PHOTOSTYLING

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PART 1

Photostyling

PART 2

How to create a better photograph

PART 3

Understanding how a camera works

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Think about how you are coming across to your customers!

Clients wants to know more about your companyafter seeing a few beautiful images of your work.

Shooting high-quality photographs is not that difficult. (lol)

PHOTOS ARE (very)POWERFUL

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The quality of the image is very important.Clients are more likely to contact you.Images get more attention than text.

Images help establish your identity, who you are and the quality of work you do.

Invest in good photo shoots; It will add a fortune to your web site’s business.

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The opposite is true for showing too many “snapshots”.

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Or construction “snapshots”

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After your project is finished:

Give your client a break.(they had to deal with the construction for a few weeks)

Give them time to “break-in” their new addition. Let them personalize the area to their taste

They need some time to dress it up, add items like hanging pictures,adding furniture, rugs, grill, etc.; styling you can’t do as a contractor.

This is not the time to photo style and photograph your work.

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Porch photo one week after construction

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Final photo 4 weeks later

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Talk to your client about when they think they will be ready for you.

Discuss what they will do for decorating in the coming weeks so you have a good idea what to

bring when it’s time for a photo shoot.

You will be better prepared when you know what to expect.

In my field, I’m curious when and what they will purchase for their deck or porch:

•Dining set•Grill

•Relaxing area, etc.

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You want to create an image where you can imagine yourself stepping into their place.

Photo styling is not rocket science.

The arrangements, color choices, use of light will make your work an extension of your personality.

You will see over time that you create a personal style in your work that is beautiful in your own eyes.

Photo styling and capturing it is a lot of work but very rewarding and it will lead to more clients that are

interested in doing business with you.

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Get yourself an assortment of photo props.Good place to get photo props:

Big Box stores Around your houseDollar stores Props from Homeowner

Michaels IKEA

Ask the homeowner if they can help with supplying accessories or other items.

I found out that most clients love to help with decorating.

This table was all done by my client -She wanted to surprise me!!!

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List of items I have for photo styling

Yours may be different depending on the work you do.

Bathroom towels (different colors)Flowers and plants (for indoors, I use plastic ones)Silverware (different colors)

Coffee mugs / tea set / wine glasses / empty bottle of wineA few books and magazines

Dinner plate (different colors)Placemat / napkins (different colors)

For every shoot I go to a local flower store and get a few fresh flowers and/or plants and leave them at the client’s

house as a thank you!

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Spend a few minutes walking through the roomTo straighten, align and organize everything

possible.

Watch out for crooked lampshades, wrinkled bedspreads, misaligned furniture, crooked rugs,

uneven wall hangings, etc

In short: DECLUTTER

Don’t rush through any shoot without spending a little time to clean up

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What you want to do is to create a clean

environment with just a little bit of styling.

I prefer earth tone colors with a little touch of color,

especially red.

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For food decoration, I use plastic vs real.

It is easy and you really can’t see the difference in

the photo.

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Don’t tuck all the chairs under the

table. Angle the chairs for a

more inviting look.

Play with colors to match existing items

in the scene.

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Take advantage of ambient light like this gorgeous pattern the

ceiling pendant created.

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Focus on a clean and inviting room but don’t make it personal.

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A few books and some fresh flowers were all this living room needed.

Close blinds to control

ambient light

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You want to create an image where your client can imagine themselves stepping into their place.

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A few items with a drink on the coffee table will

make it more inviting and homey.

Just the feeling you want to create for potential

buyers imagining themselves living and

enjoying the space.

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Turn all the lights on

Less is better

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Always keep toilet seat cover closed

Make use of ambient light as much as you can

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Let the home owner hang up their art work.

Keep it simple!A towel with a bar

of soap is all that’s needed

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This is a beautiful bathroom but it is in need of a few

items

…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….

