Chicago Hotel Restaurant:

When photographing commercial spaces, the architectural photographer has to be able to master shooting various light sources and occasionally blending in the proper amount of exterior light from windows.  Case in point, this Chicago restaurant photographed in the late afternoon.  The interior space itself was beautiful, with vibrant color, plenty of contrasting elements, indirect lighting, and was facing West which meant that the interior would have a warm glow of light from the setting Sun.

We wanted to make sure that when a window was in the scene that you would be able to see completely through it.  It’s important to never overexpose an image so as to blow out the highlights of a window.  Ask yourself, when have you ever stood in a room and have not been able to see through a window?  It’s unnatural to overexpose it, and is indicative of someone who doesn’t know how to control proper exposure or lighting.

These are some of my favorites from this shoot.  We were tasked at setting up, staging the chairs and shooting before the restaurant opened for dinner.  I believe we had less than an hour.  Stay tuned for more restaurant shoots.