Realty Times September 6, 1999

How to Photograph Interiors

Every photo that is taken indoors is taken inside a room. However, most photographers are interested in a subject, a person or an object, and not the room. "It's amazing how little thought most amateur photographers give to the way the room will appear in a photograph," notes NYI Dean Chuck DeLaney. "That's too bad," he added, "Because with just a little effort the room can be made much more attractive and enhance the photograph, rather than detract from it."

Professional photographers who specialize in taking beautiful interior images use a few basic techniques that can be applied to almost any photograph taken indoors. This month, in conjunction with two upcoming photo contests-"Attics and Basements" and "Interiors"-there is a complete article on the NYI Website entitled "How To Photograph Interiors."

Here are a few simple tips to get you started:

  • Use a wide-angle lens. For most interiors, you'll want to take in the largest possible area of the room. This is one aspect of interior photography where the user of a single lens reflex camera will have the advantage of a large selection of wide-angle lenses.

  • Decide what part of the room is most interesting visually and make that your subject. You want to photograph the most interesting portion of the room and compose your photo so that the key portions of the room are highlighted in your photograph. Pay attention to where your frame ends. Try not to cut furniture in half.

  • Watch out for clutter. Years ago a famous photographer observed that photography is "ten percent creativity and ninety percent moving furniture." It's as if the camera adds clutter. When professional photographers photograph a room, they often take away a number of accessories and pieces of furniture that would otherwise appear in the viewfinder. Get the wastebasket out of the shot! Hide the telephone and get rid of the porcelain figurines.

  • Keep vertical lines vertical. Nothing confuses your viewer more than tilted vertical lines. When possible, also try to keep horizontal lines parallel to the top and bottom of the frame. Try to keep your camera level and don't tilt it up or down.

  • Avoid bright windows and streaming sun. For most interior photographs, if the windows are very bright or if there is sunlight streaming into the room, the bright windows or splotches of sunlight will draw the viewer's attention away from the room's interior and may create dark, contrasty shadow areas. Many times, particularly if the room has a lot of windows or glass doors, the pro will wait until late afternoon or even twilight to take the photo.

    If you follow these simple suggestions, whether the room is your subject or just the setting for a portrait photo, you'll be amazed at how much improvement you'll see in your interior photos.

    • Source: New York Institute of Photography

    Editor's note:Reprinted with permission from the New York Institute of Photography website. For more information on shooting great photos of interiors, see this month's website for the New York Institute of Photography (NYI) at http://www.nyip.com.


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