Give me three minutes and I’ll teach you something about interior photography -
There are three main ways to photograph a home, and the right choice depends on the light and environment. Lake Tahoe is a special place, homes with wood ceilings, wood floors among the trees and mountains. As dreamy as it is, it can get dark. Properly lighting the situation is not an option and can make or break how a photo looks.
The “Flambient” Method (Flash + Ambient) combines the balanced, color-accurate evenness of a flash photo with the natural ambient light of the room, resulting in a warm, natural but balanced representation. If an interior designer wanted you to be able to tell Panda White from Alpine White, this would be the method used.
The bottom photo is the result of the two photos above it combined - a balanced neutral light flash photo which helps nail the white balance of a room combined with the bottom image of the room lit by the natural ambient light of the lamps and windows. When you “nail the white balance” all the other colors in the spectrum fall into place naturally. It’s like a cheat-code for photographers. The neutral 5500 kelvin light of the flash gives an accurate honest depiction of the space.
Used as a base layer, the flash photo then has the luminosity (how the light works in the room without colorizing) of the ambient light photo overlayed over top of it, giving the best of both worlds: accurate color and details you zoom in on. Wood tones? You’ll get nothing but - pine, mahogany, redwood, walnut. If you want the right wood color, just check out the portfolio section!
For high end publications, Flambient is the preferred method. But there is no magic bullet and a good photographer should be able to adapt to any situation. Right now, it’s a technique Graystaff Media is using uniquely in the Lake Tahoe area.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is the most common method used in real estate photography. By taking 3-5 exposures at different levels from the same position, you capture all the data in the shadows and highlights. This is done instead of using a flash. This method is easy to perform and easy for a separate editor to finish, which is why it’s popular. The downside is, with interiors you’re only using the natural light of the room which can limit picture quality. As well, a dark room can look like a dark room until you shine a little light on it.
Grand ballrooms, Hotel lobbies, other large spaces and anything outside is where HDR shines, capturing all the detail to be used later to optimize the image.
The Single Shot - the most common way to take a photograph. Yes, some real estate photos are taken this way. Not common, but sometimes the stars align perfectly as well.
Virtual Concepts -
Two years ago you would need to hire an agency and wait a month to get results like this. Now, any property can be video marketed affordably with results in under a week.
Today, we can virtually remodel a home originally built in 1974 and bring it up to modern standards - inside and out. Are you working with an interior designer? We can work with them on bringing their concepts to the realm of visual media.
The natural light photo captures the emotion and ambience of the room.
The flash photo gives balance and color accuracy to the room.
The “Flambient” photo brings together the best of both worlds: even balance and accuracy combined with the ambience and mood of the room.
Conceptual images that help someone see “what could be”.
What Sets Us Apart?
Your phone calls, emails and text messages will be answered in a timely fashion.
Yes, wide angle lenses are used, but not all the time. Plus we compensate that aspect in post so there’s no square doorways and refrigerators.
Televisions were meant to have pictures on them, preferably of Lake Tahoe and not be black monoliths on the wall. We make sure that happens. We’ll even put a fire in the fireplace to make the place feel warm and cheerful.
Dirty windows, sliding glass doors and cobwebs take 5-10 minutes to physically clean, 30 minutes in Photoshop. We roll up our sleeves to get the work done and keep the photo editor sane. Yes, it makes a huge difference.
