Lighting an Interior Nighttime Scene Using IES Lights - Photographic Rendering with V-Ray for SketchUp - page 81

Chapter 3. Lighting an Interior
Nighttime Scene Using IES Lights
When it comes to creating visually compelling images, it is generally acknowledged
that photographers always have to work that little bit harder and perhaps be a little
more skillful in their craft when it comes to creating nighttime shots. This, in part, is
because the whole image capture process becomes much more reliant on the photo-
grapher being able to configure the tools and technology at his or her disposal. Only
then will they be able to get the best out of whatever shooting situation they find them-
selves in.
When working in nighttime conditions, camera settings and exposure options have
to be configured with much more care and consideration than is necessary at other
times. Insight and understanding have to be applied to the situation in order to get
the best out of available light sources, be they natural or artificial. It may even be that
photographers will find themselves needing to skillfully create or at the very least aug-
ment the existing lighting found in the environment.
In many ways, much the same can be said about creating genuinely photographic
nighttime renders, be they the interior or the exterior type. In these scenarios, the role
or skillset of both the CG render artist and the photographer can become somewhat
interchangeable given that much of the same knowhow and understanding will need
to be applied to the final setup in order to get the best possible image solution from it.
Taking a look at our SketchUp file
To work along with me as we look at creating a nighttime interior lighting setup, load
the Night_Time_Interior_01.skp file from your Exercise Files folder so
that we can go ahead and take a look at how the scene is currently set up. Take a
look at the following screenshot: