exposures and mask them later. 

My original plan was to take the image at around 1/60th of a second, somewhere between f11-f16 and expose for the light coming in the window. Then use 5-6 speedlights and strobes in various parts of the room to highlight certain areas. I was planning on removing all the flourescent lights out of the lamps and replace them with AC Slave strobes that can screw in the household sockets. Never have used those AC Slaves though before so not sure of the results.

Doing test shots with the 16-35mm lens on a 5D Mark II revealed too much distortion of straight lines so I will rent either the 17mm Tilt shift or the 24mm tilt shift for the final images.

I guess my other options are to light with hot lights so what I see is what I get or to try to do different exposures and do HDR, or shoot different exposures and mask later so I don't have to worry about trying to hide all my artificial light sources. This sounds like a lot of post work though and I have not done this type of editing as of yet other than basic HDR with Photomatix.

Any advice is appreciated on what would be the simplest solution with best results?


----------



## Buckster (Jan 18, 2012)

From another recent thread:


Helen B said:


> Schwettylens said:
> 
> 
> > I wish I can find that one architectural photographer who takes bracketed shots with different WB.
> ...


Seriously check out that software for lighting control via post processing.


----------



## bayareaphoto (Jan 18, 2012)

thanks for the link Buckster. This looks like a helpful way to get the proper exposure of each individual light and then adjust in post. I just hope everything looks natural with this and not too HDR-ish. Will probably go this route unless I hear of any better ideas.


----------



## bayareaphoto (Jan 18, 2012)

After reading more I see that they don't have a Mac option. I really wish I could do this on my computer.


----------



## Buckster (Jan 18, 2012)

bayareaphoto said:


> thanks for the link Buckster. This looks like a helpful way to get the proper exposure of each individual light and then adjust in post. I just hope everything looks natural with this and not too HDR-ish. Will probably go this route unless I hear of any better ideas.


Always glad to help if I can.  From the video on this page, it looks like it will work without being HDR-garish:


----------



## Buckster (Jan 18, 2012)

bayareaphoto said:


> After reading more I see that they don't have a Mac option. I really wish I could do this on my computer.


Oops, sorry about that.


----------



## Buckster (Jan 18, 2012)

The guy in this video is using it on his Mac with some sort of work-around:


----------



## EchoingWhisper (Jan 18, 2012)

Use LAB mode and change color balance to your preference.


----------



## RyanSands (Jan 18, 2012)

I do a lot of architecture shots myself and I always find the best way to shoot interiors without too much post work is to expose everything properly when your there shooting. I could only imagine if I had to combine my shots later in order to get my exposures. For me I blow out the windows to white..since rarely is there scenes outside of the windows I think would enhance my shots. Then I expose properly for the ambient lighting in the room...your going to want a little bit longer of an exposure then 1/60th of a second in order to boost the ambient wall lighting or any lamps etc that are in the room. So your 100% going to need a tripod for this kind of work. Then you can bring along a few strobes...I bring 4...and adjust your F-Stop to what is needed to balance the lighting. Here are a few examples.


----------



## bayareaphoto (Jan 18, 2012)

Great shots Ryan! I like your natural lighting. What lens did you use to take these images?


----------



## KmH (Jan 18, 2012)

The EXIF data for the last one shows a 19mm focal length was used set to f/9, for 1/2 second @ ISO 100, mounted on a Canon 5D.


----------



## 2WheelPhoto (Jan 18, 2012)

Ryan thanks for the tips and wonderful pics.  My triggers and strobes will be getting a serious practice workout during my next stay at a Marriot property.


----------



## Vinata (Jan 18, 2012)

@ryansands nice kitchen


----------



## EchoingWhisper (Jan 19, 2012)

I guess a lot of people don't realise the power of LAB mode curves.


----------



## Buckster (Jan 19, 2012)

EchoingWhisper said:


> I guess a lot of people don't realise the power of LAB mode curves.


It'd be great if you could explain how to use it to deal with the different color temperature mixtures presented to rooms and subjects by multiple light types mixed together, like fluorescent, tungsten, sunlight and flash all being present.

I took a course in LAB color and, somehow, that got left out.  It'd be great to add that to my abilities, and I'm sure others would find it useful as well.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## EchoingWhisper (Jan 19, 2012)

Buckster said:


> EchoingWhisper said:
> 
> 
> > I guess a lot of people don't realise the power of LAB mode curves.
> ...



In LAB color it is possible to correct almost every different color temperature mixtures, almost.

Here is an example. Don't mind the picture, I cropped it from a picture but took away the person in the picture. The blue part in the bottom is the shadow. I could actually go further fully correcting it but it'll look not as natural. Note that is still some green hue there cause' I didn't correct it, just giving you an idea.

Before:






Add some curves:





After:


----------



## Buckster (Jan 19, 2012)

That beach picture is not even close to what's being asked here.

Take a photo of an interior that is lit by a combination of fluorescent, tungsten, flash and sunlight, and correct that color temperature combination with LAB color.


----------



## EchoingWhisper (Jan 19, 2012)

Buckster said:


> That beach picture is not even close to what's being asked here.
> 
> Take a photo of an interior that is lit by a combination of fluorescent, tungsten, flash and sunlight, and correct that color temperature combination with LAB color.



I don't have a picture like that, I need some pictures, JPEG is not a problem as long as there isn't a lot of artifacts.


----------



## Buckster (Jan 19, 2012)

EchoingWhisper said:


> Buckster said:
> 
> 
> > That beach picture is not even close to what's being asked here.
> ...


So, you've never done it, can't do it, are misinformed, and are okay with spreading that misinformation to others.

Please stop.


----------



## 2WheelPhoto (Jan 19, 2012)

This is the internet


----------



## EchoingWhisper (Jan 19, 2012)

Buckster said:


> EchoingWhisper said:
> 
> 
> > Buckster said:
> ...



I saw it on the internet. I'll search for a picture.


----------



## RyanSands (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks a lot Bay. I always use my Sigma 12-24mm lens when shooting interiors/exteriors. I realize that there is some room/furniture distortion in my images but that was not something I was concerned about. I work for a few property management companies and the goal of these shots is to show the interiors of their apartments that they currently have for rent. So a little distortion is allowed since tenants don't really care about that kind of thing. Plus I like making the rooms look larger then they are haha. Helps to get the appointments booked to see the apartments : )

The last shot was done for a local architect/builder so I didn't want too much distortion in that shot...thats why I shot it 19mm instead of all the way at around 12mm for tighter spaces that I usually work in.


----------



## RyanSands (Jan 22, 2012)

Haha nice 2Wheel....the goal with architecture photography is to balance the strobes and ambient lighting as much you can so that it doesn't even look like you used strobes in your shots at all. For instance...in the first image I posted I used 2 strobes....one camera right pointed at the ceiling(which is why you can see a ceiling shadow across the top of my shot), a 2nd strobe behind the right wall in the bedroom...to give the room the allusion of being lit up by the lamps..when it reality its my strobe lighting up the room. You will find that with architecture you are going to need more then 1-2 strobes most of the time. Since your going to want to add some light coming out of rooms, hallways/doorways and crafting your scene to make it look natural and appealing.


----------



## RyanSands (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks Vinata : ) I think there might be a slight levels problem in the last kitchen images that I posted...but my work is rarely printed and almost always used for a clients website...so I can't worry about it too much haha.


----------

