Shooting in Bright Sun or Bright Gray Sky

[acroreef]

Dear Folks,

I shoot real estate photography and often have no choice but to shoot an exterior in a bright sun or bright gray cloud cover, with little to no contrast. I know very little about filters. So...what is recommended in situations such as this? (I have a Sony A7rR and shoot in manual).

Thank you in advance to all who respond.

Dave

[Manfred M]

Dave - if the lighting is poor, the image quality will be poor. Period. Landscape photographers know this, so they are out shooting when the conditions work out for them and stay at home (possibly in bed) when they don't.

Short of bringing in a lots of studio flash and trying to light up the place when the light is poor, you have a non-starter issue. (this is a bit of a "joke", but just look at some of the work that a high quality real estate photographer like Mike Kelly does, and he does bring his lights on site for outdoor real estate work). I'm sure that his high fees are going to mean a very small client base.

http://www.mpkelley.com/

Obviously, the best time to do these shots will be during the morning and evening "magic hours", just before sunset, but both the building orientation and the weather conditions may not end up working out, even if you can convince your clients of this strategy.

Filters and really not going to do anything for you. There is no "make great looking light filter".

[acroreef]

I do understand that the "golden hour" is the optimum time for landscape/exteriors. And I am familiar with Mike Kelly's work. But often when the real estate market heats up (no pun intended), agents want their listings shot "now" and don't have the time to wait for "good light." I do sometimes shoot brackets and use LR Enfuse to get whatever detail there may be in the amorphous sky. I just wondered if there was some sort of work around for such situations.

[russellsnr]

Hi, Why not create a sky portfolio for yourself and change the skies? It is not so hard to do nowadays in PP. you would not be cheating anyone as it is the property that is important not the sky.
On1 softwrae has a very good IMO way to replace a sky within a couple of minutes and it's free http://www.on1.com/products/effects9free/
just watch some of the video's
Russ

[rpcrowe]

I can't get over marveling at the terrible imagery used to sell homes from a half million to one million U.S. Dollars in this area (Southern California). It seems that it is not until you reach a million dollars before the images become decent (and sometimes not even at that price).

My daughter and son-in-law bought a really nice house on the Pacific Coast at about a half-million dollars. It is located a few hundred yards from the ocean and has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean and a lagoon leading in from the ocean. Did any of the real estate ad photos show this view - of course not! If the view had been shown I probably would not be writing this post...

Of course, the lack of decent photo coverage might have really contributed to the low price for what they got!

[William W]

Dear Folks,

I shoot real estate photography and often have no choice but to shoot an exterior in a bright sun or bright gray cloud cover, with little to no contrast. I know very little about filters.

If you want to use a Filter to enhance a lack of contrast and/or attempt to limit the reflected glare (windows) and reduce Lens Flare or to assist the Subject 'pop' out of the background, then a filter which will be of assistance in some circumstances is a CPL Filter. (Circular Polarizing Filter)

With all due respect, that question has been well answered in your previous question here. (Please note Post#6 and Post#10 also note Post #10 has a link to a previous conversation where there much useful information specifically about CPL Filters)


***

I shoot real estate photography and often have no choice but to shoot an exterior in a bright sun or bright gray cloud cover, with little to no contrast . . . (I have a Sony A7rR and shoot in manual). . .

This is a different question.

Exterior Building Photography (my term ‘Street Architecture’) is different to Landscape Photography; for Street Architecture, there is always a definitive Subject, usually in the Foreground and usually that Subject occupies most of the image real estate. So therefore it is usually much easier to firstly manipulate the Camera Viewpoint and secondly the Exposure and thirdly the use of a CPL Filter and fourthly the use of Cropping to enhance that particular Subject even if the rendition of the background and other ancillary aspects of the original image suffer in that process.

When Street Architecture becomes ‘real estate photography’, then there is also a definitive purpose for the image, i.e. to assist to SELL that property – so the emphasis is upon making that Subject look at its best - mostly always irrespective of the other aspects of the original image.

These are important concepts, many Photographers will concentrate on the ‘whole (big) image’: for Exterior Real Estate Photography that is often not necessary to do.

Nota Bene: On this particular point of “Real Estate Photography” being a means to “sell” the property, my advice is that the Photographer needs to be cognisant of all Laws that pertain to Images which are used for any advertising and selling process.

*

what is recommended in situations such as this?

The Dynamic Range of your digital camera is more than adequate to record all the material for the contrast that you require and to produce a dynamic image that will show the property in an acceptably good rendition, whether you are shooting in midday sun or cloud cover. Obviously, IF you can choose the time of day to make best lighting, then do that.

Firstly, it is important to know exactly what exposure that you need to use, for the purposes of the FINAL IMAGE that you want to make.

Secondly the FINAL MAGE is then achieved in the darkroom.

Obviously, you must have a plan of what that “Final image” is to be before you even make the first shot, and to this end that will also mean you will carefully choose the camera viewpoint specifically for the Vision of the Final Image – for example you’ve previously never mentioned that you use T&S Lenses, so the Camera Viewpoint will also always need to take that into account.

A Darkroom Technical Certificate was one year additional training after my initial Photography Diploma and whilst I was working as a full time as a Photographer, and then I knew very little and only learned a lot more after working in a darkroom for a long time. The same applied to Digital - in 2004 I employed a woman and whilst she was mainly employed as a Photofinisher for our Wedding and Portrait work, she also spent regular hours each week teaching me a range of D.Darkroom skills. That’s mentioned only to underscore that nowadays any good Digital Post Production skills take both time and also dedication to learn.

I shot a lot of Real Estate when we were managing the second studio we built. That studio was located in a relatively salubrious area and I pitched to the high end market and although the Real Estate Agents did want very high quality and a ‘beautiful rendition’ there was sometimes still the need for a quick turnaround time though and often I could not choose the time or the day for the outdoor shots. But I would always attempt to talk them into me making the EXTERIOR shots at the time that I chose. I reiterate that point.

The particular point of the Darkroom skills that are required to be learnt and the subsequent amount of time that the Post Production of the images may take, of course raises the questions as to whether or not the Real Estate Agents are willing to pay for those and/or whether or not it remains a viable business proposition to the Photographer.

However all that aside I have maintained a fascination with Buildings and I have a large collection of many Photographs that I made just for fun and relaxation and these are some of my AVAILABLE LIGHT IMAGES of EXTERIOR BUILDINGS which have been shot HAND HELD in a range of various LIGHTING CONDITIONS and are examples illustrating many of the points made above.

In each example the first image is the JPEG SOOC and the second image is the file after it has gone through the D.Darkroom.









WW

All Images ©AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2015, WMW 1965~1996

[acroreef]

Yikes, I didn't remember my post from about a year ago! Thanks to all for your thoughtful responses.

Now, where did I leave my memory pills?

[Cantab]

Yikes, I didn't remember my post from about a year ago! Thanks to all for your thoughtful responses.

Now, where did I leave my memory pills?

I did that once too!

[rpcrowe]

My daughter owns a human resources company. When she is too busy to do something important, she hires someone to do it.

How about finding a competent photographer who would have the time to produce the kind of images that generate interest in properties?