Taking pictures for real estate - Tips on lighting

Hey everyone,

My mom is a real estate agent and seeing as I just bought a 11-18mm lens, she is asking if I can shoot some pictures for her of her houses going up on the market. Anyone have tips for me with regards to portable lighting or tips in general? Nothing too huge with regards to strobes and professional equipment, I am by no means able to acquire those. Perhaps a suggested flash unit, techniques with it like bouncing and what not. Thanks! :)

For composition, go to some real estate sites and see what works. In looking at some, I've noticed that the effective ones never show the 'limits' - very effective in making them look bigger than they are. - TF

I'veused the 11-18 quite a bit for interiors. My method:

1. If possible use a tripod. It allows you carefully adjust the framing and if necessary use a slow shutter speed
2. Make sure the camera is not pointing up or down but level so the walls are parallel with the edges of the frame. The photo should not appear to be done with a wideangle
3. Don't zoom out too far so you have acres of empty wall with a bit of interesting detail huddled in the middle
4. For pictures with no light coming in from windows, use ambient lighting and a slow shutter speed (see point 1)
5. For pictures with light coming in from windows you need to supply fill-in lighting so that the windows are 1-2 stops overexposed compared with the room. I usually use a cobra flash bounced off the wall above and behind the camera. Be sure not to include any of the area lit directly by the flash in the image. I use a fairly powerful cobra flash (examples for Nikon = SB800, SB900, SB600). Do a test to check the effect