Sometimes, it’s hard to go outside and photograph the world. Whether it’s terrible weather, a busy schedule, or you just don’t feel like leaving the house, it doesn’t mean your camera needs to collect dust. Let’s get creative and learn how to do photography at home.
There are plenty of ways to practice your photography at home. I find that being limited to your own living space actually forces you to look differently at the things around you. Of course, there are more ways than I can show you here. If you have an idea not mentioned in this blog post, let me know in the comments. Let’s get into it!
How to practice photography at home
Growth as an artist is a constant struggle, and the best way to get better is simply to shoot. You don’t need a grand landscape or a bustling street to learn photography at home. Your living room, kitchen, or even your desk can become your new playground.
Practicing indoors helps you master your camera settings, such as understanding how high you can push your ISO before the noise becomes unbearable or learning how window light changes throughout the day. So, grab your camera, and let’s explore what to photograph at home.
What to photograph at home: creative ideas
If you are wondering what you should point your lens at, here are some of my favorite indoor subjects and projects to get you started.
Creative macro photography ideas indoors: build a mini studio
It’s always nice to have flowers in the house. So get some in a shop or order them online. Next up, get out a macro lens or macro tubes and get shooting.
It’s amazing how creative you can get with just a couple of flowers. You can easily set up a macro photography studio right on your kitchen table. Use a piece of black or white cardboard as a backdrop, and place your subject near a window for natural light. It’s a great way to practice your composition and focus skills when you’re stuck indoors.
Macro lens portrait photography
Since you already have that macro lens out, why not try macro lens portrait photography? There is something magical about looking into someone’s eye. It’s often called the window to the soul, and as a photographer, I think eye photography is a lot of fun!
Ask your partner, roommate, or even try a self-portrait. Get incredibly close and capture the unique textures and colors of the iris. It’s a completely different way to approach portraits and requires a very steady hand (or a good tripod).
Do studio photography with your favorite objects
Getting a couple of lights (honestly, any desk lamp will do!) and your favorite objects together is a nice way to practice your understanding of light and studio photography.
Try different angles, shadows, and combinations to get the best results. The nice part of this is that you end up with high-quality photos of the objects you love.
Get into food photography
If you’re into cooking, you will have plenty of good food to photograph every day. Even if you don’t have a personal chef available, you have to eat every day.
So try and take good photos of your food. Move your plate near a window, use a white piece of paper to bounce the shadows, and shoot from a top-down angle or a 45-degree angle. Just as a practice, it makes your daily meals a lot more interesting!
How to work from home as a photographer
Did you know you can also use your time indoors to professionalize your craft? If you are looking into work-from-home photography, there are plenty of tasks you can tackle from behind your desk.
Build passive income with stock photo websites
While creating all these photos of food, objects, and macro setups, you might as well upload them to a stock photo website. This way, these photos can make you some passive income. It’s a great way to earn a few bucks while sitting on your couch! 😉
Re-edit your old photos
If you are anything like me, you have hard drives and cloud storage full of photos. Raw files from ages ago, just sitting there waiting to be seen.
Start Lightroom, add your photos, and edit them with fresh eyes and new knowledge. Then, you can make a comparison with the previous time you edited the photos. It is incredibly rewarding to see how much your editing style has grown over the years.
Learn photography at home: books and courses
To practice photography, I recommend doing photography, but reading about it or watching someone else do it can be very inspiring and informative.
Order some books from a local bookshop or sign up for an online class. Which books you order are, of course, related to the type of photography you prefer doing.
Some of my personal recommendations are Authentic Portraits by Chris Orwig, Portrait Photography with Natural Light by Scott Kelby, and Soviet Bus Stops by Christopher Herwig.
Photography tricks at home & good photography habits
Finally, the best way to grow is to build good photography habits. Make it a rule to pick up your camera for at least 10 minutes every day, even if you are just wandering around your living room.
Try different photography tricks at home: use a glass of water to create reflections, shoot through a prism or fairy lights to add foreground blur, or practice panning techniques on your pets running down the hallway.
Growth is all about trying things and exploring the possibilities out there for you. So get out there, or rather, stay inside, and start shooting those frames!
2 thoughts on “How to do photography at home”