5 Tips for photographing your home...

So you have a house you’re proud of and would love to share on online but you find yourself putting it off because… A. You don’t have a nice camera or a photo editing system. B. There are homes out there that are much prettier than yours. C. It’s usually not that clean and you don’t want to feel like a phony. D. (insert your excuse here).

Here are five tips that have helped me take better photos of my own home and given me the confidence to share them online.

Tip #1 One room at a time.

If you want to share these photos as a house tour you’re probably going to want to tidy up any space that is going to be photographed. Think of it as the equivalent to taking family portraits. Sure, your home probably doesn’t stay that clean all the time but you wouldn’t show up to a portrait studio wearing your yoga pants and yesterday’s make-up.

Kids, pets, or messy roommates may thwart your plans to keep your place spotless for more than twenty minutes so I suggest photographing one room, or even one wall, at a time. If your studio is a dump but you want to showcase your favorite corner, de-clutter and style it to your heart’s content. You may even keep it that way!

We usually spread house tour photos out between two or three consecutive afternoons. It helps us feel less overwhelmed and works better with our family’s schedule. It’s also a short enough time frame that nothing gets rearranged.

Tip #2: Look at your home through your lens.

Make a list of all the spaces you want to photograph. As you go through your home, casually take a photograph of the space you want to feature and then see how it looks in your camera.

Do you like the composition of things? Would a vertical shot look better than a horizontal shot? Are there cords poking out of things that might distract from the rest of the shot? Do you need to edit any clutter?

Looking through your camera may help you to notice these things and change them before you take photos. Once I’m happy with the set up of things and have moved the hand weights from under the sideboard, etc., I like to experiment with angles and distances. Just like taking self-portraits or outfit photos, you may have to take a lot before you find the most flattering one.

Tip #3 Shoot in natural light.

If your studio has giant windows but they don’t let a lot of light in being at the back of the house or whatever the case - If you want to take photos in there you will probably have to pull all the shades up, move the curtains back, and shoot before 4 p.m. so the sun isn’t too low.

If you're still learning how to use your DSLR - most of your shots are in automatic mode. Here's a tip: changing your ISO to a higher number helps when taking photos in low light. You can also change your shutter speed but if you haven’t gotten that far, experiment with your ISO. It’s amazing how much brighter your photos will be set at 800 than 200.

Note: "On my Canon I make sure my dial (the part where you choose portrait, landscape, up close, sports, or no flash settings, etc.) is set to AV, go to my menu, and then hit the ISO button on the top of my camera near the dial. This pulls up my ISO settings and I can choose how high or low. Low is better for bright, natural light such as outside on a sunny day and high is better for your dark rooms inside. You’re welcome."

Tip #4 Bend over and watch out.

Unless you’re about 4′ 5″ you’re probably not taking photos of your space at an optimal angle. I had Brett (6’1″) take the photo above to show how different a vignette can look when you’re standing upright to how it can look when you’re at eye level (see below). When taking wider room shots, getting a bit lower can make your room look bigger and keep things focused on what’s interesting.

Watch out for mirrors or other reflective surfaces when shooting. Stand a little to one side or bend down enough that you’re shooting up at an angle. If you’re looking especially cute that day, disregard.

Tip #5 There’s a time to shoot wide and a time to shoot vignette.

When photographing a room take some wide shots that share a whole space, or chunks of a space that are well-defined, and then take some vignette shots. A vignette is a focused grouping such as the items on the top of the shelf above. You can tell it’s there in the first photo but it’s lost in space and I’m not really sharing anything else worthwhile. 

Whether you’re shooting wide shots or vignettes, try to avoid eye sores such as ceiling fans or cords. You can always edit out nail holes in Photoshop or another editing service. If you’re looking for something to start with, check out Picnik. It’s free and covers a lot of territory.

Your home is unique because it’s yours so think about your favorite elements as you plan your home tour. You may not be the only one in the world with a collection of vintage globes but the way you’ve displayed them may inspire someone. Your use of color in your living room may be exactly what another home owner was imagining for their space but couldn’t quite execute the first time around.

You’re out of excuses now! Pick a date to share your space online and then plan in time to get it tidied, shot, edited, and written up. I can’t wait to see!

5 Killer ways to shoot into the Sun and get beautiful sun flare....

Shooting Into the sun….flare baby!

We believe that every little trick you have up your sleeve as a photographer can give you an advantage in your market.  Do you feel like sometimes all your work starts to look the same?

You know…vertical…….even tones…..smiles………50mm….you get the point!  Shooting into the sun is not rocket science, and neither is flare, BUT it is one more tool that you can add to your bag of tricks to offer a different perspective to your photo shoots.  (Hopefully I can do a post one day about perspective… because we love to talk about it  , but for now, we’ll just stick with the sun.)

