After a lot of attempts to photograph objects indoors, I came to several conclusions: what I like best, what works best, and what is the easiest to do.
1. Light
I use only one light source, namely the sun outside. All additional lamps, especially at home, only spoil the photo.
2. The window behind your back
In my opinion this is the best choice. Just keep in mind, avoid having big shadow from the subject. It is also important that your shadow is not present in the shot.
3. The window on the side
Sometimes I place the object in such a way that the window is on the left or on the right. When the window is on the left, the picture looks better. A person “reads” a photo like a line in a book – from left to right, so first, one sees the object, and then the shadow from it. But as always there are exceptions.
4. The window opposite you
This is the most difficult choice. My camera “disagrees” with me and does not want to focus. Of course, you can force it, but what for to complicate things so much?
5. Background
Usual, colored A4 paper should be okey. If you find A3/A2 format, you will almost have your own subject photo studio 🙂
6. Neutral background
Chose the background color. The universal one is white, which is a win-win situation for almost all cases.
7. Diverse background
Of course, you need to experiment with the background, for example, wood, textile, books. It is important that the background does not distract from our main subject in the photo.
8. Shadow
Shadow plays a big role. If it is very distracting, then wait for a “softer” sun. I have already written about the Golden Hour, but I will repeat – this is the perfect period for any photo!
9. Flat Lay
A very popular and widespread arrangement. It is important to make it as smooth as possible, so that in the photo the rectangle remains a rectangle and does not become a trapezoid, and the circle – a circle and does not become an oval. Stay in reality 🙂
10. Side view
It is approximately at the level of “eyes”. If your object has no eyes, then imagine where they would have them 🙂
11. Naturalness
The viewer should not know that you have spent at least an hour to place all the details in the shot in natural way (even if this is true). Catch the perfectionist’s attention. With such little mistakes we show that we are photographing real life.
12. Number of items
It is more interesting to “read” photos with an odd number of items (one, three, five). In such cases, triangles are formed to “catch” the viewer’s eye. Experiment, try to take a photo of, for example, three objects, and then add a fourth one. Which of the photos do you like best?
13. Other items
It is difficult to deal with a lot of items in the frame. But this is not a reason not to try. For example add different items using some principles: the same color, texture, shape …
14. White must be white
There are a lot of white in my photos, so I want to add: “White must be white”! No matter how you are going to edit your photo later, try to have white not blue, not yellow, but as natural as possible.
