Ever wonder how to make a space appear larger in a photograph? For our second tip in the “Architectural Photography for Dummies” series, we’ll teach you how to make a small space appear larger in a photo.
The trick to making a space appear larger is the width of your lens; the wider the lens the larger the room will appear. If you are using a point and shoot camera, set the camera to the widest setting (zoom out as far as possible) and if you’re using a SLR camera with an interchangeable lens, use the widest lens you own. Stand back in the room as far as you can, even backing in to the corner if possible, and start shooting.
Take a look at the photos below, the image on the top was shot with a standard 35mm lens, which is similar to the field of view of the average human eye. There is nothing wrong with this image and it could be a nice detail shot, but to really show as much of the room as possible, use the widest lens or setting on your camera. The image on the bottom was shot with a wider lens at 18mm and as you can see makes the room appear much larger, even showing parts of the room that didn’t appear using the 35mm lens.
For more information on our photographer Patrick Kelley, visit his website here.