Try These Indoor Photo Techniques To Shorten Winter

By ALBERT CHI

Winter is coming and, for most photographers who live in temperate climates, it means outdoor photography Is going to be curtailed for a few months. But don’t put that camera away!

Here are some alternatives that will keep your eye sharp and make those short, dark days fly by. All of then are well-documented in detail on the web. Just Google them by subject matter and you’ll get lots of guidance.

Your Window to the World

You’d be surprised at how much is going on outside your windows. In fact, some photographers have done portfolios and books on what they’ve photographed from their home or studio windows. If you’re a city dweller there’s apt to be more action going on outside your windows but images shot from windows in other environments can be just as interesting. If you shoot through an open window, no problem. But if a pane of glass is going to be between you and the outside, make sure both sides are clean. Get as close to the window as possible to avoid unwanted reflections and then, just shoot away.

Indoor Portraiture by Natural Light

Some of the world’s greatest works of art were painted by window light and early photo studios also used natural light for portraiture with beautiful results . You can, too. Forget artificial lighting and all the hassle that goes with it; just find a window in your home that casts soft light and pose your subject near it. If you like the results of this technique and use it frequently, invest in two inexpensive sheets of poster board, one white and the other black to lighten or deepen shadows on faces. You’ll need someone to hold it in position unless your camera is on a tripod, in which case you can do it yourself.

Still Lifes: Challenging and Rewarding

Still lifes have been a favorite subject of artists since the beginning of time. It’s not as easy as it looks because the results depend solely on your ability to create good composition and lighting. But on the plus side, it doesn’t require much more than a table, a light source (window light is perfect) and a choice of objects that relate harmoniously to each other. In some cases less is more and just one object beautifully lit can be a knockout. You’ve viewed the magnificent landscapes that Ansel Adams shot, but his still ifes of flowers are just as moving.

Get Up Close and Personal

Macro photography can provide many pleasurable hours of shooting small objects that we usually take for granted, but when examined more closely, provide unique images. Watches, coins, fabric textures, insect specimens and more come to mind. Even a lowly green pepper can become visually exciting (and sexy) as photographer Edward Weston found out. Most digital cameras will focus in very close, but if you want to move in even more, get an inexpensive close-up lens that screws into your zoom. You can shoot by natural or artificial light, but reflections might be a problem. A small photo lightbox will give you the results you need by supplying diffused light to your objects which will then be evenly lighted and show great detail.

Try Some Abstract Photography

There’s nothing better to sharpen your sense of design than to shoot abstract images. Your home is filled with possibilities and images you capture there can be stunning. You just have to look more carefully at things in your house that you usually take for granted. Like the light patterns that window blinds create when the sun shines through them. Or the corners of rooms where walls meet ceilings. Or objects like furniture, light fixtures, electrical cables or household plants that take on a new view when you shoot them or light them in a new way.

Look at the Birdie!

A stuffed bird on a stick was used by early portrait photographers to get squirming kids to look at the camera, but today you can do the looking and shoot the birds. with just an outside bird feeder as a lure, they’ll flock to pose for you. Set it up outside a window, taking into account where the light will be when you’re most apt to shoot. Also make sure the window through which you intend to shoot is clean. Then, have seat and wait. You’ll usually find that certain species of birds will feed at the same time each day while others will be more random about it. Use fast shutter speeds to stop action. This will usually result in wide apertures for correct exposure which is just fine since it will tend to throw the background out of focus, putting visual emphasis on the birds.

Tropical Fish Love to Pose

You can set up a unique underwater studio in your home that will give you hours of enjoyment and some superb shooting opportunities. A fresh water aquarium is easy to set up and maintain and can yield some extraordinary images. A 10 or 20 gallon tank, light, heater and filtration system, are the basics. Then add some gravel, plants and fish and you won’t need expensive underwater cameras or scuba gear to get stunning results. When you’ve finished a shooting session, sit back, relax and enjoy watching your fish go about their daily meanderings.

Couch Potato? This Is For You!

It used to be that shooting an image of your TV screen was real hassle. Older televisions only display half the image at a time and you always had to shoot at a slow shutter speed (about 1/15th or 1/30th of a second) to capture the full screen and, even so, the image was usually bad. No more! Now you can shoot gorgeous quality images from most any LED or LCD screen and, if it’s a 2000k one (which most are these days) the quality can be spectacular. Just sit on your couch and snap away. Sports events are especially good to keep your timing sharp. Keep the room dark to avoid reflections on the screen and remember that you cannot sell anything you shoot since most everything is copyrighted. But you can use them for your own personal enjoyment and print them to hang on your walls if you wish.

Original Publication Date: October 31, 2024

Article Last updated: November 02, 2024

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