I've talked with some interior designers, who specialize in kitchen design, in the past year, who were disappointed in the photography of their kitchens which contain lots of stainless steel surfaces. Polished SS, as found in many commercial kitchens, reflects light well. However, it reflects that light in specific directions, which makes it look dark in many cases. In addition, it reflects objects, acting like a mirror, so photographers can't just put lights in the best places to light it.
This is particularly troublesome with conventional photography, where supplemental lighting is either outside of the subject view, or placed in "hidden" locations within the subject view. Conventional photography, where the image is captured in one exposure, really doesn't work with difficult subjects like commercial kitchens. The "Constructed" approach is really the only way to obtain great photography.
To refresh the concept, the "constructed" approach involves using multiple exposures of the subject, where the lighting can be added in pieces. So lighting of each part of the subject entails that the lighting sometimes is visible to the camera. Then each of the exposures can be blended together, eliminating the visible lights, to create a well lit image. These multiple exposures allow lots of freedom in the look of the final image, since they can be "weighted" with almost infinite variability in Photoshop.
This capture of the various exposures can be a bit tricky, since all the multiple exposures must be made with absolutely no camera movement, so all the exposures can be blended accurately. However, good tripods and exposure methods make this doable.
Here are 2 photograph examples of a residential kitchen, with stainless steel appliances. In this case, the stainless steel reflects wood surfaces, so the appliances would normally look a bit wood-toned, instead of a shiny natural gray color. So here, I used lighting to light the room well, then lit the appliances separately, adding light reflections in the appliances. You can't do this in one set of exposures; the lights to illuminate the stainless steel must actually be placed within the kitchen where the camera can "see" it. The visible lighting is then removed in post-blending.
One image highlights the appliances themselves, while the other has reduced illumination of the appliances, giving a more balanced look to the image. The result is infinitely variable to taste.
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Take a look at more "Constructed Images" at my website: http://constructedimages.net.
Greg
