i mean these pics were so bad i had to stop after just a few rooms. the blinds are half open half closed..what kind of proud picture taking decor blogger doesn't make the windows look cohesive? or turn on a light???
here's one with the flash...no better is it? nice spot light in my brain picture. and the couch looks terrible again...all yellow-y and wrinkly and lopsided.
no flash...
the corner looks all washed out. which in reality it isn't.
my daughter's bathroom and her artwork from when she was 2 lines the back of the sink. this is a little better in terms of photography, at least i think it is. i guess peonies make anything look better.
more bathroom...
so...before i go and do this again, do i need a better camera? a lesson in decorating and styling? a lesson in photography and lighting? or...or....what?? if the answer is camera, please let me know what you use or one you would like to use if you could. i think i may actually buy a camera in the next couple of months. b/c mine (2) SUCK ASS!!!
*disclaimer ...i live in a rental so i cannot change the dreadful blinds. too expensive! these windows are huge and the ceilings are 12 feet. and the rooms are impossibly small so i feel they need to be minimally dressed anyway.
9 comments:
Styling for a photograph is the most difficult and time consuming thing I have ever done. When I work on a shot with Carla she can spend hours waiting for the perfect light and I may have taken many hours to have set it up in the first place. If it doesn't work we have to do it over again...one image in a book may have taken 24 hours! (Yes everything gets ironed!!) Don't worry you have done fabulously and remember that what you see in reality is not how it will appear in the lens - with interiors and vignettes at least. xv
Well...I think I can answer some of these with experience of working on zillions of photo shoots with professional photographers and stylists:
1. The wrinkles in the sofa - To answer your question, stylists will pin sofa cushions down to make them taught. On photo shoots that I worked, we had new sofa covers and many times coushions for each shoots and if you were caught dead lounging on one of these prior to it's shot you might as well pour gas on yourself and ask for a match. BTW - when i say 'pin them down' I'm talking about the stylists assist would pin and pin and pin until there was not a wrinkle.
2. Professional stylists get paid big bucks to not only have the 'interior design' skills that they have of composition but to also assure that everything looks perfect in the fake world they are creating. In my opinion, your skills of color and composition are superb. It takes experience to work on 'faking it'. ie: Food stylists typically use things other than food to look like...er...more perfect food.
3. Photography - similar to the stylists, photography is not only an eye but a skill that becomes better with experience. I don't know of ANY photographer that I've EVER worked with that walked into a room and popped off 2 shots of furniture. They typically take many, many poloroids (test frames) to assure that the things you are concerned with (lighting, composition, background, etc) are the best they can be before they start shoot the real stuff (and the 'the real stuff' ALWAYS looks best on celluloid...not on digital media...sorry, tech heads.)
- You've got a GREAT eye for color and design. Rome, nor all of the skills to create to the perfect room photograph were built in a day.
It's not just you and your camera. It's me and my camera too. It was good to read the comments above, in the blog world it seems that everyone can take a fabulous picture except for me.. us.
thanks guys! i still need to know which camera to buy. mike, will you help me pick one out?
Yep, it's all about the light! Trust me, my husband is a photographer and obsesses about the light. And as far as the cushions and things, setting up is a whole other enchilada -it's like a model fashion shoot and then remember, the professionals adore photoshop! Anyway, we use a small Leica digital camera for a lot of photos, and it works well enough until we can afford a really nice one with lots of lenses and stuff...
Remember, practice makes perfect!
Mike's comment is awesome - very grounding.
I don't know much about photography on a professional level, only what I've encountered in learning...I tend to say this: Direct Flash KILLS a shot!
Aim for more natural light, and use the light behind you (rather than in your or the camera's face)
I can talk to you about my camera if you like - it's an "intro level" Nikon SLR - the key, though, is a good lens - IMO!
Don't beat yourself up - You got some SKILZ!!!
I loved this post and believe me I feel your pain. I don't ever think my own photos ever look like the room. My living room is the best room in my house and the hardest to shoot...But your room looks great. 5*
I know how you feel about getting the room shot right, I am still working on it. LOVE the pick frames!
Use a Tripod -- works wonders. turn off auto and use manual if your camera has that option. Your best bet is probably a long(ish) exposure and natural light, no turned on lamps. Get one of those bendy,inexpensive ones from Target.
One of the design blogs (maybe Decorno) has a post about interior photography from one of the Domino photogs.
good luck.
Post a Comment