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Too many personal items

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Turn the TV offIn most cases,

it’s a distraction

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Stand in the corner to give you

the widest perspective of the

interior

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Balance the lighting so there

are no overly dark shadows or overly bright highlights

General rule:Look for soft light

Use all the light that is available –lamps, overhead light, natural light

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Overcast days will help to create soft light

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Same for indoors to avoid over exposed windows

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Shoot the scene from different angles

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If you like bold and vibrant colors then use it

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Adding a few plants will soften the overall look

Credit: Kim Katwijk

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Before

After

Credit: Kim Katwijk

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Before

After

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Clean and simple is in most cases more

effective

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Thank you for watching (Part 1)

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at: finedecks@gmail.com

HOW TO CREATE A BETTER PHOTOGRAPH

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Almost all of us have a website that includes a photo gallery. Aside from the home page, this is probably the most visited page on your website. You want to make sure it looks good and that it will impress your clients.

Hiring a professional photographer is an option but it can get expensive.

All we want is great images of our work.

It is something we all can do with a few basic guidelines and probably with the tools you already have.

Now let’s see what we can do to improve your photos.Here we will show some tips and examine some photos.

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When to shoot?Photography is all about light.

No matter what equipment you have, you can greatly improve your pictures with a

little preparation and timing.

The deck, kitchen or bathroom you just built is done, that doesn’t mean it is ready to photograph.

You need to come back on another day when the weather is good and the area you are going to photograph is dressed up.

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Best time of the day to shoot?I find the best time to shoot an outdoor project is

2-3 hours before sunset until twilight.Depending on the season and your location, it can

be anywhere between 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

Don’t pack up your gear after the sun sets.

Great shots are to be made in the next ½ hour.

For indoors, I prefer early morning or late afternoon.If you need to shoot during the day, then try to do this

on an light overcast day.

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What to shoot?Try to capture at least one image that covers

the entire project.You may need to get up on a ladder to get a better view

and shoot it at different times as the light quickly changes.

Every ½ hour is goodand pick out the one

you like the most.

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Panorama?If you don’t have a wide angle lens that can

cover the entire project, then considerstitching multiple shots together

oruse the panorama feature in your camera.

(great for photo banners on your website)

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Extreme Panorama?Limit yourself to roughly 120 degrees

to avoid curved lines.

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Easy way to create a panoramaPan your camera around the No-parallax point

(center of the lens where light comes in)

Now your software has no problem stitching them together

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Avoid the sky if possible On sunny days, you have lots of bright areas and it can fool the

camera meter.The result will be an

underexposed photo.

If you do shoot on a sunny day, avoid the sky as much as you can to get proper exposure.

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“the blue hour” (½ hour before sunset and ½ hour after sunset)is a great time to photograph a project.

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Shoot detail shots

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Photo tips

If you have a composition you like, then make

it a little wider.This will give you some room

later in editingfor cropping.

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Photo tips

You will need to correct some photos that shows lens

distortion like vertical lines. As stated before, leave some space in the composition so

you can make these corrections since you will lose

some real estate.

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Always go with the highest resolution settings for Jpeg or shoot RAW.

Photo tips

You can alwaysdowngrade later

to a lower resolutionif needed.

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Photo tipsBracket your pictures in high contrast areas if you are not

sure about the correct exposure.

*Exposure 1 = -2 stops*Exposure 2 = 0 stops*Exposure 3 = +2 stops

This set up will cover most of the dynamic range

of the scene.

- 2

- 0

+ 2

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Photo tipsInclude something in the

foreground to create depth.

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Photo tipsInclude landscaping, pools or other

structures in the scene.(ask permission to publish from your subs)

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Photo tips

Turn on hot tubs,light fixtures,

firepit, or pool.

It will greatly enhance your

pictures.

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Photo tips

Shoot the same scene at different times of the day.

Same photo but 1 hour later.

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Photo tipsKeep the camera level whenever you can.

Shooting at eye level you most likely are pointing your camera down to capture the scene.

This is okay in some cases, but it will also create distortion.

Photograph at roughly 3’ to 4’high elevation to avoid

vertical distortion

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Photo tips

Use flash or add additional lights if needed.

A cheap work lamp with a clamp can make a big difference.

-bulb at 3500K for evening shots -bulb at 5500K for day shots

-Don’t use a pop-up flash or built in flash.

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TripodA tripod is a must have. It will slow you down.

Shooting later in the day or evening, the light is reduced to a point where you need longer

exposures.

To get the sharpest images, use a tripod (even during the day) and use a remote control

or a 2 second delay.

