Turn Off The Light
Lighting is often a matter of preference: placement, intensity, colour, style. The right lighting will enhance how a space is experienced. Whether in interior design or photography.
But what is the right light?
In the world of high-end interior photography, the sort you’ll find flipping the pages of your favourite design magazine, natural light reigns supreme. Why? Because natural light creates a natural lifestyle look!
Interior lights cast all sorts of shadows. And while they’re throwing shade at that brilliant design you’ve spent months perfecting, they’re also changing its colour (yikes!). Every light source has a different colour temperature. Measured in Kelvin, tungsten lights run warm (2800K), household fluorescents run white (3500K), and daylight is cool (ranging between 5500-6500K).
What does all that scientific jargon mean? Colour tension.
Envision a beautiful nightstand vignette. A stack of well-worn books rest beneath a matte-white vase of pampas grass. Daylight shines in through the window, wrapping itself around the plume-like leaves. To the left leans a framed, one-line print by a local artist. And in front, a bedside lamp that is serving up serious boho-chic vibes. Sounds incredible right? A quiet moment in a place of refuge.
Now, imagine all the lights are on. Wrapped around that white vase and pampas tufts is a hard blue light, pouring in from the window as it paints it’s way across the wall. A harsh orange beam glows beneath the bedside lamp bouncing into the frame behind. Now, instead of that one-of-a-kind print, all you see is a sea of orange. In between those fighting hues is a greenish-white shining down from the recessed lights above. Oh! And don’t forget all those new shadows...one for every light. Not quite so calm and inviting, is it?
Why don’t your eyes see it that way?
The human eye is incredible. It’s ability to adjust to just about any colour temperature is downright astounding! But a camera is not a human eye. It’s a tool with limitations. This is why choosing a single light source is key. One source will ensure your design remains front and centre. By choosing natural light as your main source, that well-curated palette will appear, fresh, clean, and true to colour in every shot.
So turn off the lights, open the curtains and let the personality of your design shine.
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Photography by Tracey Jazmin, edited by me!
