Best time of day to take room pix?

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Madeleine

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Taking new room pix next week. What do you find is the best time to take the pix? Early morning, late afternoon, nighttime, full sun, cloudy day? I really only want to do this once! I love the light at certain times of the day and was wondering if I can really capture that.
 
All I know is that...
  • Experts say sunlight is NOT your friend. Indeed, whenever I see our local portrait photographer taking photos of people outdoors, she's always doing it in the shade.
  • With a modern digital camera (even a point and shoot, not a fancy one) you can take a good photo in TOTAL darkness and it will automatically handle adjusting everything so it's a good photo. Hard to take a bad photo these days.
  • You can do wonders in the computer. Not saying to make things better than they are, but you can take an imperfect photo that does not represent things well, and make it look as good as the real thing. I'd been using an online site called picnik that had all kinds of photo editing tools, but they are closing down. Surely there are others, for free or at a decent price.
 
All I know is that...
  • Experts say sunlight is NOT your friend. Indeed, whenever I see our local portrait photographer taking photos of people outdoors, she's always doing it in the shade.
  • With a modern digital camera (even a point and shoot, not a fancy one) you can take a good photo in TOTAL darkness and it will automatically handle adjusting everything so it's a good photo. Hard to take a bad photo these days.
  • You can do wonders in the computer. Not saying to make things better than they are, but you can take an imperfect photo that does not represent things well, and make it look as good as the real thing. I'd been using an online site called picnik that had all kinds of photo editing tools, but they are closing down. Surely there are others, for free or at a decent price.
.
I took photos in a near dark library and was amazed at the clarity of the images. As long as nothing moves it's fantastic! I'm having NO luck at all taking pix outside. Everything is washed out. Either I need to learn the manual aspect of the camera or buy a polarizing lens. (Or, just use my sunglasses on the camera!)
 
Well, we've been taking alot of pictures and not kept very many of them. So I can give you some don'ts:
  1. Have multiple lights on if creates a 4-layer stacked shadow behind things
  2. Take it when the sun is shining in & making the room beautifully bright because the brightness of the window will wash out the entire picture
  3. Forget to scan the entire room first for sagging pillows, bedskirt uneven, crooked pictures, etc.
  4. Take a picture in a room with a mirror that you might end up being in
Some of you might consider these no-brainers, but I learned the hard way!
 
Well, we've been taking alot of pictures and not kept very many of them. So I can give you some don'ts:
  1. Have multiple lights on if creates a 4-layer stacked shadow behind things
  2. Take it when the sun is shining in & making the room beautifully bright because the brightness of the window will wash out the entire picture
  3. Forget to scan the entire room first for sagging pillows, bedskirt uneven, crooked pictures, etc.
  4. Take a picture in a room with a mirror that you might end up being in
Some of you might consider these no-brainers, but I learned the hard way!.
Ah yes, the old innkeeper in the mirror photo, I know it well!
 
I prefer photos that are taken with natural light rather than with the lights on in the rooms. I also love the look of sunshine coming in through a bedroom window. Maybe thats because we are overcast 50% of the time so when I think about going away on vacation, even for a weekend, I always hope for sun!
 
Depends what kind of photos do you have already? I have done some nice photos just around dusk with the lights on and blinds open.
www.arbutuswd.com
 
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