Now that Old Man Winter has the country in his grips, and with social distancing still needing to be practiced, you’re left with a lot of downtime right now. It’s the perfect time to focus your attention on some photography projects at home to help you become a better photographer. You don’t have to travel to far-away locations to find subjects to photograph. Since that’s not possible right now, here are some photography tips to try at home to challenge yourself this winter.
Food Photography
Turn your food into a piece of art. Whether it’s an orange slice, a slice of apple pie, or a slice of delivered pizza, the key is getting in close. Position your camera on a tripod from Beachcamera.com directly above the food or ingredients. Try using your camera’s live view function for a razor sharp focus, and start shooting! For a truly unique perspective on your meal, add a macro lens to capture the finer details of your cuisine.
Shooting A to Z
On the hunt for something new around the house to shoot? Challenge yourself by searching for a subject that begins with each letter of the alphabet. For those more difficult letters, get a little creative by photographing concepts that correlate with those letters. A hamster running in its exercise wheel could represent the letter Q for quick or Z for zoom! This project will help you learn to “see” subjects that are worthy of photographing instead of just snapping random objects. Make sure you insert a high-speed memory card with enough storage capacity so you don’t run out of space halfway through the alphabet!
Black and White
Set your camera from Beachcamera.com to monochrome, or black and white mode for two weeks. When shooting in black and white, look for lines, patterns, textures, light and shadows that will help make the photos more interesting. Because shooting in black and white requires a new skill set to search for these details, this project will also help you develop your creative vision when shooting color photography just as the A to Z project will.
Shallow Depth of Field
While you’re stuck at home, it’s a great time to work on mastering depth of field. If you’ve been trying to learn how to draw your viewer’s eye to your subject, especially when shooting portraits, learn how to use a shallow depth of field. This method will create a blurry background so your subject takes center stage. Simply place a family member a good distance from your background while placing yourself close to your subject. Open the aperture on your camera to a wide value of f/2.8 and shoot away!
Minimalist
As a photographer, it’s sometimes hard to eliminate things from the frame of the photo. You want to include everything you see in your shot. This is a good time to practice focusing on a single, simple subject. Work on excluding the clutter in your images. Instead, try composing simple, minimalist images.
Try some of these photography projects during your downtime to help keep your photography skills sharp. You’ll be ready to go once you can start shooting abroad again.
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