Indoor photography

[cowbert098]

Winter is approaching and I would like to try my hand at some indoor photography. I have never really taken any indoor photos so any tips are welcome. What kind of lighting do I need? Is a desk lamp ok? What should I use as backgrounds? Are there any camera features I should have turned on or off? Thanks, Todd

 

[photoman]

First you would need a fast lens at least a 2.8.
You would need fast fill asa 400 and up
and external flash would help but if you use the on board flash you will probably get red eye.
You would take pictures like you would outside unless you want to take pictures of something specificly

I dont know what kind of setting you would have on your camera?
What are you tring to accomplish?

Hope this helps

 

[SleepyLizard]

If you use standard household lighting the colour of your photos will be shifted toward the yellow and reds. If you are using a digital camera, you can correct this by setting the white balance accordingly. Set it to tungsten or else do a custom white balance. Ordinary film on the other hand is set for use in daylight. You can use a filter, I think it's the 80B dark blue filter, that will correct the household lighting back to normal. You can also buy film which is designed for household lighting.

Another suggestion is to turn off your lights and set your subject up near a window where you can take advantage of the natural light.

 

[Dew]

you can use a bed sheet for a background (starting out) ... thats what we did... or you can get a Savage paper roll from B&H Photo for less than $40 (paper backdrop). i wouldnt use a table lamp for the reasons mentioned above. i would also not use the flash from the camera on the subject cause it will leave a "flashed" look on their faces (assuming you're photographing people). you can try putting a white piece of paper over the camera flash, you may get mixed results.

i would invest in some kind of lighting equipment (the whole kit about $300) .. if you dont want to invest that much. i would go with at least one slave flash with the umbrella (take umbrella on/off to test results) if u dont have enought light, take the umbrella off and point it towards the ceiling (my hubby does this a lot for out of studio assignments).

another suggestion, you may want to play with the camera settings (not sure if ur on digital or film) ... but what i do is raise the iso level (on my digital, but u can buy the film for this). the white balance may be between 3500-4700 but still may leave a yellow cast on the face, so some photoshop may be required.

im not sure if you want to take "candids" of friends and family .... but i think once u've stepped into the photography world .. no photo is just a "candid shot"