I recently photographed a Medford home for Hampshire House Design. The entire shoot was done in one day and was fueled by collaboration, coffee, and background music from Miles Davis. We were aiming to get straight architectural photographs of each room as well as details throughout the house. We needed to get shots in the living room, dining room, office, child’s bedroom, and finally a portrait of the designer Sarah Remington. The first five photos in the series are of the living room.
Each scene used some form of artificial light with strobes using a light form panel or bouncing for a more natural, diffused look.
We started in the living room because that’s where the best light was early in the morning.
If I had this beautiful, customized shelf/desk, it would most likely be filled with photography books, vintage cameras, and records.
Believe it or not, this was one of the trickiest shots of the day. We were basically shooting against the sun coming in through the window, which made it difficult for the strobes to look natural with the sunlight. We used a mix of bounce and fill to get the correct exposure.
Dining Room
This was the most surprising and successful shot we captured. The initial idea was to frame up the entire room, but I thought it wasn’t necessary. We decided on a more editorial look for this, so we put the focus on just the dining table, flowers and drapery. When you intentionally leave things out of the frame, it can make the viewer more intrigued.
Office
This was a small office, but designed in a way to get the most space. Everything in the house was minimal and modern, but still retained a sense of functionality. It doesn’t come off as cold and unfriendly as some ultra mod homes look. I love the ladder-style shelving. It adds height to the room.
Child’s Bedroom
The toughest part of photographing a bedroom is getting the wrinkles out of the bedding. Even the best linen and bedding stylists I’ve worked with sometimes have a tough time removing the wrinkles. The goal is to make it look natural but not overly stylized.
Sarah Remington is the owner of Hampshire House Design.
