BALANCING THE LIGHT

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When photographing very large interiors, where using strobes or other lights are impossible, it is best to wait until evening to get the right balance of exterior and interior light.

Even though it looks like a bright midday sky outside of this building, it was actually quite dim outside, after sunset. The reason the windows look nice and bright is because of a long exposure. The interior lights were low to begin with, so I waited until the interior lights matched the light levels from outside. The end result is a balanced photo that looks bright and clean.

The only drawback to this is that people will be blurred because of the slow shutter speed. In this instance, at the Tokyo International Forum building, it worked to my advantage.

If you don't completely understand this process, try it with your own living room. Set your camera on a tripod, and keep photographing until the exterior window light matches your interior house lights. You will find that balanced light is very attractive, and looks more natural than using an on-camera flash.

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