5 Tips for Great Indoor Photos

We recently shared some tips for great outdoor photos and now it's time to head indoors! Indoor photos can be intimidating because lighting is more tricky! If you've ever struggled with blurry, yellow or too-dark photos indoors these tips are for you...

1. White Balance

White Balance is all about color temperature. For the majority of us, Auto White Balance is fine and works great in both indoor and outdoor settings. However, there are situations that call for a change in White Balance (this is done by changing the setting in your camera). Are you photos looking orange, yellow or blue when shooting indoors? If you are not shooting in RAW then it's extremely important to take the time and change your settings before you continue to shoot. See the above example for the differance a little adjustment can make! 

2. Open Window / Open Door

If I have to shoot indoors...I always set up my scene and move my subject near a window or an open door. It's amazing the difference that this little trick does! If your subject is facing the window, even at a slight angle, the photo will be more flattering because they will be better lit! See what a difference a slight face tilt can make in the example above. 

3. Using Flash v.s Ambient Light

Depending on the type of camera that you have- you either have a pop up flash (this is attached to your camera and flashes straight on to your subject) or an external flash (this is something you manually attach to your camera and you have the ability to point the flash in whatever direction you would like). I am not a huge fan of the pop up flash- as it doesn't give you the freedom to disperse the light the way you may want to. With the external flash, I am able to point the flash up onto the ceiling as it throws light all around, while giving my subject the amount of light that is perfect for the situation. The on camera flash can make an image look flat and one-deminsional When an external flash isn't an option, using the ambient (available) lighting without a flash is best! 

Utilizing the ambient (available) light that is in a room is another great tip to keep in mind for indoor photography. Whether it be a lamp on a coffee table or a window, these sources can be helpful when you are indoors. Remember, if your image is looking yellow/orange/blue....this would be a good time to change your White Balance. The setting you will most likely need is Tungsten or Fluorescent. Just play around and get to know your camera and it's settings- it definitely pays off! 

4. Be Aware of Background and Clutter

There's nothing worse than taking an epic photo and noticing unnecessary clutter somewhere in the shot! Even if you are a Photoshop guru, I always encourage photographing your subject the way you want to see it when you upload your photos to your computer. I use this same rule of thumb when taking any and every photo. Little things like lamp cords, edges of carpet and objects that seem far behind you that still make it into the photo are things that I am constantly being aware of. I know this because I have made these same mistakes when starting out....so learning from your mistakes and not relying on photoshop constantly will really refine your eye for photography and styling. 

I fell in love with photography because I enjoyed capturing pretty things around me. I didn't fall in love with photography to sit behind my computer all day- editing. Although that is part of what we do with digital photography, one way to cut down on my post processing time is to photograph my subject the way intend for it to look. Basically, I crop "IN CAMERA" rather than shoot and "crop later." There are times when I must crop a photo during post processing, but for the most part, I photograph my subject the exact way I want- keeping the final image that I want in my mind at all times.

5. Choose One Light Source

If there is enough natural light where I am shooting, I will usually turn off any other lights in the room to get a good clean image, without mixing the two together. Sometimes when there is natural and artificial light in a room it can cause photos to be blurry, yellow or hazy. 

If I need to incorporate additional light (a lamp light or ceiling fixture) I would definitely experiment with changing my White Balance. Again, there are times when AUTO works just fine, but taking the time to fine tune is well worth it! One thing to remember, which I tend to always forget, is to change your white balance back to your everyday setting. It's a bummer to go back outside and have my white balance set to Tungsten! Yikes!! My subject all of a sudden looks like a smurf! No good. 

The above examples were each taken with only one lighting source. The first is artificial (room lights) and the second is window light. Whenever possible, choose only one lighting source for a stronger photo. 

We hope these tips give you confidence to try more photos indoors! We love how incoporating little tips and tricks into your daily photography can deliver huge results! Have fun experimenting! XO. Kelli + Elsie

Comments

[Rachel]

thanks for sharing these tips. excited to try them and hopefully see some improvement in my photography :)

[Breezy]

Thanks for the tips Elsie! I am trying to absorb some photography knowledge (I currently know nothing). This really helps a lot!

[Heather]

How neat! I definitely needed these tips!
xo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/

[Ida May Bueno]

great tips as always!!! I am definitely going to try these!

xoxo
Ida

http://asplashofida.blogspot.com

[Brandy]

love this Elsie! super cute pics too! :)

Vanessa, think of RAW like the ingredients for a cake. All the ingredients are in the bowl but not mixed up yet... so you have more options to make changes (like white balance settings and exposure too) once you mix it up you can't separate the ingredients (that would be the JPG and it's not as easy to make adjustments in editing.)

-- another tip for white balance: make sure you change the settings back when done (for example auto white balance) the last thing you want is taking pretty pictures on a sunny day only to realize later that you left the camera in Tungsten white balance. ;)

[Natalie]

Great post! Thanx for the tips, I'm always looking to have more luck with my photography, because honestly I'm not good at it! :)

Natalie
www.projectdowhatyoulove.wordpress.com

[em]

looooooving these photo posts! your blog is my favourite. ever!

[Brandy]

lol silly me you did mention changing back WB settings... how did I miss that?! ;) I'm going to blame the sugar rush and this tasty plate of snickerdoodles I'm snacking on.

[the littlest polly]

thanks for the tips, Elsie!! XOXOX

love, polly

[Vanita]

Great tips! I have trouble with natural light, it gets dark by the time I get home and I have to use my florescent lights.

A jewelry blog.
http://www.houseofavandan.com

[Natasha]

Great tips! I always have such difficulty finding the appropriate lighting in my house..so it makes it difficult to shoot anything inside but these are very helpful!

www.weatheredrosevintage.com

[Mrs. Baker]

these are great tips!

http://babybakerlove.blogspot.com/

[Saloni Dubey]

These tips are are so helpful....lovely post..
Thank you

[Joy]

sweet sweet tips you're doling out!

[Brittany Chenteale]

Oh la! Perfect timing, I need to use these tips today. Thank you! :D

[chantilly]

i really have to work on my white balance... i often have to take photos inside with abysmal lighting conditions, and always have to correct the yellow afterwards. it's really time consuming.

also yes, clutter! it feels so hard living in an apartment where everything is everywhere. i just took some style photos the other day, and was really careful to move the lamp cords, etc. out of the way. but then when i panned out the camera to get a different angle, of course i forgot to move the cords again. those lovely photos... marred by cords! gah!! oh well... live and learn :P x

[Bethany Smith]

Thanks for the tips, i just got a new camera and the manual is way to boring!

[Tessie]

VERY helpful! thank you so much!
I read your blog a lot but never comment. Just wanted to say I think you're pretty fantastic and your blog is awesome!
Keep at it! :)

[Hannah @ Sparrow + Spark!]

Great tips! I struggle with indoor photos so this is just what I need.

[Maddie @ Thriftary]

Wow - Incredible tips. Now all I need is a camera that lets me adjust white balance... :)