Shooting architectural interiors is always a challenge. Mirrors and windows reflecting studio strobes, matching the interior light levels to the light coming in through the windows, capturing the warmth and beauty of lamps and existing light without over powering it - the list of problems is long and complex.
As a gay man with an appreciation for great interior design, I want to capture the designer's best ideas without injecting too much of my own personality. A good interior designer places lamps in key areas to highlight furniture, paintings, sculpture and other features. A good interior photographer doesn't over power existing light with their studio lights, but just softens and fills the shadows so that the camera can capture the details. Pools of light highlighting the best features of a room is beautiful, and shadows add a bit of mystery and elegance to an interior photograph.
Even with my appreciation for interior design, the designer did not arrange the room with photography of the room in mind. Often I will bring plants or flower arrangements in from other rooms, move furniture, and place objects so there is a pleasing flow from the from the foreground to the background in the picture. Maybe the best two features in a room are against opposite walls, and impossible to capture in one still photograph. I will move a lamp, chair, sculpture or other feature into the area I am going to photograph just because it is too cool to leave out of the picture.
Patios can be treated like interiors, as they often have furniture arrangements, plants, and features like a room. Lighting is much different however, as the sun is normally the primary light source instead of lamps. Filling the shadows created by the sun and highlighting the best features is the task of the architecture photographer, as well as capturing the intention of the designer.
