Lighting in Real Estate Photography

When people think of photography, most immediately think of cameras and lenses. But one of the biggest differentiators between a good photographer and a great one is lighting.

Nowhere is that more true that in real estate photography. In most rooms, light is coming down from an overhead light fixture. This lighting is excellent for daily activities because it provides even illumination of a space. In photography, though, lighting coming directly from above can create a flat and uninteresting look. Why is that?

Our eyes work together to give us fantastic 3D vision. A camera, though, only has one "eye." Therefore, it captures things in 2D. Our brains are amazing, and they add depth information into that 2D image. But it needs something to work off of, and that something is light and shadow. But with light coming down directly from above, all sides of the object are evenly illuminated.

This is where artificial lighting comes into play. With my flash, I can create light that travels into the room from the sides. This creates tiny bright sports and corresponding shadows on every textured object in the room. This gives our brain the information it needs to interpret the scene in 3D and makes the image much more pleasing to look at.

Check out the example below of scene lit with existing light and a scene lit by flash.

Clearly, the use of flash lighting can up the game significantly in terms of photographic quality. Our excellent use of artificial lighting is one of the things that makes LW Architectural Photography the right choice for your photo and video needs.