Sony NEX 6

[Mariann Wilson]

I am currently using a Sony NEX-6 and primarily use the Sony 10-18MM F/4 OMM OSS wide angle Lens. I exclusively do Real Estate photography and am currently taking the Raw Class. I just got  a second monitor and the Spyder 5 Elite so I am in the middle of a large learning curve and am not ready to buy a different camera. I use my Manfrotto tripod for photoshoots. Question: I need to create a clear, crisp view through windows and read that using extra lights inside while changing the settings for the outside view will help. Your thoughts and suggestions to improve the view through the windows on a sunny day (most days here in Florida).

 

[Brian]

So you are shooting outside and want things that are on the inside visible through the Windows? Or are you inside and want the outdoors visible through the windows?

[Mariann Wilson]

I am inside shooting a room with great outside views and want to capture BOTH the interior and exterior. Bright Florida sunlight makes it hard to balance the lighting in both. Suggestions??

[Brian]

You could try things with off camera flash, but that can get expensive. 

What I recommend is setting your camera to manual, set the ISO to its base ISO (usually 100 or 200). Set the Aperture to f/8 and then mount the camera on a tripod. 

Adjust your Shutter Speed so that the exposure is correct. Your SS could be as low as 1/10th of a second, give or take. Since the SS will be that low, I'd use a wireless trigger to initiate exposure or use the 10 second self timer to help eliminate camera shake. 

Then adjust your SS so that you are 1-1/2 stops overexposed and take a photo, then go back to the original SS and then make it to where it's 1-1/2 stops underexposed. You could get away with 1-1/3rd or even a stop above / below. It really depends on the camera. 

Then take the images into the current version of LR or ACR and blend them together as a HDR. Now before you go and say you don't like the look of HDR, we aren't going for the nuclear look, but a "natural" looking HDR photo. In LR, you select the three images and then hit CMD/Ctrl - Shift - H and it will merge them. Then you play with the merged file, use grad filters and tweak it until it looks good. 

Oh, bring a gray card so that your WB can be consistent in each of the shots. Photograph the gray card before each bracketed set. You will want to make sure the WB is the same for each photo before merging them as a HDR. 

[Brian]

Here is a video describing what I'm talking about:

http://wearesophoto.com/natural-looking-hdr-interior-photography/

[Brian]

One more thing! Picking the right time of day makes all the difference. Shooting a house between 11AM & 1 PM, may not be ideal. Usually shots during the early morning/evening will have the most even light.