Being the polo-watching, horse-adoring, jodhpur-wearing lassie that I am, inevitability stated that today my camera was to shoot that bastion of retail aesthetic, La Martina. It is at La Martina that my obsession with the hand-crafted riding boot becomes my quarry, a starched collar the focal point of my sensor, admiration of the product translating into photographs of elysian beauty.
Now, the most commercially profitable images of interiors are those devoid of people. Magazines like to enable their readers to project themselves into a pictured dream space, whether retail, home or hotel suite. That projection isn’t possible if the rooms are already filled up with strangers.
La Martina: D3000 f/5.6; Exposure Time 1/250sec; ISO-100 Aperture Priority
Nonetheless, many of the pictures of interiors that are the most successful as photographs are those that show people relating to what the architects have built and interior designers have conjured.
La Martina: D3000 f/5.6; Exposure Time 1/500sec; ISO-100 Aperture Priority
As for the technical aspects of photographing interiors, take note: most camera equipment is designed for handheld use outdoors. As soon as you take them indoors you discover that it is much darker indoors than out. Sharp images cannot be constructed handholding your camera in an enclosed space.
Suppose that you stop the lens aperture down to f/11 to ensure adequate depth of field (objects at differing distances from the lens all in reasonably sharp focus). Keeping the shutter open for a 1/2 second will deliver sufficient light. However a camera cannot be held steady for this long. Hands shake, and images blur. Two options are available to you: a) carry a tripod, and b) illuminate the scene with an electronic flash.
La Martina D3000 f/5.6; Exposure Time 1/250sec; ISO-100 Aperture Priority
As to how the images, above, were taken, fortune struck this photographer! Ample natural light was streaming into the La Martina pop-up retail space at the Polo. Sunlight struck the horse saddles and shadows playfully danced on the timber flooring, evoking the healthy living, culture and lifestyle that the horsey-crowd feels at home in.
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