Compose Your Vision - Real Estate Photography

Explore the creative process of professional photographers and filmmakers. Real Estate Photography with Colin Dutton

CONCEPT

My name is Colin Dutton, I’m a commercial photographer originally from London but I’ve lived in Italy for the past 20 years. I’m specialized in interior photography so I work a lot for architects, design companies, hotels and luxury real estate.

I’m lucky to live in a beautiful part of the world and Venice is on my doorstep so I find myself here quite often, photographing in these amazing properties. This project is based in Palazzo Garzoni - a 15th-Century palace on the Grand Canal that’s recently been renovated becoming very exclusive and beautifully finished.

Interior photography is actually much harder than it looks. It demands a lot of patience, technical skill and the right equipment. It’s all about problem solving really, with composition, light, colour and space that all need to be kept under control to make a successful image. There’s often a lot of compromise involved. Unlike 3D rendering, I can’t move the walls or the windows to get the shot I really want!

But if interior photography in general is hard, interior photography in Venice is even harder.
It’s a city that throws up some extra challenges. For a start I can’t arrive at the property by car so I need a reasonably light-weight, flexible set-up that I can carry around on foot. The buildings here have high wood-beamed ceilings and often the light comes from a single window at one end of the room so there’s a lot of contrast and back-light. There could be a building just outside the window which will change the colour of light coming into the room. And then there’s the traditional Venetian floor to deal with. it’s like a shiny marble mosaic and it causes really harsh reflections and burnt highlights. 

TECHNIQUE

Over the years I’ve developed a technique that lets me deal with all these challenges. I use portable flash to give me control over the light, taking a series of exposures that I blend together in post-production. It allows me to add depth to the scene, to highlight certain surfaces and to clean up the colours.

Working in this way requires patience but it does mean I can provide my clients with strong images, and that’s something they need today more than ever. There are so many photographs around these days, we are constantly being requested with images, so to stand out they have to really make an impact. Also there are lots of interior photographers out there which means it’s really important to develop a style and technique that helps raise your head above the crowd.

As with all types of photography, interiors demand a combination of technical and creative skills. I need to solve the problems of light and colour that I mentioned earlier but I also need to describe the physical space and the layout of the property: so where rooms are in relation to each other, how high is the ceiling, is there space to sit and eat in the kitchen?... that sort of thing.

At the same time I have to describe the style and atmosphere of the property, and make it look inviting. I need to sell it.

SHOOTING AND COMPOSITION

So there are a number of ‘tricks’ I use to do that. The first is composition - by placing elements in the frame that lead the eye from one part of the image to the other I can keep the viewer’s attention within the photograph for as long as possible. The second ‘trick’ is lighting which is so important. I like to create a feeling of depth in the image so that the viewer can enter that space and ‘touch’ the surfaces with their eyes.

To achieve this I set my camera on a tripod and make a series of exposures, moving around the space and firing the flash at certain angles. I combine these flashes with ambient light and then blend them in Photoshop, taking a small part from each frame to create the final effect. It should still look as natural as possible of course and sometimes that’s a difficult balance to achieve, especially here in Venice.

When I’m making my exposures the camera is on a tripod and it doesn’t move, otherwise I would have problems aligning the files later. I use a remote shutter release to fire the camera so I don’t need to actually touch it until all the exposures have been made. Bear in mind this is not HDR. That’s a technique that lets you manage the quantity of light in a scene. Whereas the way I work lets me manage the quantity, the quality and the direction of light which means I have much more control.

WHY A TRIPOD IS MANDATORY

Central to all this of course is the tripod. Without a good tripod it would be impossible to blend multiple images in this way. But it’s important for other reasons too. When I use it with the geared head, the tripod gives me precise control over the composition and the framing, ensuring that all my lines are straight which is vital in architectural photography. The tripod also lets me shoot at a smaller aperture to get more depth of field and also to shoot at long shutter speeds. Sometimes the quality of natural light in a room is quite beautiful, there’s just not much of it. In some darker spaces I might use a ten or twenty second exposure to really suck in that light in order to brighten the scene.

When I’m making my exposures the camera is on a tripod and it doesn’t move, otherwise I would have problems aligning the files later. I use a remote shutter release to fire the camera so I don’t need to actually touch it until all the exposures have been made. Bear in mind this is not HDR. That’s a technique that lets you manage the quantity of light in a scene. Whereas the way I work lets me manage the quantity, the quality and the direction of light which means I have much more control.

My tripod of choice for interiors is the Manfrotto 055 . I’ve been using one of these for many years now. It’s carbon fibre which means it’s lightweight but very sturdy, quick to adjust and flexible enough to cope with those tight spaces and uneven surfaces.

Just as important as the tripod is the choice of head you use with it. For interiors there’s really nothing better than a geared head like the . Geared heads allow you to make micro-adjustments across three axis individually. Unlike a Ball Head, for example, you can level the camera very precisely on one axis without affecting the other two axis. A twist of the lock on any knob will free its gearing to let you make faster, larger adjustments on that axis. And the larger top plate ensures a stable connection to the camera, snapping into place with a reassuring ‘click’. Recently, I have been using a lot the on my tripods, which has incredibly shortened my setting up times.

Like I said before, interior photography is all about problem solving. Each space throws up different challenges. Working methodically and using the right equipment will help you overcome those challenges. It’s not easy but it can be incredibly rewarding, especially in a city like Venice and in a location like I’m shooting in today. There are worse places to work, no?

I usually start by setting up the tripod to the right height and levelling the head using the built-in spirit level before attaching the camera. 

Once the camera is clicked into place on the top plate, give the lever an extra push to make sure it’s closed tightly.

If you need to change height, do so using the legs rather than the centre column. When you extend the centre column there is a more risk of movements and vibrations affecting the sharpness of your image. In tight spaces however, the centre column can be useful. It allows you to extend the legs less which means the tipod’s ‘footprint’ will be smaller. Always make sure the tripod legs are open as wide as possible to ensure stability. Keep all three legs at the same length.. there’s nothing worse than looking at a wonky tripod.

Don’t be afraid to use all the possibilities offered by . I often rest a short leg at 90 °on a wall or counter top when I need to go back as much as possible in a tight space. Or swing the centre colum at 90° to get zenith shots for example looking up at a ceiling or down over the edge of a balcony. Just be careful and set the tripod up before attaching the camera.

If you’re shooting with a mirrored camera (SLR or DSLR) use the ‘Mirror Up’ function on your camera to avoid vibrations from the movement of the mirror. Once you have raised the mirror, wait for at least 3 seconds before making your exposure with a remote shutter release or self-timer. If you’re shooting with a Mirrorless camera there’s obviously no ‘Mirror Up’ function, but you should still use a remote shutter release or a self-timer so that your’re not touching the camera at the moment of exposure.

Some people say you should never walk around with a camera attached to the tripod but I do it all the time. Just make sure the legs are closed. When travelling to a job with a tripod strapped over your shoulder, carry it upside down with the head at the bottom. It’s much easier.