Shooting luxury design
I have my coffee in hand, feet up on the couch & ready to talk about this beautiful design on this beautiful Saturday morning.
Anne-Marie of Sherdian Interiors & I connected on Instagram & I am so glad we did. The project was located in Cornwall, Ontario which is a town is located about 1hr south/west of Ottawa. We had a big day of shooting & I was very excited to get started. The natural light in the home was good, it was a little rainy but I can work with that. Back in the day, I use to get so stressed out about weather for my interior shoots before I started using artificial lighting. Now that I use both artificial & natural lighting I know I can get great photos regardless of the light. I always consider what time would be best to shoot a project depending on which way the space faces (NESW).
When doing the initial walk-thru of the spaces, I noticed the quality in the pieces Anne-Marie chose for her client. The designs were dappled with rich fabrics, custom furniture pieces, quality textiles. These were things I wanted highlight & showcase well in Anne-Marie’s photos. To me, the home as a whole felt feminine & luxurious. I added subtle highlights with my artificial lighting; like the the wallpaper in the primary bedroom. It had a unique light reflecting texture which I wanted viewers of the photos understand. The bed & living room throw pillows had wonderful fabrics that I made sure to get close up shots of. The living room had a pretty mix of glam inspired decor. The brass candlesticks on the coffee table, I loved! The custom mirrored credenza was a showstopper & made sure to get a shot featuring it as the main focal point. Moving on to the front hallway....this was a fun area for me to shoot. There was no sun that day, so I placed one of my strobes outside the front door which created a fun dapple of light on the wallpaper feature. A great day of shooting beautiful design is always a good day.
Equipment; Nikon D750 with a Nikorr 16-35 Lens + 50mm. Elinchrom Ranger RX, Camranger II, Benro Tripod, Color Checker, black cloth
Orleans Remodel
This beautiful full home renovation by Laurie Sprague Designs features timeless design & textiles that will be enjoyed by the homeowners for many years to come. Laurie combined precious heirlooms from the home owners with new pieces to create a a fresh take onto the newly renovated spaces. My favourite piece is the armchair featured in the living room that they recovered with a modern black fabric. The master bedroom retreat made me feel like I was shooting a boutique hotel! The room featured luxe fabrics on the bedding & window treatments with a soft neutral rug. The ensuite certainly didn’t disappoint with a massive soaker tub & fully tiled wall to compliment a double vanity. The dining & living spaces are light & airy filled with unique art pieces. Second bedroom is decorated with a costal vibe that would welcome any guests for a stay. I agree with Laurie’s approach in terms of re-purposing or updating items in your home you already have when re-decorating a space.
Photography BTS; This house was filled with diffused natural light, which always makes a photographer gal like me happy! I used minimal artificial lighting on this project, relying mainly on natural light filled with a speedlight/soft box combo as a kicker. This project was photographed in winter, so controlling colour casts coming from outdoors was much easier. During the summer, a green cast from foliage outside can make colours funky. This can be controlled by artificial lighting to overpower the casts. Camera body was a Nikon D750 with a Nikorr 16-35 Lens + 50mm.
