How do you style a room to minimize clutter and make the most of your furnishings?

What is the best way to light a space without natural light?

Where is best angle to photograph a room from?

These are some of the questions that you might be asking yourself if you’ve ever tried to photograph a room in your home. Unlike taking photos of people or nature scenes outdoors, interior photography presents a wide variety of challenges, especially for the novice photographer.

From finding the right angle and staging your home like a pro to setting the stage with perfect lighting, here are our top 5 tips to getting those picture perfect shots.

Set the Stage

One of the first steps to great interior photos is to set the stage with a great composition. Think of your room as a still life, don’t be afraid to try different furniture arrangements or throw in a few accessories.

Clean the Clutter

Nothing can sour a great composition more than too much stuff. When arranging furniture and accessories for your shoot ask yourself if there is anything you can remove. Make sure to hide things that subtract from your photo like electronics, wires, remotes and knick knacks.

When in doubt, less is more.

It’s All about the Angles

Unless you’re planning on stitching together multiple photos for a panoramic view, you’ll have to select one portion of the room to photograph. While a head on photo can work, shooting into an angle will allow you to get more of the room into your shot while also making the room look bigger.

Frame Your Subject

Every picture needs a focal point, something that the eye is drawn to and holds interest. When photographing and interior that focal point can be a lot of things. Maybe your subject is a staircase, a sofa or a coffee table.

Instead of just taking a head on picture of your subject however, find creative ways to draw the eye toward what you wish to highlight. For instance, a colourful piece of wall art can frame a sofa or draw attention to a winding staircase.

Lighting

Finally, let’s talk about lighting. This is one of the biggest challenges of any budding interior photographer because its so misunderstood.

Though natural light is best, it’s a good rule of thumb to keep in mind that more is not always better. In fact, the best time to shoot with natural light is early morning or late afternoon.

Don’t be shy about using the lights in your home either. Turn on the lights and turn your flash off for the best effects, mounting your camera on tripod to minimize any blurring.

Do you have any interior photos that you’ve taken using these tips? Share them with us or comment below!