Taking beautiful interior photos for your home or business requires some styling techniques to make the space look its best. Professional photographers use tricks to make a room look bright, cozy, spacious and inviting in photos. With a little effort, you can style your interior spaces to look professionally photographed. Follow these 12 tips to take your interior photos from amateur to pro-quality shots:
Prepare the Room for Photographing
A clean, decluttered space photographs the best. Here are some tips for preparing a room before taking interior photos:
Deep Clean the Space
Give the room a deep clean before photographing to remove dust, dirt and clutter. Pay extra attention to surfaces that will be in the shots like floors, countertops, walls and mirrors. A freshly cleaned space will look its best in photos.
Style Furniture and Decor
Artfully arrange furniture, rugs and accessories in pleasing ways appropriate for photographing. Angle furniture towards each other and pull some pieces away from walls. Remove unnecessary items from surfaces and mantels for a decluttered look.
Bring in Styling Props
Interior designers use props like flowers, books, candles, pillows and fresh fruit to add visual interest to spaces. Cluster coordinating items together on tables, counters and shelves. Vary heights and choose props with attractive colors.
Diffuse Lighting for a Warm Glow
Harsh overhead lighting creates unflattering shadows in photos. Diffuse ceiling lights by replacing bulbs with softer ones or draping fabric over shades. Use table and floor lamps to cast a warm, cozy glow optimal for interior photography.
Master Pro Camera and Lens Techniques
Invest in quality photography gear and learn professional techniques for superior interior shots:
Use Wide Angle and Tilt-Shift Lenses
Wide angle lenses capture more of a room for broad, sweeping shots to highlight the full space. Tilt-shift lenses keep vertical lines from distorting and adjust the area of focus for sharpness. These specialized lenses enable dynamic interior photography.
Shoot During Golden Hour Lighting
The soft, warm light around sunrise and sunset, known as golden hour, flatters interior spaces. Schedule a pro photography session to capture the room during this ideal time of day if possible. The low natural light eliminates harsh shadows.
Understand Proper Exposure
A camera’s exposure settings control the amount of light let in. Underexposed images look too dark and overexposed shots appear washed out. Learn how aperture size, shutter speed and ISO affect exposure to photograph interiors with perfect lighting.
Employ Tripods and Remote Shutters
Because indoor shots require slower shutter speeds to compensate for low light, cameras need stabilization on tripods to prevent blurry images. Using remote shutters or self-timers eliminates camera shake from pressing the shutter. These tools result in crisp, professional shots.
Compose Shots Strategically
Mindful photo composition elevates images from snapshots to artful photographs. Utilize these compositional techniques for stellar interior images:
Photograph at Obtuse Angles
Shooting straight-on at 90 degree angles distorts perspective and convexes space in images. Compose shots from obtuse 135 degree angles instead to avoid distortion for accurate room proportions in photos.
Follow Rule of Thirds
Position key elements like furnishings or architectural details off-center along imaginary lines that divide images into thirds for pleasing, balanced compositions according to the photographic rule of thirds. This technique focuses attention exactly where you want it.
Frame Interesting Views
Open doors and windows, shoot through archways or place reflective objects to frame beautiful views within the images. This storytelling technique provides a sense of motion and directs eyes towards specific elements.
Play with Negative Space
Balance out busy areas containing items by incorporating blank negative space into shots. Keep walls, floors, ceilings and backgrounds relatively simple to let furniture or architectural elements shine.
Optimize Lighting Conditions
Proper lighting transforms average interior images into masterpieces. Reduce harsh glare and shadows with these lighting tips:
Bounce and Diffuse Natural Light
Encourage natural light to fill the room indirectly by bouncing it off white walls, floors or ceilings. Diffuse direct sunlight by angling sheer curtains over windows or shooting on an overcast day. This scatters the light evenly for a soft effect.
Supplement with Artificial Light
In dark rooms, supplement with lamp light, string lights or flash to brighten up shadows and prevent gloominess. Position lighting judiciously to avoid glare, lens flares or blowing out bright hotspots.
Reflect Light into Shadows
Place mirrors, white boards or reflectors opposite windows to reflect outdoor light into the home’s dark corners and recessed areas. Open doors and window coverings wider to maximize natural light entering the space.
Shoot at Sunrise, Sunset and on Overcast Days
The low, diffused light at dawn and dusk creates a warm glow perfect for interior photography. Overcast skies act like a giant diffuser, producing soft, even lighting to prevent overly contrasty shadows indoors.
Edit Images Post-Production
Editing fine-tunes images to amplify ambiance, adjust tone and correct flaws that even pros can’t avoid while shooting interiors on location.
Adjust Temperature and Tint
Warm or cool the overall tone and remove color casts like yellowness or blueness. Whites should look natural, not warm or cool. Gray items should appear gray, not tinted.
Increase Brightness and Contrast
Subtly boost brightness to illuminate dark corners or reduce it to tone down overexposed areas that look washed out. Adjust contrast moderately to define shapes without crushing shadows or blowing out highlights.
