Subject shooting at home is possible not only in fantasies, but also in reality. Many photographers, especially beginners, think that you can engage in subject photography only in a specially equipped studio. But they are completely wrong. Even at home it is quite possible to create a small but effective photo studio to take high-quality pictures.
Necessary equipment
A table for subject photography is the easiest option. On it you can photograph small objects or take still lifes. Such a table is very easy to build manually. Even an inexperienced photographer will cope with this easy task. First, you need to purchase a sufficiently large sheet of cardboard in white. Secondly, you need to find a support for the table. To do this, you can take any thick book, dish or any other thing of a large size, since the support will not be visible in the frame. A table for subject photography is best placed on a wide windowsill. Particular attention should be paid to the incident light from the sun. After all, if the subject is photographed in a bright strip of sunlight, then he will cast rough and deep shadows on the table, which will not lead to the desired result in the picture. That is why a window that faces the shadow side is the best place to organize a subject table.
How to make photo box?
There are special professional photo boxes for subject filming. Their price is quite high, so for one-time work, it makes no sense to acquire such structures. High-quality photo boxing can be done at home. To do this, you need a cardboard box and a sheet of Whatman paper. It is desirable that the selected cardboard box has a cubic shape. Next, the bottom of the box is removed, and the back is left untouched. On top of the box and on its sides, you need to make large cutouts of a square shape and seal them with a paper. The inner back of the box and the bottom itself should also be covered with a sheet of white paper. Guided by the above steps, making a photo box at home is not at all difficult.
Plain background
Subject shooting at home does not require the photographer to work with a photobox or table. It is quite possible to do without these things. Many amateur photographers choose the easiest way to shoot. Before starting work, it is necessary to determine which of the sections of the wall of the home is the brightest. In the event that the wall is not monophonic, it must be hung with a background (for example, a sheet of Whatman paper or a piece of cloth). The photographed object must be placed on a stool that is covered with the same material from which the background is made. It is better to photograph various jewelry on polished granite, then the beauty of the jewelry will be clearly visible in the picture due to the reflective surface of this aristocratic stone.
How to organize lighting?
A great activity for a novice photographer is subject shooting at home. The right light for the upcoming work can dramatically affect the shooting result. Lighting directly depends on the chosen equipment for work. If objects will be photographed on the windowsill, then the main source of light, of course, is the sun. If additional lighting is needed, a reflector can be used. You can do it yourself using cardboard and foil. If such items are not at hand, then even an ordinary white sheet of paper can serve as additional illumination. In addition, absolutely any surface of light color can play the role of a reflector.
Photo Box Lighting
Home photography, which uses photobox, requires at least three light sources. Thus, the object will be highlighted through the walls of the photobox from all sides, that is, from above and on the sides. The result is an excellent shot, in which there are no rough and ugly shadows. If you pay more attention and time to setting the right lighting, then shadows in the photo can be completely avoided. Additional light sources can be table lamps or any lamps that can be found in almost any home.
What photographic equipment should be used?
In subject photography, the clarity and sharpness of the subject is of utmost importance. To get beautiful and contrasting shots, you need to use a tripod. This is a simple accessory that helps to avoid camera vibration during shooting at slow shutter speeds. If you can’t get a tripod, you can use any fixed support instead. In addition, without a remote control for the camera, the shooting process can become quite difficult. In extreme cases, the remote control can be replaced with a cable to produce a non-contact shutter release.
Correct composition
Subject photography often involves painstaking work with the composition. After all, it is far from always necessary to put only one subject in a frame. To correctly position multiple objects, you need to create a multi-level space. For this, various supports are used, which can be either visible or hidden under any background material. If you want to highlight one object among many others, then you need to focus on it with the help of light or the location of the object in the foreground.
Some effective tips
Home photography on a white background is the best solution for a novice photographer. After all, white color will help create a clear and contrasting image. For uniform illumination, the background is usually highlighted from the front and back. To create the effect of clear reflection, you can not use glass mirrors. They make reflection double. For this purpose it is necessary to use polished material. If you need to fix a small product during operation, you can use a miniature hot-melt gun. First, the glue is applied to the object itself, and only then the object is attached to the background.
Beginning of work
To make subject shooting at home pleased with an excellent result, it is necessary to pay attention not only to the working equipment, but also to the subject being photographed. The subject should be beautifully located on a makeshift mini-site for filming. At this stage, you need to make all the necessary settings in the camera. Manual mode is the best choice for subject shooting. In photographs that are taken in automatic mode, exposure flaws are very often visible. If the subject selected for work is color and bright, and the background is dark or even black, then manual mode will be an excellent choice for shooting. Quite a painstaking process - subject shooting at home. The white balance and light sensitivity settings of the sensor are also extremely important. The ISO value should not exceed two hundred units. To reduce noise in a photograph, you need to reduce the ISO speed. This action is of great importance in the work of the photographer. Indeed, as a result, the image on the image should look natural and harmonious.
First shot
To get a high-quality photo, you must turn off the flash on the camera. For a good work result, there is enough light from the window or table lamps. After the first test shot, you must pause the photographing process. The resulting image must be carefully considered and analyzed. If the photo contains such visible problems as exposure flaws, fuzzy sharpness, incorrect lighting, then you need to fix all the errors by changing the camera settings or the light. If repeated subject photography turned out well, then you can safely continue to work.
Few secrets
Quite often, photographers are faced with the problem of lifelessness in the pictures, although at first glance everything looks perfect. If the photo should be creative, then you can make the image more dynamic. For example, you can add small sprays from a spray bottle that will create volume. Confetti, feathers or even soap bubbles can be an interesting addition . It is important that assistive devices do not fall on the camera lens. Such secrets of subject photography will help to achieve the necessary “air” in the final picture. If the photo should be full of colors, you can try to place a Christmas garland near the subject. Thus, choosing the flicker mode, it is possible to achieve interesting color accents. It is necessary to make a series of frames, and then choose the most harmonious of them. In the process, you need to constantly brush off the dust from the photographed objects so that they look perfect in the picture. Subject shooting at home without expensive studio equipment is real. You just need to use the above tips and a good result will not take long.