Mario’s note: Another magnificent post by Vicente Nadal with various tips on indoor photography.
Taking photos indoors can be a headache or a rewarding experience, depending on the care we take at the time of taking the photos.
In today’s article we will review some of the most common mistakes in interior photography and how to solve them, and we will give some tricks to improve this type of photos.
Indoor photos during the day
Indoor daytime photos are more likely to come out better if we take advantage of sunlight, the bad thing is when it becomes our enemy. This happens when we insist on photographing against the light, that is, putting a window just behind the person or object we are photographing.
The correct thing in this case is to put the window to one side so that it offers us a nice side light like that of a professional studio flash. Obviously these photos would be taken without flash.
In case of not being able to change the background of the photograph in any way, the most appropriate thing would be to lower the blind until the light is balanced and turn on the flash.
photos with mirrors
In houses it is normal to find mirrors. When these appear in the photos it is quite easy for the photographer to accidentally appear in the shot. It is also possible that people who are not in the frame but who are reflected and should not appear in the reflection appear.
So you have to be careful with reflections before taking the picture.
Another fairly common defect in photos with mirrors is that of taking photos with flash in “self portrait” type photos in which the camera necessarily has to be in the shot.
In these cases the flash behaves like a small sun producing a backlight in the mirror. This causes the camera to shorten the exposure leaving the shot very dark as well as an intense and ugly flare from the flash.
Therefore, if you have to take pictures in front of a mirror, and the camera has to come out, turn off the flash.
Photos with furniture or pictures
In an interior we will find furniture and paintings on the walls, it is logical. In addition, it can even be the main object of our photography.
The most normal thing is that the surface of the furniture or paintings is slightly shiny or satin. What do you suppose will happen if the photos are taken completely from the front and with flash? Exactly, a big and ugly flash reflection will ruin our photos.
The best solution, in addition to removing the flash and photographing during the day with much more light, is to photograph diagonally, not facing the furniture.
It is pure geometry, the bounce of the reflection of the flash will go out of the frame and will not be visible by the camera.
Group or family photos
Who does not take photos with family, birthdays or with friends? They are the most typical souvenir photos and it is worth giving them a review.
The first thing is the spontaneity at the time of taking the photos, of course, but things can always be improved.
If the photos are taken during a lunch or dinner, think of elongated objects such as bottles. They usually go unnoticed at the time of the shot but then they bother a lot because they cover people a lot.
Take your time organizing a group photo. If a person is too hidden, you will never be able to repeat that same photo and make it more visible. It is better to spend a little time (without going overboard) than to regret the poor placement in the future.
Don’t take mile-long photos. That is, if the group is made up of many people, do not put them in a row, one next to the other. Try to position people so that they take up most of the frame.
In many occasions it is better that half of the group is seated (or below) and the other half is behind and higher, forming two shorter lines. This way you can get closer to the group and you can see their faces better.
red eyes
Another problem that usually appears in group photos indoors, especially if we photograph with a flash, is red eye.
We are not going to go into the physiological details of why red eyes appear, but as a general rule they appear whenever one (or several) of the following circumstances occur when we photograph with a flash:
- We are in a very dark or dimly lit place (such as a nightclub or pub).
- The camera has its flash a few centimeters (or less) from the lens (a compact one).
- We stand quite far from the people we photograph (3 meters or more).
The solution can be one of the following (I would recommend the first two):
- Increase the light in the room as much as possible.
- Photograph without flash.
- Try to close the iris of the eyes of the photographed, for example by looking for a few seconds at a light source, a dim bulb, a flashlight or similar.
- Use an off-camera flash 12 inches or more away from the camera.
photos of my house
It is not uncommon for those who want to take photos of their house as a souvenir or to rent it or even sell it. Taking good photos of the rooms in your house is easy with these little tricks:
- Always use a tripod.
- Set the sensitivity to 100 ISO.
- Shoot in manual at diaphragm 8 or 11 and as long as necessary.
- Use the camera timer to avoid vibrations that will make the photo shake.
- Except in cases of absolute necessity, do not use the flash, it is preferable to expose with natural light or with the artificial light of the room.
- Avoid backlighting from windows and balconies.
- Photograph each room from at least three different corners and choose the two that best show the essence of the room.
- If you have doubts, it is better to repeat the same photo horizontally and vertically.
- Take lots of photos, it’s better to have more than enough.
In short, we see that on many occasions the flash can cause us problems (reflections or red eyes), that backlights must be avoided and that natural light must be used to our advantage, after all, the flash is nothing more than a poor substitute for the sun.
Do you know more ways to improve indoor photos? Tell them in the comments. Did you enjoy this read? Thank you for sharing it on your favorite social network.