Help with low light shots...!

[mas]

Not indoors.... outdoors.

Im a Photographer for an Estate Agency, and ive always struggled with low natural light external shots. Below is an example of a current clients house, you can see how it is well covered with greenery and casts shadows whilst reducing light.

I tweak my images slightly in photoshop, brightening shadows etc... but they dont seem to be up there in terms of quality!!!

Im using a 400D and Sigma 10-20mm for the majority of my photographs, internally I use an external flash.

Any help appreciated on how to improve them!!

Sam

 

[Andy.]

That looks like a fairly well balanced exposure TBH! Sky is not blown out and the shadows are not too dark.

The best thing you can do is to shoot in RAW as it gives you more room for adjusting the exposures in specific areas if you need to.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with the exposure in that shot. The main criticism I would have is the sharpness. Do you use a tripod at all? If not, I would thoroughly recommend one. And what aperture do you usually shoot at?

As above, if you shoot in RAW, you will have greater flexibility in post editing, as well as being able to use light 'fill in' which will help lighten darker areas without affecting brighter regions of the image.

 

[mas]

I didnt use a tripod in that shot, straight off the camera it isnt blurry, I think its the compression.

What resolution/size do you guys recommend I save them off as (the files need to be a reasonable size)

Sam

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I would recommend you always shoot in RAW, then after post processing save them to a resized JPEG. All depends on where the photos will be displayed.

 

[rogueneo]

sarah is good with pics ask her for advice.

 

[Cup_Phil]

Get a tripod!

 

[planetx]

actually quite a nice shot, exposure is fine.

sarah is good with pics ask her for advice. ( don't listen to the rest of us)

 

[rogueneo]

all i meant she takes some crackn pics, i didnt mean no one else can.

 

[mas]

I would prefer to shoot in RAW, but im doing 4/5 houses per day, both internally and externally - and about 30ish shots per house depending on size. How many memory cards do I need?

 

[rogueneo]

you can get cards upto 64gb now on ebay for about twenty quid

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Just find out how big the RAW shots are, they'll usually be about the same.

For info:

 

[Cup_Phil]

If you're using a 400D in raw mode and doing 30 shots per house and 5 houses per day = 150 photos
You'll fit them on a 4gb SD card easily enough - but SD cards are soooo cheap these days just get a couple

When I had my 450D and 500D I just used to carry 2 x 8gb SD cards with me

 

[Andy.]

Don't get a cheap card off ebay unless they are coming from a very reputable shop as there are loads of knock offs which are not what they say on the label. Memory is fairly cheap anyway, and I'd rather pay an extra £20 and have some extra peace of mind.

 

[planetx]

all the above, or try to time your shots differently
I.e going to the various locations when the sun is different places etc etc - hassle and planning I agree, worst time for you is probably low sun= long shadows.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Worth investing in a CPL (polarising filter) for outdoor shots, as the blues especially are much deeper, and clouds look amazing:

Other than getting a tripod (and a remote so you dont have to touch the camera or put the annoying 10sec timer on) I think that shot is probably 10 times as good as it needs to be, compared to most estate agent's photos ! Haha!

 

[planetx]

agreed on the CPL^^^^^
It is a long known trick of estate agents/Travel Agents

Good shout

 

[mas]

I have got a CPL, but didnt get in to the routine of using it.

Some of my other shots here http://pow-pow.co.uk/photog/photog.html....

Sam

 

[planetx]

Mate your work is top notch, it really is.

I think you showed us your worst pic this morning.

You could improve your interiors with some lights and do some work on the exterior ambient balancing.

Would definitely look at shooting raw for your exteriors.....expose far right, and bring the highlights back in.

 

[mas]

A few of those pictures are from a few years back when I began work, ive got better over time. A lot of my more recent work isnt on there tbf

 

[mas]

For the likes of my website, how am I best to save my images off?

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

If you use photoshop, use 'Save for web...' Fiddle about with the quality settings until you are happy with the file size etc.

Also, experiment with unsharp mask, for getting nice sharp, high quality images for web display.

 

[mas]

I guess there is only so much you can do to an image to make it sharper, alot down to the original. Must. Practice. More.