When you find yourself confined to a small place you need to be creative. You can’t take colorful landscape photos or look for amazing places anymore. You don’t have professional models to pose for you. And, for most of us, lighting conditions are far from the studio-quality or golden sunsets. So what photo projects can you try at home to boost your mood and keep your morale high?
Product photography
Product photos require studios with white panels, professional lights, and all sorts of equipment. On the other hand, your house is full of products and you have a lot of time to figure out how to photograph them most appealingly. You don’t have to use new or outstanding products. Remember that you don’t shoot a commercial but an individual and creative photo project. However, try to avoid busy backgrounds or use a shallow depth of field to blur the background. Also, use the time of the day when you have the best light; you still want perfectly exposed and sharp images.
Use products with history and patina. Tell their stories in a visual narrative. For example, you can use broken toys, family jewelry, kitchen pots, shoes and clothing items, candles, souvenirs, or daily routine products such as toothpaste and soap. If you’re looking for inspiration, study the work of Swiss photographer Henry Leutwyler who became famous photographing shoes.
Black and white photography
Black and white photography may be dramatic, nostalgic, romantic, or gritty. It’s a style of photography reserved for atmosphere and art photos. In the absence of color, you need to be extra careful to clarity, contrast, shadows and highlights, textures, and geometry. Errors are hard to hide in this environment. As a result, shooting in black and white is challenging and maybe good practice for a home project.
Create a homogenous series of pictures featuring lines, patterns, shapes, or figures. Choose a single main element and improve your compositions step by step. You may want to use a minimalist approach or the realistic image of a home. You may want to use your family members as a model or create self-portraits. It’s up to you. Just keep in mind that color is no longer an element and you need to stretch your skills more than ever.
Pets and children
Speaking of animated models, you can use your family members to improve your portrait photos. Children and pets are especially willing to participate in these projects. Capture their attitude and emotions, daily activities, and games. Consider taking candid photos to avoid camera stress and capture most intimate and naïve gestures.
Use telephoto lenses to photograph from the distance and don’t interfere with your subjects. Telephoto lenses allow you to capture close-ups and details. Moreover, they provide a shallow depth of field and blur the background, which helps you achieve clean compositions in busy home décor.
Special effects
Being restricted in your home gives you more time for time-consuming experiments. You can try to recreate that magic effect you’ve always wanted to do. Take for example photos of water splashes, soap bubbles, or sun rays. Both require concentration, preparations, and catching the best light and angle. You need to take a lot of pictures until you have the perfect one. In a regular busy day, you don’t have time to play with soap. So now it’s a perfect time. Besides, your family can help you with this one.
Another good home project is creating the picture in picture effect. You have natural frames everywhere: windows, chair and table legs, doors, etc. Use them to create visual stories and combine multiple elements in the same composition. It’s a game of light and shadows, choosing the perfect angle, and finding the catchiest subject.
Photo by Jim Kalligas on Unsplash
We hope these projects will inspire you and keep you busy. All you have is today; make the best of it. Practice what you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t get the time. Practice the things that scare you the most, the ones you aren’t very good at. Document these moments with candid pictures and capture your feelings and mood in each of them. After all, life is about doing what you love.