Trouble shooting a white kitchen

I recently purchased an EF14L wide angle lens in the hopes of picking some real estate photography gigs with it as it really pulls in a ton of space into a single frame!

To get myself prepared for doing this type of shooting, I've been practicing on my own apartment, shooting all the rooms in it and ran into trouble when it came to the kitchen which has white walls, white ceiling and white cupboards! On top of that, when I took this shot I was using the available lighting in the kitchen along with my 580EXII flash for filling in the shadows a bit and once I tried to process it in Photoshop Elements 6, I couldn't nail down a good white balance without screwing up the color and the contrast in the image.

I've posted my attempt below and am not sure if I got it right or not? Perhaps some of you kind souls out there can tell me if I'm off course with how I've processed this and give suggestions as to how to go about this!

Here's the pic...

Photoshop>New adj layer>selective color>cyan>cyan slider -100

a 2 min. edit.
curve adjustment + Hue/Sat.

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tips: if you are dealing with mostly white surroundings, remember to use compensation: with exposure as well as with the flash. How are you bouncing your flash? I would probably be bouncing sort of up and behind me--especially if there is a wall behind me. Also, if you can choose a zoom on your flash, choose the widest possible.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #8087951
tips: if you are dealing with mostly white surroundings, remember to use compensation: with exposure as well as with the flash. How are you bouncing your flash? I would probably be bouncing sort of up and behind me--especially if there is a wall behind me. Also, if you can choose a zoom on your flash, choose the widest possible.

Thanks very much for the reminder about exposure compensation! I knew about that for shooting snow but forgot all about that for this type of situation!

I re-shot the scene with +1 exposure compensation and bounced the flash off the ceiling as there was no back wall to aim the flash at. This time in post, I stepped the exposure back half a stop and everything seemed to balance out much better...I think?

Result below...

Rather then relying on post processing, I'd try to get it right in camera.
Your problem here is (mainly) white balance: You've set tungsten WB for the ambient lighting I think? In that case you should gel the flash with a CTO gel, so the color temperature matches that of the ambient...

René Damkot wrote in post #8088912
Rather then relying on post processing, I'd try to get it right in camera.
Your problem here is (mainly) white balance: You've set tungsten WB for the ambient lighting I think? In that case you should gel the flash with a CTO gel, so the color temperature matches that of the ambient...

I thought that's what I was doing in my re-shoot, was getting it right in camera by using exposure compensation of +1 stop. That second shot I posted has very little post processing in it other then backing the exposure down half a stop in DPP and touching up the sharpness a bit. I did also run the second shot through PSE6 and tried the auto fix applets for levels, contrast and color correction and those did essentially nothing to change the shot.

On the second shot, I used the in camera AWB and did not change that in post processing, so I think I have inadvertently taken your advice before you gave it...again with reference to the second posted shot that I posted.

Thanks!

Cheers!

The second is better, but there are still two different (coloured) light sources. The flash has a different colour temperature then the ambient (yellowish).

That's why the kitchen goes from blue-ish to yellow-ish from front to back.

René Damkot wrote in post #8089236
The second is better, but there are still two different (coloured) light sources. The flash has a different colour temperature then the ambient (yellowish).

That's why the kitchen goes from blue-ish to yellow-ish from front to back.

Now that you mention the bluish to yellowish issue, yes, I can see that. Thank you!

About this gel that you mentioned in your previous post, to mount on my flash; what product am I looking for to accomplish this and how do I mount this on the flash? You made mention of a CTO gel? What does CTO stand for? Is this a product name or an acronym for something? I have never used gels so please excuse my ignorance about this.

Also use a gray card to help with the white balance. You may also want to experiment with HDR techniques, blending different bracketed exposures.
Here's a useful link.

CTO: Stands for Color Temperature Orange I think. Color corrects daylight to tungsten.

Cheapest option: A version of one of these:Link

I second René's advice - get all of your light the same, or very similar, in color temp right out of the gate. Otherwise the corrections in post will be a bear. Maybe, if you can get your flash off of the camera via a sync cable hide it behind the fridge in what appears to be a doorway on the left and aim it at the ceiling in the vicinity of the far globe fixture to add a little punch to the far portion of the kitchen (eating area). That way the near cabinets won't be so overexposed and dominating the foreground.

Here is a simple yet effective gel kit from lumiquest

http://www.lumiquest.c​om/products/fxtra.htm

- the holder velcros onto your flash head and you slip the various gels into it lickity split. It comes with 1/4, 1/2 and 1 CTO gel (the intensity of the effect) so you can experiment with how much orange you need to match the lighting. I have this for both of my 580 EX flashes and it is very easy and effective. It also is designed to hold any of the Roscoe or Lee sampler pack gels, so you can get a ton of gel options in addition to the included ones (the included gels are Roscoe).

Have fun!

Kirk

A practical consideration for real estate photography is, because it doesn't pay like wedding photography, you often are doing several shots a day. And if the home is still occupied by the Seller, they often take an attitude that you're "invading" their space (typical homesellers have a unique set of emotions that you need to develop an appreciation of). You need to be in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. So unless you're shooting an expensive estate property, simpler is better.

You also have to deal with the real estate agent who is anxious to get the photos within 24 hours so he/she can get them uploaded to the local multiple listing service and various national real estate websites. You should consider including a brief (up to 2 minutes length) video tour in your photo package as YouTube real estate videos are "this year's" hot real estate marketing trend.

ChasP505 wrote in post #8089361
Also use a gray card to help with the white balance. You may also want to experiment with HDR techniques, blending different bracketed exposures.
Here's a useful link.

I could see the benefit of using HDR's when shooting a room that has windows that are giving important viewing information as to what's visible through them but would an HDR treatment of a windowless kitchen in this example be really necessary?

The gray card is a good idea; thanks for that.

Cheers!

kirkt wrote in post #8089856
I second René's advice - get all of your light the same, or very similar, in color temp right out of the gate. Otherwise the corrections in post will be a bear. Maybe, if you can get your flash off of the camera via a sync cable hide it behind the fridge in what appears to be a doorway on the left and aim it at the ceiling in the vicinity of the far globe fixture to add a little punch to the far portion of the kitchen (eating area). That way the near cabinets won't be so overexposed and dominating the foreground.

Here is a simple yet effective gel kit from lumiquest - the holder velcros onto your flash head and you slip the various gels into it lickity split. It comes with 1/4, 1/2 and 1 CTO gel (the intensity of the effect) so you can experiment with how much orange you need to match the lighting. I have this for both of my 580 EX flashes and it is very easy and effective. It also is designed to hold any of the Roscoe or Lee sampler pack gels, so you can get a ton of gel options in addition to the included ones (the included gels are Roscoe).

Have fun!

Kirk

Thanks for your tips and advice; it's appreciated!

You mentioned placing my flash behind the fridge. Most off shoe cables I've seen seem to be very short. Do they make longer ones or is using a "radio popper" the smarter option here?

Cheers!