Each room or space within a home is unique with its own purpose, character, and story. Within this 7 part series I will provide an overview of the key elements of each space, and general instructions, challenges and tips on how to photograph them. Welcome to part one; photographing living rooms.
All living spaces, whether rumpus rooms, dining spaces, parent’s retreats, media rooms, etc., should feel inviting and warm. You should portray this in your images in addition to highlighting the size, seating space, and lighting (natural or artificial) in your wide-angle shots. Close-up photographs should show the details in the cushions and ‘throw’ rugs in addition to the décor placed on the coffee table.
Living areas and dining rooms come in all shapes and sizes and offer a variety of composition options; however, you should consider the purpose of the room, the position of windows, and furniture placement. For example, if you are photographing a large living room with floor to ceiling glass windows, you should ensure that this feature is incorporated into the composition so that the viewer’s eye leads through the space and out towards the windows and view.
Different homes present different challenges when it comes to shooting the living rooms. Some homes have an ‘open plan’ design, where the dining area, living room, and kitchen are all in the one open space. Other homes have a partially open-plan layout, or all living, dining and kitchen spaces are completely separate. Take the time to study the space and walk around it without your camera to get a feel for the best angle to decide which compositions will give communicate the most information to potential buyers/renters.
If the living areas are open-plan and it is possible to include different zones (kitchen, living and dining rooms) in one composition, this is a great way to highlight the open plan design of the home. It is also beneficial to capture wide-angle shots of each zone separately, i.e., kitchen, living room, and dining room.
If the patio, balcony or alfresco area doors are within these compositions, they usually look best when open to show the functionally of the room. Close-up shots should focus on the tableware, indoor plants, textures within the furniture, and stylish décor using a shallow depth of field to achieve a soft background. In next week’s article I will discuss the photographing kitchen spaces.
In next week’s article I will provide a quick guide to shooting kitchens.
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