Ready for your close-up? In all our contests, photos play a pivotal role in the success and popularity of an entry. Which means that it is time to talk about how to take a great photo of your home (and submit it to the Small Cool Contest!).
Light: Take advantage of daylight. When using artificial light, use as much as possible. Don't use a flash as it can create shine and glare. Table lamps and standing lamps should be your friend, but can be your enemy...
You will have to experiment to see if they result in white blobs that distract from the photo. Mood lighting is great to live in, but overhead lights and the dimmer cranked all the way are better for the photoshoot.
Wide Shot: Stand as far back as possible in the corner of a room. Try to center the good stuff in the middle and cut out as much of the ceiling as possible. If you don't have a wide-angle lens and the room is too small to capture all at once, then do a piece at a time.
Close-ups: Don't zoom in but rather step up to whatever you think is an interesting detail in your apartment. Frame it well, meaning make sure that there are other things in the photo that complement it. It is also a good idea to get above the scene rather than meet it at eye level.
Focus: If you don't have a tripod, try to lean the camera on something stable each time you take a photo. Clarity is crucial.
Perspective: Don't take all your photos from the same vantage point. Stand on a chair, lay down on the floor, get on your knees. You might gain a new appreciation for your home.
Anyone have more tips? Please do share.
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yar, i have a suggestion...
if your camera has the option for manual settings, see if there's a self-timer. for low-light/camera-shake issues, and if you have no tri-pod, set your camera on something solid (table top, counter, etc), compose the shot, put the self-timer on and let 'er rip. the photo's clarity will be quality. even in lowlowlight. most importantly, avoid the flash!
also, if you have a digi w/ good auto-focus, and don't want to get on your knees or stand on a chair, just hold the camera up high or down low and point'n'shoot. this works especially well in small bathrooms or kitchens. it also affords a wider angle for the shot.
I concur with the use of the self-timer. Since I started using that my photos have been so much better. I also got the gorillapod for Christmas and love how portable it is. I love mine!
http://www.joby.com/
Avoid using the flash at all costs!
Also if you have a digital camera and can snap as many photos as you want, try moving just a few steps in either direction after each shot or get on your knees, etc. You sometimes might be noticing a great shot and it is just a foot away. Just keep on snapping and take as many photos as you can and I'm sure there will be at least one shot that is awesome.
whoa...gorillapod....that's awesome! i despise lugging my tripod around!
I also have the gorillapod! It's awesome and convenient. I would have neevr owned a tripod otherwise.
I will have to check out the gorillapod. Photography is a very new hobby of mine and I've been thinking about picking up a tripod but, knowing me, I wouldn't want to lug it around.
This makes me think about how photographs can be so unfaithful to the real feeling of being in a room (positively or negatively).
I think part of the problem is that we perceive a picture differently than we perceive a place when we are actually there.
I'd also suggest making sure to include "establishing shots" so we can get a feel for the room, in addition to details.
And, to avoid past mistakes of contest entrants:
Put the toilet seat down.
Remove "lotions" from bedside tables.
:)
And to be a real crowd pleaser, include a cat in as many shots as possible. But be prepared to answer "Where is the littel box?"
Whoops. "Litter."
Basics but still:
wipe all dust, experiment with laying out the pillows in an attractive manner. Journals stage with set up dinner tables, and whole fruit on the table (don't put up cut fruit - it darkens quickly and will just look murky). Of course your home is decorated, but adding details like candles (lit), sparkling glasses on the coffee table - IMHO good ideas.
Give the viewers something to orient behind - i.e., keep some element of a new angle same as the old one - i.e. a lamp.
Remember to keep floors level. You can fix this in a photo editing program by tilting and cropping the photograph, but it is easier to do before you get to that stage.
Honestly, the best thing anyone could do is find someone with a wide angle DSLR. Then you can control the light temperature better (i.e. to make the colors in the room seem more like they are in reality, and not yellow casted as incandescents tend to do). You can also fix this with levels/color balance in Photoshop, but that's somewhat tricky and could reduce the quality of your photograph.
For the average digital camera nowadays, you can control the ISO, and exposure (i.e. 1/3, -1/3). For darker interiors (i.e. with less windows), stabilize your camera on some surface, set the ISO to the smallest number possible, and set the exposure to 1/3. In my experience that creates a fairly even light interior, with the lights being slightly blown out.
And if you're in Toronto, I can shoot with my wide angle and Nikon D70 :-) For you readers - free! Hehe. Plug: see photographs at my website (url in profile).
And, zoom out and do not zoom in!
you can use a whole lot less technology when using the great autostitch program. it'll show a lot more of a room as a whole when glueing a couple of images taken from the same perspective together. play with it to find the right amount that needs to be taken.
free version at:
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html
example picture (based on 6 images):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83337046@N00/278498358/
use (free too, yes we're cheap) *google picasa* to play with the brightness and to adjust some of the daylight blueishness out.
:-) aad
Holy, Olya! I wish I lived in Toronto. You do beautiful work!
OMG, Olya ! I just put your website in my Bookmarks and will present your work to every client I have. In the meantime, don't you want to come to NYC for a visit?Um? I'd love to have you shoot my apt. and some of my client's apts.
thanks :-)
oh, wow! thank you anne!!
i wish i could! i haven't been in nyc since i was 13... before i had a camera.
i really appreciate your kind words. :)
does anyone know of a program on the web to make a blueprint? my apt. is so old there are no floorplans.
Follow the rule of thirds is my tip: divide your shot into an imaginary block of nine squares, three by three.
Place focal points of the photograph where the centre square's corners intersect with the other ones (look here for a better explanation than mine: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds) .
Or, line up interesting subjects along the lines - this helps the photos of your apartment stay balanced.
@fleadell
Here is a free google program to create floor plans etc. http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/
Hope that helps.
Just one comment related to the use of flash in taking interior pictures. Not only can it be very effective if done correctly, it can really help the overall look of a room. Any external flash can be used with a little experimentation and creative rigging. You can even get relatively inexpensive slave flashes that will operate off of your point and shoot.
The key is you want to bounce the light, off of a ceiling, or a wall if they are white. If not, I personally use an Omni Bounce set up. Which on the cheap can be duplicated with half of a white envelope and a rubber band.
Or aim the flash head up and use the back of a business card to bounce a little fill in the light. I think most of the "do not use flash" comments on here are directed at people using a point and shoot with no override options.
Depending on what kind of look you are going for and your willingness to experiment there are all kinds of ways to use flash for interior pictures, in my opinion. That being said, try to avoid hitting windows, mirrors et cetera with direct flash, unless you're into that kind of thing. Flash may not be needed or even wanted but in some situations when your available lighting isn't cutting it, it is always good to have options.
Thanks for the tips, Oyla. I really need to retake pictures of my home now that I have a tripod & know a little more about my camera. I have a design blog and it doesn't help if my home's pictures are blurry!