Flash Vs. HDR for Real Estate and Interior Photographers in Dubai

Many of our blog readers are working as professional interior photographers in Dubai or may be trying to become one. The crucial method used to capture amazing real estate photos is using HDR. Multiple functions like exposure fusion or tonemapping can be used by beginners. In this article, I will provide a comparison between Flash and HDR photos and show you the pros and cons of both.

Being a photographer in Dubai, I understand the importance of interior photography. I have been shooting and blogging about interiors, architecture, food and generally each and everything that needs to be captured. I have seen many people debating about the use of flash over HDR and vice versa. HDR users critic Flash users for being naïve and everyone goes disappointed without knowing which one is the best.

Let's start off with the importance of different options

HDR Exposure Fusion

A popular method which is used for interior photography is Exposure Fusion Photomatix's program. This option uses various blending algorithm and helps in creating more natural and authentic results, but we lose the creative control while using this option. This actually averages the exposure spread across the scene and takes tiny pieces from each and every exposure to create a photo which is more lifelike.

One of the major issues is the less suitable contrast appearance. The image usually becomes muddy with HDR Exposure Fusion. If your client requires a sharp image of high quality for snappy marketing in a magazine for selling the expensive real estate, this option will not work as the best for you.

HDR Tonemapping

This option is loved by many interior photographers but also a large number of real estate photographers hate this. Everyone uses this option once in their career. Some popular application of this tool includes artistic radioactive landscape captures and city scenes. But you could lose the real crispness and saturation of the scene due to the overexposure. The colors of the scene could become incorrect because tonemapping usually over saturate the warm colors.

On-Camera Flash

Another approach for interior photography is single flash on-camera. This option is used frequently by many; oftentimes it produces utterly disastrous photos. But sometimes it becomes a perfect tool. If you are capturing a small room with big windows and white walls, a little exposure from flashlight can really fill all the things in and produce a sparkle.

Off-Camera Flashes

For a relatively natural look and correct color with the exact transitions, this method will do the magic. The only constraint is the time. If you are doing a short duration shoot, you won’t be able to take 10 to 12 pictures of the scene from every angle using multiple off-camera flash.

All of the above four methods provide unique results. If you are new in the field and just starting out, on camera flash and HDR might help you to ease out. Invest your time in learning to compose dynamic range by using HDR and realize how you can improve yourself as an interior photographer in Dubai. Everyone holds their preferences, so make your own decision with my unbiased analysis on all the four methods.