My question about throwing gray cards everywhere would be why? Why bother?
Hi Kevin,
It's a scenario typically encountered in architectural photography, but it can also occur in other situations (e.g. shooting partially under a tree canopy).
In architecture there are different styles of photography. In general there seems to be a preference with USA based photographers to use lots of added artificial (filtered) lighting (and/or transparent colored filter sheets on windows) to control color reproduction and light distribution. Apparently European photographers tend to prefer dealing with existing light (because the architect designed it that way).
Especially in the latter scenario it may be difficult to match furniture color with the other color schemes around in a photograph. We humans do the correction automatically/mentally within a narrow viewing angle, so picture showing a larger scene can be shockingly confrontational.
Some of the mix between e.g. outside daylight and interior tungsten (or fluorescent or LED) light should be maintained but the difference must often be attenuated/controlled. Getting back from shooting a scene, and sitting behind the computer, sometimes others do the postprocessing, can be a daunting task, hence the need for some mind joggers and reliable references. It requires skill and knowledge to do it well, but it always helps to have a known reference handy.
Some customers are very critical about their interior's colors, and can withhold their approval to use the image. I know of an incident a photographer had with a designer about the color of a lampshade. The photograph showed a different color from what the designer had in mind when he chose the material. As it turned out the photographer was right, and the designer was wrong (he forgot how the lampshade looks with lamplight falling through it, instead of the fabric only reflecting light from the outside!!!). So one may need to be able and adjust afterwards, to match expectations, anyway.
All I want to say is, sometimes things need to be spot-on, sometimes things need to represent the ambiance, sometimes it's a mix. It will help to have the possibility to adapt to every possible situation, especially afterwards. Good references help to get 'good' color.
Cheers,
Bart