tall ceiling

How to Capture Tall Ceilings

Have you ever been on any of the Parade of Homes tours around Kansas City? What are some of the features each of the homes have in common? There is one feature in new luxury homes that is very popular. I'm talking about tall ceilings.

I was recently tasked with shooting a living room that features 18-foot ceilings with a floor-to-ceiling window. Usually with tall ceilings there will also be beautiful wood beams at the very top. Capturing these beams is important for showing what the room is all about.  The beams add a luxurious character to the room that is just as important as any other detail.

Challenge

How do you photograph tall ceilings in a way that shows the overall space without simply pointing your camera straight-up causing goofy distortion?

Solution

Use a tilt-shift lens! A tilt-shift lens is a special lens designed for capturing these type of pictures without making the image look abnormal. The lens allows the photographer to take a "normal" shot and a "shifted" shot. These two shots are then combined to make the final image which shows the entire room as well as the tall ceilings. 

Let the pictures do the talking...