"Paul Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I have a job soon where i'll need to shoot some hotel room interiors and i >have never done anything like this before :) > >My idea at the moment is to shoot neg film (speed?) with a colour correcting >filter and use an LX with 24,35 and 85mm lenses and a tripod. > >If any one has any ideas on this or advice then let me know :)
I've just been doing a project shooting interiors (for my local organic food co-op) that has forced me to deal with similar lighting problems, so here's my input: First or all, you're probably going to need something wider than a 24, especially for hotel room interiors (unless you're dealing strictly with palatial suites!) - I'd say a 20mm would be essential and something wider would be helpful as long as it's rectilinear and not a fisheye. Balancing the mix of natural and artificial lighting can be a big problem. What makes it really tough is that the mixture isn't consistent across the scene: The balance will be predominantly sunlight near the window and predominantly artificial light elsewhere. Some possibilities: One way around this is to eliminate daylight from the mix so you're dealing with just artificial light: Shoot at night if possible. Use a color correction filter to compensate for the existing lighting. Add flash to fill the shadows where necessary. Will you want people in the photos? If not, long shutter speeds will increase your options (have a good tripod handy) For shots with daylight in them you may want to rely mostly on flash for your additional light (keep room lights to a minimum). Multiple flashes and soft boxes would be the best way to insure even coverage but you may not have that kind of equipment. At least bounce your flash off a wall or the ceiling. In short: Try to keep one kind of light predominant (daylight, flash, fluorescent or incandescent). If lighting types must be mixed, keep the mixture consistent throughout the scene. Use a tripod. Use wide lenses. Diffuse your flash somehow. -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
