Architectural Spot Lighting saves the day in student housing photo project
While shooting at NEIU in Chicago, I took the time to do some spot lighting on this scene. In this first image you can see what the camera sees and there are lots of lighting problems. The window is easily 8 stops hotter than the couches in the foreground. The windows are almost blown out and couches are dark. I could have fused 5 bracketed photos as I often do, but I wanted to test this approach to lighting.
The Nest at NEIU architectural photograph out of the camera image
I walked around and used a Canon 600 ex rt speedlite with no modifier on it to spot light 6 areas. I triggered the camera from my Ipad which was loaded with the Cam Ranger software. The camera had the Cam Ranger unit attached to the fire wire port. This gives me the freedom to walk around and spot light and change the settings on the camera or on the flash without having to walk back to the camera.
Spot lit scene of The Nest
Then I painted in those lit areas in Photoshop. Even with no modifier on the flash to soften the shadows, I ended up with a much more appealing architectural photograph.
Final image of The Nest with spot lighting done in Photoshop
