Hear me out. The ultra-wide-angle lens has done more damage to the portfolios of design professionals and builders than any other piece of camera equipment. Sure, the ultra-wide-shot has its purpose (real estate photography), but it has also become the default for many in the design world. Let me make the case that your projects deserve to be presented in a much more compelling light!

All over social, I see new and seasoned professionals alike using very wide angles to capture a room – they feel like they need to fit everything into the frame. But interior design photography, the really good kind that looks like it belongs in a magazine, rarely captures the entirety of a room in a single photograph. Curation is key! Let’s explore why.

What a wide-angle lens does to a room

Have you ever looked at a wide-angle photo of a room and noticed the proportions are off? This is known as distortion, and you’ll see it most at the edges of the frame. You’ll notice how lines that should be straight, like walls or window casings, curve. Or a square chair may start to look like a weird trapezoid.

As a designer, you spend months deliberating over so many details: the light fixture’s size relative to the kitchen island, the gap between the upper cabinets and the hood, the proportions of the coffee table to the sofa, or the exact depth of a window seat. Those decisions are deliberate, and they’re what make a space feel the way it does. An ultra-wide-angle shot flattens your choices into a single plane, taking the emphasis away from them.

Rooms shot on wide angles always look big. Big and oddly shaped, with no real focal point.

Back to our example: the photo below shows that it is indeed a room in a house… and that’s about it. There’s no clear focal point, and it doesn’t really convey what it feels like to be in that room. The distortion makes the space look cluttered and haphazard, and the pink chair on the left appears much larger than it is in real life.

What I do instead as an interior design photographer

Before I pick up my camera, the first question I ask is, “What is this room about? What’s the story here?” Followed by, “What did the designer solve or create here?” and, “Where does the eye go when you walk in?”

The answers determine my composition and lens choice. A long hallway with book-matched panels needs a shot that compresses the repeating pattern and shows you what the material looks like at eye level. A primary shower where the story is an arched entrance and a stunning slab of Calacatta Viola, needs a vignette-style image.

For this sun-drenched reading room, we decided to feature the unique double papasan chair and create an image that better invites the viewer into the space.

What does this mean when hiring a photographer?

Ask how they approach capturing interior design. I personally always want to walk through a space before shooting. Walk-throughs allow me to experience the flow of the home, discuss with the designer how they envision telling the home’s story, and learn which details are most important. Often, we create multiple photos of the same room to feature different areas and perspectives.

An ultra-wide-angle isn’t ideal for interior design photography because it captures too much and doesn’t tell a story. It’s curated imagery that will move the needle in your design firm. The photos that are submitted to publications or make a prospective client stop and think, “I want to work with whoever built that!” Those images are more about the viewer imagining themselves in the space than about cramming as much square footage as possible into a single shot.

Curious to see more of my work?

Check out my portfolio! I’m an interior design photographer based in East Texas and South Louisiana, and I’d love to capture your next project in its best light.