How to Photograph Small Rooms…
or, Taking Pictures of Bathrooms – and other fun things!
Are you having a tough time taking pictures of bathrooms in the Orlando house you’re trying to rent? Photographing bathrooms really takes planning and practice to capture the best shot.
Between the reflections of the mirrors, the tile, the bad lighting and over lighting, combined with the awkwardly small space you’re trying to capture, you practically have to be a contortionist to get a good image. But don’t fret; here are a few tips to help:
As we mentioned in an earlier blog, the first thing to do before even snapping off your lens cover is to eliminate all of the clutter in the room: The shampoo and body wash in the shower, the back brush hanging from the faucet, the makeup, toothbrushes, and toothpaste on the counter it all HAS TO GO! You also want to hide any decorative items that might be on display in the room. Keep the area simple. You can roll up a few towels for accents and add a fresh bar of soap in the soap dish for effect, but make sure to keep the feel of the shot simple and elegant. Close the shower curtain or shower doors, and put the lid down on the toilet.
Try to picture the image you want to project. Check how the shot looks from each corner. Stand in the bathtub or shower and picture how the room looks from that angle. Stand on a low stool and see if there is a better angle by shooting slightly downward. Crouch down and see if shooting slightly upward will enhance the image. Try a couple of test shots from each angle. Make sure to consider not only the ‘view’ from each angle, but how the lighting effects the shot as well. Unless you are bringing lighting with you, light from the fixtures is likely the only light you will have. You can only do so much in the editing stage. Also, make sure all vertical lines are, well, vertical, especially when using a wide angle lens. They will cause the picture to look ‘off’ if they don’t line up correctly.
Take more pictures than you think you will need. Use the manual adjustments for the shutter speed and exposure if possible. Take pictures with and without the flash. Checking after each picture will allow you to tweak the settings and see which effect makes for the better picture.
If you don’t have one yet, it might be time to invest in that tripod you’ve had your eye on. A tripod will come in VERY handy for bathroom shots. It will insure that the camera remains stable, which is great for taking HDR photos, and will also allow you to capture unusual angles that may be difficult without one.
Back in the studio (just kidding, on your PC) use photo editing software to adjust the brightness and contrast of each image. Most real estate pictures benefit from being brighter and having more contrast. But don’t overdo it; you CAN go too far. You can adjust the color saturation as well, but be careful and don’t use too much. Keep your original image, but play around with the software until you have a photo that is worth sharing.
Crop your photos if necessary. This will allow you to have the best parts of each picture; resize the image and check which DPI is the best resolution for web photos. 72 DPI is recommended with a size of 1200×800.
Using our tips, taking lots of pictures, and practicing, you should have pictures that will rival those of the pros in no time. Well, okay maybe not rival, but they won’t look like a bleached out room or a shadowy cave either!
Sometimes, the best answer is to leave it to the pros! If you’r