If you have a DSLR (no mirrorless), then it is always a good idea to use the mirror lock-up feature to avoid vibrations.

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Gone are the days we need a bag full of filters.Most can be created in photo editing software.

Filters

Circular polarizer filter is the one you can’t do without. It will remove glare on water, it saturates the colors and

makes the scene more vibrant.If these effects are not needed, then don’t use this filter.

A Graduated Neutral Density filter is sometimes needed to darken a bright sky by a

few stops if you are shooting outdoors. This will balance the scene

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What lens do I need for indoor shots?

If I had to choose one lens, it would be a 16mm-35mm (full frame); preferable with a fixed aperture.

This is a wide angle lens. Benefit: More depth of field

Rooms appear to be largerLarge coverage

My second choice would be a 24mm-70mm lens.If you can find a good lens that covers anywhere

between 10mm to 70mm it can be your ideal lens for shooting your outdoor projects.

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Setting up your camera

Camera on tripod at roughly 4’ high

Attach wide angle lens

Set up tripod head level

Camera pointing at the horizon (level)

Attach cable release (or use 2 sec. delay)

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Camera settings

Dial mode in Aperture priority (8-11)

ISO at 100 (the lowest number on your camera)

Exposure value: zero

Shutter speed: don’t worry (no moving objects)

White Balance at Auto (will correct in PP)

Resolution: raw or raw/Jpeg

Autofocus OFF (manually focus 1/3 into the scene)

2 second delay or cable release

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Let’s look at some sample pictures through the eyes of a photographer.

Oops

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Pointing the camera down or

up creates distortion

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Pointing the camera at the

horizon (level) you will avoid distortion

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If you can’t avoid being in the

picture due to reflections of the mirror, you can darken that area

by under exposing during post processing

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Shooting on a cloudy day will

help over exposing bright

areas like windows

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Bright sunlight will over exposure

the area

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Increase your exposure value by

1 or 2 stops to keep the bright

areas white

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Decrease your exposure value by

1 or 2 stops to keep the dark

areas dark

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You can create a starburst by using

a filter or keep your aperture at

high (22)

Light source has to be bright and

small to get a good effect

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Make use of soft curtains to reduce

incoming light

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Correct the White Balance.Blue tone is caused by outdoor light

coming through the window

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Get some details shots as well(notice the shallow depth of field)

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Shoot plenty of picturesYou invested a lot of time

getting to this point.

It is very rewarding to capture all your work so you can enjoy it and

impress your potential clients.

Next step is to edit and publish.

Be proud of your work!

HOW THE CAMERA WORKS

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Understanding how a camera works

The principal of a camera is still the same: A black box with a lens on one side, and film, or

sensor, on the other side.

Do I read the 200-300 page manual that comes with the camera?

NO

It is easier to understand the basics of photography.

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To improve our photography skills, we need tounderstand a few basic elements

In photography

• Aperture

• Shutter Speed

• ISO

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Each setting controls exposure differently.

~ Aperture: controls the area over which light can enter your camera

~ Shutter speed: controls the amount of time your camera’s sensor is exposed to light

~ ISO speed: controls the sensitivity of your camera's sensor to a given amount of light

The Exposure Triangle

The Exposure Triangle

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One way to simplify these adjustments is to compare the camera to certain elements of the

human eye.

Aperture functions like the eye's iris. It opens and constricts the diameter of its opening to limit the amount of light allowed into the eye.

Shutter speed is similar to blinking, except the eyelid is usually open when we are awake. However, if you can imagine your eyelids opening, momentarily, to capture a single image before closing. That is like a camera's shutter.

ISO is similar to the sensitivity of the rods and cones at the back of the eye.

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Aperture functions like the eye's iris. It opens andconstricts the diameter of its opening to limit the amount

of light allowed into the eye.

Understanding Aperture

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Aperture affects yourDEPTH OF FIELD

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Understanding Shutter Speed

Shutter speed controls the amount of time your camera’s sensor is exposed to

light.

Effectively, it’s the length of time a camera’s shutter is open.

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Shutter speed affects yourMOTION BLUR

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Understanding ISO

ISO controls the sensitivity of your camera'ssensor to a given amount of light.

As a general rule: Keep the number as low as possible (100-400).

If in doubt keep the ISO at AUTO.

