Two questions I get asked most often are, “How do you take your photos?” and, “How do you edit your photos?” The quick answer is my Pixel 3 and the Lightroom app. Yep, they’re mostly phone photos! The long answer has a lot more to it, though. When I started breaking down my process, I realized this post was turning into a novel. Because I have SO much to talk about on this subject, I’ve decided to do a two-parter going more in depth into each question. So let’s start with:

“How do you take your photos?”

A little background — I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember. I went to college for photography and for a while even wanted to be a high fashion photographer (might have had something to do with my ANTM obsession). Photography has always been a passion of mine, but that in no way means it’s ever too late for you to start. It can be an intimidating world to get into with the variety of camera options, lenses, and a bunch of other things you didn’t even know were things, none of which are cheap. But the most important thing you need to be a great photographer isn’t expensive equipment, it’s your eye. The more photos you take, the more you learn, the more you develop your eye, no matter what you’re using to take those photos.

EQUIPMENT

I think a big hesitation people have when starting out is feeling like their work won’t look professional without a professional camera. Let me tell you right now that is false. After years of shooting with my Canon 5D Mark II, I switched to using my phone almost exclusively and have never looked back. Being able to shoot, edit, plan and post all from one lightweight device is so convenient and it means I can share experiences like our road trip in the moment instead of having to wait to get back to my computer.

Taken with my phone in regular camera mode

A blogger I follow posted a photo to her feed a few months ago saying how bummed she was by the poor quality from taking it with her phone. Guess what? Her followers commented saying they hadn’t even noticed and thought the photo looked great! We’re our own worst critics and it’s so easy to focus on something negative that isn’t even registering on anyone else’s radar. It’s great if you have a camera you love using, but don’t let the lack of having one hold you back.

LIGHT

Natural light is your best friend. I’ve experimented with artificial lighting in the past and it can be helpful for dark interiors, but there’s just something so magical about natural light. I like to shoot in the early morning and a little before sunset, called “golden hour.” The light is especially beautiful during this time and the shadows can add a lot of interest to your photos. Knowing the best time of day to shoot which room is key, and that depends on the orientation of your house and where your windows are located. After observing the light in our house for a day, I found the best light in our entryway is around 6-7am and the best light in our bedroom is around 6-7pm. The exact time will shift throughout the year, but now I know which rooms to photograph in the morning vs the evening.

SETUP

I try not to make too many changes before taking a photo, but usually I’ll straighten things up and do a quick scan of where everything is placed. I take a few test shots to see if anything needs to be tweaked that I didn’t notice in person, and for close up shots I look for any tangent lines. A tangent line is where the edges of two objects just barely touch instead of having some space in between them or overlap. It can be a style that’s used very effectively, but it does look less organic, so I try to avoid them most of the time.

Overlapping objects or space in between — Overlapping objects and space in between

FRAMING

I try to frame my original photo as close as possible to the final cropped image. My phone shoots in a 3:4 ratio and I crop to a 4:5 ratio in Lightroom for Instagram, so I usually only lose the very top and bottom edge. I take most of my interior photos from a crouched position, which is especially handy when trying to hide your reflection in a mirror! I’ll shift my position slightly and shoot a few photos every time so I have lots of options to compare. Behind every one photo I post are about 50-100 more I tried, so just keep shooting!

A rare image these days of me using my camera. This was for the Instagram post I made on May 15th.

I hope this helps with your interior photography! Please don’t hesitate to message me on Instagram or leave a comment below. I’ll post Part 2 going into detail on how I edit my photos soon!

Tips for Taking Interior Photos (Part 1)

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