Thursday, October 1, 2009

Want Perfect Weather for Perfect Photos?

Dynamic Range.

The two confusing words I use for agents or businesses that only want photos on perfect, sunny days. I would love nothing more than for it to be sunny everyday for personal reasons, but the fact is...it's sometimes better to shoot photos and certainly video when it's overcast.

I agree that rain and snow does pose a problem, but I love cloudy days for interior shots. Our cameras (and most) can compensate for the dreary days...while you may not see blue sky in the background (that's rare in itself), the camera will typically brighten it up for you. Especially if you're photographing a home that has a lot of shade, like below:

This photo was taken today, a very cloudy rainy day - but you wouldn't know it. I didn't even brighten it up...this is what I got.

So back to dynamic range. The best I know how to explain it is the light differences between inside and outside - when thinking about Real Estate photos. Our eyes have incredible dynamic range and can see light and details both inside AND outside.

Cameras are not quite to the human eye yet...if they are focused on a darker interior, then the light from the windows on a sunny day will really, REALLY overexpose the windows. I am sure you have seen it. Or, when you point at the windows the camera thinks "I have enough light!" only to see that the interior is now really REALLY dark!

The best, cheapest solution to get some good dynamic range going with your camera is to flash every photo. We use a very bright bounce flash that is good for about 100 feet...typical on-camera flashes are good for about 15 feet, but anything helps.

Video - since we don't use a flash to brighten the room for video, we prefer cloudy days as the sunlight through the windows doesn't overexpose the windows and you end up with a more-even light.

This virtual tour sample shows photos and video from a cloudy day - do you agree that the video lighting looks more even?


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