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ISO affects yourIMAGE NOISE

Low ISO speed(low image noise)

High ISO speed(high image noise)

Image noise is also known as "film grain" in traditional film photography.

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If we move one stop to the right, we need to move oneto the left in order to keep the same exposure.

Let’s take a look how Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISOall work together to create the correct exposure.

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Exposure values are measured in stops.

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How to get the correct exposure:

All the camera wants to do is giveyou a correct exposure.

Not too bright, and not too dark, JUST RIGHT!

(at least that’s what the camera thinks)

The default setting in the camera is Center-Weighted Metering.

It will measure the light mainly in the center.

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Sample of the area that is measured in this case:

Center-Weighted

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The camera will create an Average ExposureValue of all the reflective light values in

The Center-Weighted Circle.

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Here the area that is metered, ½ white and ½ black, will give me a perfect

medium tone (18% gray).

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The camera wants to go to a medium gray(scale 5). So here we need to over-expose

to get the correct exposure.

+ 2 stops

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Same for dark situations,like sunsets and evening shots.

Here you want to under expose by 1 or 2 stops.

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Use your exposure compensation dial to make the adjustments.

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Options to Get the Correct Exposure

Sunny 16 Rule

Take a meter reading of a gray card or similar product

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That was easy, right?

We are almost there.

We need to understand WHITE BALANCE.

If you don’t understand yet, then don’t worry. Just set the white balance at AUTO. Modern

cameras do an outstanding job.

If you shoot in “raw”, then you can make that adjustment later in post processing

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Symbols on your camera.

3300 Kelvin 4300 Kelvin

5300 Kelvin

6300 Kelvin 7300 KelvinFine Decks Studio

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To get the correct white balance you have a few options.

Take a picture of white/gray card

and use custom white balance

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Use the color checker in in your software to get the correct color balance.

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Or look for a neutral area in the picture and use your eyedropper.

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Histogram in a nutshell.

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Under exposed areas thatdon’t contain any detail.

(also called clipped area) shown in blue

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Over exposed areas thatdon’t contain any detail.

(also called clipped area ) shown in red

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High Dynamic Range (HDR)

Use the HDR feature on your camera to avoidclipped areas (windows).

Here the same picturecorrected by thecamera without blown out areas.

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A histogram is a graphical representation of pixels exposed in your image.

Check if the exposure is correct, then check your histogram.

It will give you a more accurate reading.

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RAW is also known as the "digital negative". We are more familiar with Jpeg which is a

developed RAW.Every time your camera takes a picture, you

are shooting in RAW. It records all the information it sees.

The question you need to ask is, “Do I want the camera to convert it to a Jpeg or do I want to convert the image (raw) to a usable format myself?” If you ask the camera for a Jpeg, it will use the information from the RAW and

dispose of all other information.

RAW or Jpeg

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If you want the best quality possible out of your camera, then you need to shoot RAW.

This setting will give you much more control over the photograph such as the exposure,

white balance, sharpness, etc.

If you cannot or do not want to do any post processing, then you simply shoot in Jpeg.

Jpeg format is 8-bit compressed vs RAW which is 12–14 or even 16 bit.

Jpeg is 8-bit and you can still make lots of corrections, but the file will deteriorate quickly.

(ESPECIALLY LOW RESOLUTION PHOTOS)RAW is, on the other hand, non-destructive.

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I recommend shooting in RAW and Jpeg.Develop the pictures in a RAW converter like

Lightroom and save it as Jpeg for viewing, printing, website, social media, etc.

Use Jpeg if you know they will be snapshots or they don’t require a lot of post processing like low contrast

scenes.

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How to pick a camera that fits your needs.

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* Sensor Size

* Mirrorless or DSLR (with mirror)

* Interchangeble lenses

* Option for manual control

* Option for Aperture / Shutter priority

* Video options?

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What is the benefit of a larger sensor?( based on larger pixels)

Pros: Cons:

Less noise

Higher resolutionHigher dynamic range

Better low light performanceShallow depth of field (bokeh)

Large dataExpensive

Larger / heavier lenses

Sample of image sensors

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View of image sensors.

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View of Focal Length.

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Thank you for watching my presentation

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at: finedecks@gmail.com