Techniques/Tips for taking indoor photos?

[DLL_4ever]

i want to create a photo gallery of our house from the inside, so i can send them to family/friends and whatnot. I would like to know if any of you know any specific techniques or if you have any tips on how to take good/interesting indoor photos.
The ones i have taken so far are just plain, boring and very "sloppy" taken IMO. I want to be able to take real photographic shots, if you know what i mean... but im not really sure how...
I also have photoshop so if you have any tips on how to improve my images using that program, feel free to let me know

As you can tell, I'm still fairly new to photography

Thanks in advance :cheers:

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Here's a few examples of some of the indoor shots i took last summer... http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/DLL2/oakwood/14.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/DLL2/oakwood/5.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/DLL2/oakwood/1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b186/DLL2/oakwood/17.jpg
As you can see, they're just simple point-and-shoot shots and no photography skills/techniques were used in taking them.. i want to be able to make the photos themselves look interesting, even to another photographer, but i really have no clue on how to do that...

 

[Digital Matt]

Try some different angles, and try and include foreground elements to give a sense of depth. Also, try shooting when there is not quite so much light. You have this nice flat diffuse window light, which would be great for portraits, but with an expansive scene such as showing off an entire room, it gets a little boring. Maybe wait till later in the evening, when there are some shadows about. It's all in the light.

 

[Lumix]

As Matt said try different viewpoints and lighting. I notice that all your shots are from eye level. Try a lower view or stand on a stall and try a high view. We all get so used to seeing things at eye level that they become too familiar.

 

[Lensmeister]

IMHO ......

the only one that wasn't ok was the one of the kitchen. things in it like the towel on the cooker were a little off putting.

#14 was good, clear and sharp.
#5 is good the walls are of a dark colour anyways but you got it ok, just the door knob and the edge of the door that takes a way from it a little.
#17 the games room looks just as a games should look. Not too bright and not dark=, you got that one and #14 spot on in my view.

As Lumix and Matt said a different POV might also help.

Good luck.

Lensmeister.

 

[Rob]

Tidy your kitchen before photographing it and avoid distracting items in the foreground.

The most difficult thing about indoor photography is that the light sources tend to be very very localised leading to hot spots and cold spots. You've done pretty well so far with this, but try to give each shot a focal point, like say a display of cut flowers on a coffee table and then use a shallower depth of field (f-number) to bring the viewers attention subtly to the focal area which should not be bang centre of the frame.

The images looked a little soft to me, perhaps a tweak of unsharp mask in PS would brighten them a bit. I generally give -10 brightness and +10 contrast when tweaking my shots as I like contrastyness.

Use a tripod, if you haven't already.

Another little tip might be to try a 500W cheapo halogen floodlight from a hardware store. Mount it on a small plank and experiment with it and a silver reflector (homemade with tinfoil if you're on a budget).

Rob