It’s so important to constantly change things up, give your viewers and your clients something new to look at and hopefully something unexpected.  Flare is technically something that is incorrect.  The people who make our lenses do everything they can to prevent us from getting flare!  What do you think those horrid lens hoods are for??  (And, no, I do not use them…We always say, they are for men who want to make their lenses look bigger☺) When used correctly, flare can be a beautiful thing that adds romance and mystery to your images!   Flare is also a great technique when you are in situations where the scenery isn’t ideal.  The sign of a great photographer is being able to take a terribly ugly place and transform it into something  magical just by using creative lighting.

Below are 5 killer tips that will hopefully help you to master flare and shooting into the sun.

1.  Exposure:  The number one question we get when talking to people about this technique is how to correctly expose for your subject.  It is really important that you shoot in Manual mode to achieve this look.   Many people say they shoot manual, but actually don’t.  If you are using manual, but you are still determining your iso, shutter speed & aperture by the meter in your camera….you are still letting your camera tell you what to do!  You’re camera’s meter is great, but not always correct, especially in a backlit situation.  When you are pointed into the sun, you’re camera thinks you are overexposing, so if you set your settings by your meter, you’re subject will be grossly underexposed.   In this situation, ignore your meter and just go by you display and histogram.  I always expose for my subjects skin.  To achieve creamy, beautiful skin, I am just a stop or 2 below overexposing their skin.  Make sure that you are using your camera’s highlight indicator.  I just make sure that my subjects face is not blinking.   In a backlit situation, it is ok for your background to be completely overexposed.  This is actually what gives you the dreamy look you are going for.

2.  Focusing:  Focusing when you are shooting directly into the sun is close to impossible!  Again, you are asking your camera to do something that it’s not meant to do.  We go ghetto…I use my hand to help me focus.  We always center focus, so we will put the red focus area on my subject, then I use my hand to cover as much of the sun coming into my lens as possible.  This should get rid of the flare for a second.  Once we’ve locked my focus, we remove our hand, recompose, and shoot!  Works every time…well not really….Another trick is to use a higher aperture in these situations than you normally would.  This allows you some wiggle room if you’re focus isn’t dead on.

3.  Time of day:  When we first started experimenting with this technique, we pretty much ended up mad a lot.  We, for the life of us, couldn’t figure out how to get that blasted sun behind my subjects….duh.  We finally realized that for us, we get the best flare when it’s later in the day.  If you wait until an hour or so before the sun goes down, you don’t have to lay on the ground to get the sun behind your subjects.  I’ve said this before, but the sun seems to have a softness about it as it moves down on the horizon.  Of course, we don’t always follow this rule.  I will lay on the ground at 3:00 to get the sun behind my subject if need be.  One more thing:  remember that you don’t necessarily have to be outside to use this technique.  You can be inside and have a person’s back to a window or door.  

4.  It doesn’t have to be perfect:  Remember that the fun of this technique is not knowing what will happen.  As you can see in some of my sample images below, it’s not always necessary to see a person’s whole face.  Don’t analyze this too much!  If it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, go with it.  When you shoot into the sun, and get crazy flare, your image might not be perfectly sharp….who cares.  Again, this is about creating something fun, and pushing yourself into unknown places.  Don’t get caught up in wondering what your clients mother might say if she can’t see her son’s whole left eye!  Relax, you gave the 567 perfectly exposed smiling images.  Being a photographer is not only about pleasing your clients, it’s about shooting for yourself.

5.  Different lenses, different flare: Keep in mind that different lenses produce different results.  I’m not an expert on this, but It seems that the nicer the lens, the harder it is to get good flare.  I’ve also found it almost impossible to get it from my canon 85mm 1.2.  I usually stick to my canon 24mm 1.4, and my canon 50mm 1.2….and if you really want some sweet crazy results, throw on a tilt shift!  I’ve been able to get a really neat rainbow effect.

Photo Styling

Light it Up

Whether you’re selling wooden bowls, illustrated posters, kids toys, or clothing - natural light will go a long way toward making your products look their best. Artificial light can taint your pictures and cause color contamination that actually makes your image less appealing. Save yourself the time and effort of having to heavily retouch images to restore their true-to-life beauty.

Beautiful, natural lighting makes these products look heavenly.

Back it Up

Once you’ve found the best light to shine on your item, consider what’s behind it as well. It’s easy to get in a background rut. Try experimenting with various materials like wood, marble, and cloth to create different moods in your images. As long as the background doesn’t compete with your product, it can be an invaluable addition that helps your photo tell a story.

A blue backdrop makes these rainbow
cupcake toppers appear to float in the sky.

Prop it Up

A great product is key to having a successful shop, but on its own, it can make for a lonely subject. Consider including supporting items to your images that help tell a story about your product. Choosing the right props in the right amounts can be tricky, but once you’ve fine-tuned what works for your shop, you’re on your way to truly dynamic photo compositions.

Fun props, like the custom confetti with this flatware

Hopefully these basic tips make the hurdle of styling your images a little easier to overcome.