The Porch
- Thread starter mapman
- Start date
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Technically it's fine: exposure is good, focus is sharp and color is well balanced.
My main issue with this shot is that I'm unclear on what I'm supposed to be looking at... I'm seeing a lot of elements, but no central subject.
......
My main issue with this shot is that I'm unclear on what I'm supposed to be looking at... I'm seeing a lot of elements, but no central subject.
......
mapman
Senior Member
Yea I can understand how the location would be lost on most people. This is located at a small farm resort in Northern Wisconsin and is over 100 years old. Most of the people that go to this resort have been going for decades and only see each other once a year at this resort as they all live in different states. This porch is one of the places everyone gathers after a meal (cafeteria style in the lodge behind the porch) to catch up and renew their friendships. Or to play ping pong and for hunt bats if you are younger!
ohkphoto
Snow White
I love the lighting in this shot, and I agree with Fish . . . no center of interest, and it might be a case of having too much in the photo. Try experimenting with the cropping to see if you can narrow it down, e.g. I like the chairs with ducks by the window, but find the swing chains distracting. Also, a little "straightening" might be in order so that the window frames are parallel with the edge.
It's a lovely porch and you obviously recognize beautiful lighting.
Browncoat
Senior Member
I disagree. I'm going to be critical here because I've been dabbling in real estate photography myself lately, and there are some issues here than can be easily resolved.
Compositionally, I like it. This has a "come sit here and enjoy the sun" feel to it, which is important with this kind of work. Technically, however, there are some problems. For one, it's tilted to the left. With this type of photography, your vertical lines have to be arrow straight. This is okay for SOOC, but some edits here would've gone a long way.
The lighting is off. You have exposed for the outdoors, which leaves some blown out areas (on the swings) and a lot of underexposed areas on the interior. Outside the windows are nice and bright, but the room itself isn't well lit.
Conversely, if you expose for the room, the light from outside resembles a nuclear blast and everything gets blown out through the windows, and you can't see the outdoors at all. But again, if you try to expose a happy medium, you end up with a half-lit room and the edges of the window frames are blown out. There are only 2 solutions:
1) HDR. Expose for the happy medium and render it correctly in post processing.
2) Additional flash/lighting is needed in the room. Given what you have to work with here, and all the flat angular surfaces, it would be difficult to properly light this room unless you had a pro-level lighting setup.
If you have neither, a little bounce flash off the ceiling would go a long way to helping turn this into a better image.
Compositionally, I like it. This has a "come sit here and enjoy the sun" feel to it, which is important with this kind of work. Technically, however, there are some problems. For one, it's tilted to the left. With this type of photography, your vertical lines have to be arrow straight. This is okay for SOOC, but some edits here would've gone a long way.
The lighting is off. You have exposed for the outdoors, which leaves some blown out areas (on the swings) and a lot of underexposed areas on the interior. Outside the windows are nice and bright, but the room itself isn't well lit.
Conversely, if you expose for the room, the light from outside resembles a nuclear blast and everything gets blown out through the windows, and you can't see the outdoors at all. But again, if you try to expose a happy medium, you end up with a half-lit room and the edges of the window frames are blown out. There are only 2 solutions:
1) HDR. Expose for the happy medium and render it correctly in post processing.
2) Additional flash/lighting is needed in the room. Given what you have to work with here, and all the flat angular surfaces, it would be difficult to properly light this room unless you had a pro-level lighting setup.
If you have neither, a little bounce flash off the ceiling would go a long way to helping turn this into a better image.
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mapman
Senior Member
I am in the process of obtaining some proper editing software, so until I do, my options are limited. But once I do, I guess I'll have to revisit some of my shots for any tilting, which I'm sure a lot of them have! My wife would say I'm naturally crooked! 
As for the lighting, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I wasn't trying for perfectly balanced shot because that's not how it was. It's a dark porch and this was very late in the day and I was trying to capture the way the light was shining in creating the long shadows. In fact this is probably the brightest it ever gets from natural light. Unfortunately I'll have to wait almost a year before I'm back to try any of the suggestions.
As for the lighting, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I wasn't trying for perfectly balanced shot because that's not how it was. It's a dark porch and this was very late in the day and I was trying to capture the way the light was shining in creating the long shadows. In fact this is probably the brightest it ever gets from natural light. Unfortunately I'll have to wait almost a year before I'm back to try any of the suggestions.
Ya know, as much as I like this shot, I have to agree with Browncoat on this one. It was the perspective that was throwing me off. As you say, that's what the lighting looked like when you were there. I get that. However, since you didn't, or don't, have any kind of lighting with you to properly illuminate the interior (to make it pop and make it more interesting), I'll cut you some slack here. Just remember....YOU asked for feedback from us, and that's what you're getting. We're not criticizing, we're critiquing your shot. If you like the lighting the way it came out of the camera, then that's what you stick with. If you wanted an evaluation on the shot, then that's what you got. Your instincts are good.....just needs refining a little.
Just remember....YOU asked for feedback from us, and that's what you're getting. We're not criticizing, we're critiquing your shot. If you like the lighting the way it came out of the camera, then that's what you stick with. If you wanted an evaluation on the shot, then that's what you got. Your instincts are good.....just needs refining a little.
Browncoat
Senior Member
Any time I offer feedback on someone else's work, I try to offer advice that would allow you to take your photography to the next level. Any monkey can point a camera somewhere and push a button. In most cases, that next level can be achieved without specific gear or throwing a bunch of money at it.
I do see some instinct here. "Shoot into a corner" is one of the hallmarks of good real estate photography, and compositionally, this is a keeper. But this shot is also a poster child for what makes real estate photography difficult: balancing the lighting. And what you have here is a classic example of what separates beginners from that next level.
I do see some instinct here. "Shoot into a corner" is one of the hallmarks of good real estate photography, and compositionally, this is a keeper. But this shot is also a poster child for what makes real estate photography difficult: balancing the lighting. And what you have here is a classic example of what separates beginners from that next level.