Photographer Barry Calhoun unlocks the design – and composition – behind his favourite interior images.
This is a composite of three images. The soft light and natural feel are enticing, but it was challenging to shoot, because the space so small. The key to the image is balance: the triangle formed by the two chairs and couch are its foundation; they ground the room and the shot.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
This image might be sterile if not for the human touches of the robe and slippers. The exciting thing here is the prominence of beam ceiling, and how its lines and those of the floor and wall lead the eye to the tub and window, then pull it back through the room again. Look at the image for a minute: you'll notice your eye recycling smoothly through the photo.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
In this composition your eye is pulled first to the chair, then you notice the other details. As a depth play it's potentially gimmicky, but I think it succeeds on the strength of the peripheral details. Your eye goes the chair, led by lines on the floor to the brightest part of the image.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
When you're shooting architecture, you need to tell the story of the broader space. It's not enough to set up great vignettes; you also need wide, connecting shots. Like this one: it describes three separate areas and binds them in a coherent narrative.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
The light and visual repetition of the chairs are beautiful in this shot. (It's an eight-second exposure, with one artificial light.) The most interesting photographic element is that the table and right-hand chairs are cut off. This leaves the shot less finished, and so requires more mental involvement from the viewer. If you saw the whole table and all six of the chairs, the photo would be more perfect but less engaging.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
I love the play here between light and shadows, and that the lines of the shot begin in the corners and lead to the centre. The stair and window are huge, but their scale would be less impressive without the man standing there, punctuating it.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
The steep rake of the floor and ceiling come from the 17mm tilt-shift lens I used. The point was to capture all the design elements you'd be able to see with your naked eye. Optically, it's both a cheat and not, and while it may not be the most faithful representation of the room's angles, it makes for a dynamic photograph.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
I like this image because I love the major elements: the beautiful Brent Comber wood blocks and the showcase chandelier. Notice how much sharper the contrast is between the chandelier and window than the chandelier and wall. The collision of blue natural light and yellow incandescent light is what makes it pop.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
The West Coast Modern design of this Whistler home is interesting for the play between its materials. There's tension between the three concrete columns and the warm lines of the wood.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
This shot is all about the lighting and mood. I used an eight-second exposure and lit the front chair as a way of giving definition to the composition. If I had to do it again, I'd dial down the light value on that chair a bit. If you're looking to create a luxurious and romantic mood, use little pools of light and shoot at dusk. It works every time.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
This was taken a few minutes after the previous one. The lighting is technically sophisticated, and it's fun to look at, knowing how much went into it. I used six lights, and stitched several images together in post-production. That near block, for example, is a composite of three photographs.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
I like how the lines of the chairs, table and chandelier all lead the viewer's eye to the back of the room and the million-dollar view. In post, we could have had the view dropped in so that it was perfect, but we didn't. That would have drawn the eye out of the room. With Photoshop, sometimes less is more.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
These are two different rooms but they offer the same feeling. It works because of the balance the formal, rigid lines and the swoopy, whimsical ones. It's not a true 2/3-1/3, but it's close.
Image credit: Kelly Deck Design
The symmetry of the furniture is pleasing. Everything is doubled: the chairs, the lamps, even the plants outside the window. As you can see, I'm not taking the photograph from dead centre. There was something in my way. My feeling now is that it was a blessing in disguise. That the angles are slightly off requires the eye to move around the room.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
I like this clean modern lines and the native art, which is the room's centrepiece. The shot's plainness has a purpose. Since it was to be a commercial shot for an advertisement, we needed to leave plenty of negative space for the text.
Interiors by Kelly Deck Design
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Barry Calhoun, principal of Barry Calhoun Photography, is an architectural,
advertising, and editorial photographer based in Vancouver. His work has
appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Walrus, Photo District News, and Azure.
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Reader Comments
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Loves designing and craves
Submitted by Janesmith563 (not verified) on Tue, 2011-03-01 21:13.wow! The pictures look
Submitted by jillian_g (not verified) on Mon, 2011-02-21 15:04.Well done Barry, you made
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2010-03-22 15:29.