MARBELLA HOTEL PHOTOGRAPHER

«ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR (FITUR) I RECEIVED AN ORDER FROM THIS CLIENT. IT’S URGENT, THE PHOTOS ARE NEEDED BY THE TOUR OPERATORS AND YOU HAVE TO TAKE THEM TOMORROW. EVEN IF IT’S CLOUDY.»

And it was cloudy 🙂 as it rarely is on the Costa del Sol. Like one of those, statistically, 40 days a year where the sun doesn’t shine. So unlike another similar post I did on hotel photography where there are nice exterior photos, in this case the photos focused on the interiors. No drama, the hotel had just been redecorated and the aesthetics of the work focused on these aspects: space, furniture and, in short, interior design.

 

Without further ado, I detail the technical team that this time I took to the location and a new way of lighting. This time my Canon speedlite flash is mounted on the shoe of my camera to have the generated Elinchrom in slave mode with its photo cell activated. What have I achieved with this? Versatility. I can use one, two or no flash according to the illumination and the results I want to achieve by activating/deactivating a button. When I want power, all of it. When I want natural light and some filler, I get it too.

• Canon full frame Eos 5-d body
• Lens 17-40 Canon Eph 1:4 L USM (my favorite lens for indoor photography)
• Generated Elinchrom Quadra RX of 400 watts.
• Speedlite 580
• Manfrotto tripod.
• Pocket Wizards in some close-ups for the 70-200 Ef IS USM 2.8f.

LIGHTING A HOTEL, FRAMING THE IMAGES

Rarely is interior design/real estate photography enjoyed as it is when photographing a hotel. Hotels have spaces designed for the delight and comfort of their guests. In the case we have at this entrance our hotel had huge windows overlooking the sea and beautiful and very changing lighting as the afternoon progressed. The dynamics of the space for taking photographs was as follows:

• We will work in manual mode: whenever we require to power our flashes go in manual and of course our exposure is compensated in each scene.
• The telephoto lens also makes interior design: our client asked us for photos for social networks. The blur and close-ups of detail that we get with a telephoto lens give us a lot of richness for the combination of final images.
• Long live the people: we photographers are «social» professionals. By asking, meeting, and being advised by the hotel staff you can access incredible sites. Yes, incredible sites 🙂

DEVELOPING WITH LIGHTROOM

I emphasize what to do with our raw files, since, back in the studio and with this type of image, the possibilities of developing and aesthetic applications of light are enormous.

With the last update of Lightroom, it becomes even easier to develop the raws and correct fundamental aspects of architecture and optics thanks to its database that recognizes the camera lens, in my case a Canon 17-40mm. To work the resulting images my development consisted of:

• To develop some photos as an intelligent object in multi-exposure.
• To adjust the whites in case the client doesn’t like them too «greyish».
• Correct lines and deformations like trapeze or concave/convex.
• Adjusting the lights and shadows is extremely easy because of everything discussed in this post.
• Leave the photo ready for other retouches and focus on Photoshop.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Working with 2 flashes (or more) in real estate photography and large spaces is a plus in commercial photography. With this technique, we will obtain an almost perfect shot that will save us a lot of time working on the computer as it happens with other techniques.

If you have more questions or want to continue developing the technique of real estate photography with several flashes do not hesitate to write to me, I will be happy to assist you.

Until the next post!