Correct Distorted Vertical and Horizontal Lines
Straighten tilted lines that should be horizontal or vertical using the transform tool. Fix lens distortions like bowed walls or stretched objects toward the edges of images.
Sharpen Crisp Focus
During editing, sharpen images slightly for enhanced clarity and definition throughout the focal plane. This brings out details that can get lost at low resolutions online. But don’t over-sharpen, as it looks unnatural.
Remove Lens Dust Spots
Dead pixels on camera sensors create distracting dust spots, especially around small apertures. Zoom in and carefully erase using the cloning tool and content-aware fill to eliminate these imperfections.
Stage Spaces According to Photography Goals
Determine what impression you want to convey before styling and photographing a space. Tailor props and lighting to match the desired ambiance.
Cozy and Inviting
Encourage relaxation using warm lighting, fresh flowers, books, plush pillows and natural textures like wood accents and woven blankets. Create hygge-inspired glow in the shots.
Sophisticated
Refined accents like flower arrangements, candles, coffee table art books and ceramic decor elevate a space. Crisp white bedding and marble surfaces lend an air of luxury. Use cool or neutral lighting.
Airy and Spacious
Minimize clutter and pull furniture away from walls to open up floor space. Natural light and neutral colors make rooms feel more expansive. Include large statement art.
Vintage Charm
Add character with antique woods, floral prints and distressed leather. Display colored glassware and ornate accent pieces. Use string lights or lanterns for unconventional lighting.
Style Different Rooms
Each space requires tailored props and focal points. Enhance the existing architecture and purpose of rooms with strategic styling:
Living Rooms
Incorporate full flower arrangements and stacks of color-coordinated coffee table books. Drape cozy blankets over chairs and sofas. Let textural pillows shine.
Kitchens
Showcase kitchenware like espresso makers, stand mixers and ceramic bowls. Adorn counters with fresh fruit. Wrap utensils or towels for pops of color.
Bedrooms
Crisply make beds with decorative shams and ruffled duvets. Coordinate bedding and curtains. Add candles, houseplants and framed wall art over beds.
Bathrooms
Display brightly colored towels or bath mats. Include fresh flowers, succulents, soap dishes and bath accessories. Candles add mood lighting.
Photograph Exteriors Too
Don’t neglect your home or business’s exterior. Unique architecture and gorgeous landscaping deserve to be captured. Follow these tips:
Shoot at Golden Hour
There’s nothing more flattering than soft dawn or dusk light on building facades. Colors glow vibrantly at sunrise and sunset when photographing the exterior.
Enhance Curb Appeal
Manicure lawns, rake paths, prune plants and add outdoor accents to create a welcoming entryway. Wheelbarrows, potted plants or trellised vines add charm.
Emphasize Architectural Details
Zoom in on interesting columns, railings, shutters, doors, chimneys and other exterior architectural elements. Vivid colors and textures draw the eye.
Frame the Entryway
Shoot through tree branches, a garden arch or down a walkway to creatively frame and highlight the front door. This adds depth and storytelling to facade shots.
Ready for Your Interior Photo Shoot?
With these pro tips for cleaning, styling, lighting and composing interior shots, you can elevate DIY photographs or get a space ready for a professional session. Correctly prepping the room and understanding photography techniques leads to stunning images that do your gorgeous home or office justice. Confidently style and snap eye-catching pictures to promote spaces online or in magazines with an artistic edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I make a dark room photograph well?
To photograph a dark interior space, add extra lighting like portable flashes, continuous lights or reflectors to brighten up shadows. Increase exposure compensation on your camera. During editing, subtly boost shadows and blacks, and increase contrast to make darker areas more visible.
What focal length is best for interior photography?
For interior photography, wider angle lenses around 24mm to 35mm work best to capture a whole room and exaggerated perspective. Using 28mm to 50mm still provides decent wide angles without the distortion of lenses below 24mm. Anything longer than 50mm starts to flatten the perspective undesirably.
Where should I place lights when photographing interiors?
Position lighting off to the sides at 45 degree angles to avoid harsh shadows and glare in interior photos. Bounce light off walls, ceilings and reflectors to diffuse it. Place flashes behind objects to backlight them subtly. Mix hard light from windows with softer lamp light for dimension.
What settings should I use to photograph interiors?
Use a low ISO between 100 and 400 to minimize graininess. Compensate for low indoor light with a wide aperture around f/2.8 to f/5.6 and slower shutter speed of 1/15 to 1/60th sec (use a tripod). Adjust exposure compensation brighter +1 to +2 stops. Shoot in RAW format for more editing control.
How do I prevent distortion when photographing interiors?
Use a tilt-shift lens, which allows adjusting the plane of focus and avoids distortion from shooting at extreme wide angles. Shoot around 35mm instead of wider than 24mm to minimize distortion. Position camera at middle height rather than from high angles like ladders to prevent converging vertical lines.
