In real estate photography you will come across mixed lighting very frequently. This could be from a variety of reasons like the location of the property, time of day, and the overall lighting on the inside. Learning how to fix photographs when there’s mixed lighting is an important skill to develop as a photographer. Below we will talk about strategies you can use to fix mixed lighting in your photography.
What Is Mixed Lighting?
Mixed lighting is when several different colors of light mix together on the subject of your photograph. This can be very common for interior real estate photography depending on the lighting in the room. It can also affect the exterior photography of the property depending where the property is located and the time of day. Read on to find out tips on how to fix mixed lighting.
Try Turning The Lights Off
If you have natural light shooting through the windows with warm ceiling lights on then this can cause a hue if the room if it’s a warm colored room. However, if you turn the lights off and choose a focus in the room that is around the strongest light source you will get a much cleaner, stunning looking image than if the lights were on. Try turning off the lights and put your focus of the room near the strongest light source to get the best quality images. This is an easy solution for large rooms with warm colors and lighting.
Use a Gel Over Your Flash
If you would prefer not to turn the lights off for your real estate photography then you can use a gel. For example, if the room you are photographing has warm colors then try using a CTO (Color-Temperature-Orange) gel. The lighting in the room with the flash will help balance out the existing light. However, if there are various amounts of colors in the room it is best not to use gel for the room.
Try Photo Editing in Lightroom
If you don’t have the proper camera equipment with you at the time you can always fix your images in post production. Lightroom is a great tool to use with many features to get the job done. It all depends on the photo you have taken and where the mixed light is in the photograph. Some things you can do in Lightroom include balancing the exposure, the ability to pull down any highlights or whites, bringing up any shadows or darks, and also using a tone curve which can help bring back loss of contrast in the images. These are just some of the abilities you have in LIghtroom, but there are many other features that can help fix your mixed lighting with photo editing. It all depends on what the image looks like to know which tools to use. Try some of these features in Lightroom when you have mixed lighting in your photography and see how they can help make your pictures stunning.
Try These Strategies
Mixed lighting in real estate photography can bring many challenges to your work. With these tips and strategies listed above you will be able to conquer this challenge in your photography. Even with mixed lighting you can still take gorgeous photos. Try these tips above and see how they can help your photography!
