Indoors and Outdoors

I don’t get fired off jobs very often. In fact, it just doesn’t happen. Except for that one time last week.

I’d been commissioned to photograph an exclusive development in West Cork - a gated enclave of five houses that had been built right on the seafront. Lovely views in all directions, private yacht moorings - you get the idea. The paperwork was all done and signed by the property developer and we were good to go for the shoot.

Then came the phone call from the design agency that had brokered the assignment. Apparently, the auctioneer who was selling the properties decided that professional photography wouldn’t be required for the marketing material. He had a perfectly good camera himself and would take the pictures. In the world of property sales, the auctioneer outranks the design agency, so that was the end of me.

Temporarily.

Two days later, the design agency rang me again. Was I still available? Would I still do the job?

The auctioneer had come up against one of the trickier aspects of interior photography. While it is relatively easy to get some form of exposure for inside a room, it is much harder to get a balanced inside exposure that matches the light outside, which is what you want if your marketing material needs to show just how good the views are from the expensive holiday homes you are selling. If you don’t balance the inside and outside light, you either end up with totally blown out windows that don’t show anything outside, or great views as seen from the virtually black inside of the house. The trick is to bring off-camera flashes with you that you can use to boost the inside exposure.

Interior/Exterior 1
(c) Roger Overall 2008

Interior/Exterior 2
(c) Roger Overall 2008

Interior/Exterior 3
(c) Roger Overall 2008