What To Photograph When You're Stuck At Home

No matter where you live, chances are you’re stuck at home these days due to coronavirus outbreak. If you’re a photographer (amateur or professional, it doesn’t matter) you might feel upset or frustrated in case you had to cancel some of your upcoming shoots. However, you can still use this lockdown period to brush up your shooting and editing skills.

Check out our
list of home-friendly photo projects – hopefully they will keep you occupied
and get your creative juices flowing!

stuck at home photography — Photo by Chris Barbalis

Learn How To Shoot A Simple Studio-Style Portrait

Even if you don’t have a backdrop and professional lighting, you certainly have a white wall in your living room or bedroom. You can practice either self-portraiture or photograph members of your family (including pets!) in front of a white wall. While this may sound too simple or too boring, it is in fact a great occasion to learn more about various types of lighting.

You can also practice posing models and experiment with different clothing items, accessories and props. If you want to learn more about dramatic lighting for indoor portraiture, check out this article about Rembrandt lighting setup.

studio portrait — Photo by Vyacheslav Shpak

Photograph Your Meals

Instead of overeating out of boredom, you can turn your meals into amazing photo projects! Food photography can teach you important facts on color combinations and composition rules. You can shoot your meals in daylight (arrange plates and glasses near the window!) or in case you have an external flash you can shoot your meals at night too.

Shooting food will certainly make you a better photographer but maybe a better cook as well if you’re planning to prepare food on your own. To learn more about lighting and composition in food photography, read this article.

stuck at home food photography — Photo by Eaters Collective

Practice Abstract Photography

If shooting portraits or food at home doesn't spark your creativity, maybe you should engage in abstract photography. This genre of photography gives you a lot of freedom because the options you have are basically endless. You can focus on shapes, colors, textures, motion blur, reflections, and so on.

Abstract photography is also very useful for learning how to use depth of field properly. If you have a prime lens, make sure to experiment with bokeh! Read our article on abstract photography if you need some tips.

abstract photography at home — Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi

Experiment With Close-Ups

If you always wanted to learn how to shoot close-ups but you've never tried it, now it's the perfect time to embrace macro photography! Just like in abstract photography, you can shoot almost anything. A good subject to start from are plants – try to capture the delicate beauty of their leaves or flowers. You can also shoot cutlery, rust, peeling paint or glass.

To learn more about macro photography, check out our guide.

closeup photography at home — Photo by Daniel Weiss

Play With Water

You have surely seen somewhere on the internet those magical, high-speed images of water droplets!

If you’re interested in pursuing this kind of challenging photo project, you need to get a container of water with a small hole, a proper lighting source (natural or artifical one) and a solid background. You also need a perfect camera setup, which can be a bit tricky if you have no experience with high-speed photography. The process of getting the lighting, the timing, and the camera settings just right can be complex, but it is very rewarding for sure!

Practicing high-speed photography will help you learn more about your camera’s settings, which is useful for any genre of photography. Check out this detailed guide on shooting water droplets and splashes!

water droplets high speed photography — Photo by Daniel Roberts

Improve Your Low Light Photography

If you’re not an experienced photographer, taking photos in low light can be a problematic project for you. Practicing low light photography indoors is a good place to start from, because you can easily control the light and play with various light sources, such as lamps or candles.

Those extra efforts you need to invest in low light photography will be beneficial because you will have to master aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance in order to get impeccable low light images. Anything and anybody can be your subject but low light portraiture might be the most appealing genre if you’re into dramatic atmosphere.

Check out these tips and tricks if you want to pursue low light portraiture.

low light portraiture indoors — Photo by Lee Campbell

Look Through The Window

You don’t have to photograph the interior of your house or your family members even if you’re stuck at home! You can always look through the window and capture street scenes or focus on the nearby architecture, trees or sky.

Feel free to include the window itself in your shots – this will make your images more engaging. Using a frame within frame is a powerful compositional rule!