23 indoor photography projects
It feels like it has been raining all year here in the UK at the beginning of March 2020 and we are facing the possibility of being asked to stay at home due to the spread of COVID-19. To lift our spirits in case we have another 40 days and 40 nights of rain, or are confined to home under self-isolation measures, here are 23 photo projects you can do from the comfort of your front room.
Fun projects
Collect a colour
Inspired by Philippa Stanton’s book, Conscious Creativity, do some “domestic foraging”. See what you can find in the house that’s all one colour and create a photograph out of your stash.
Try macro
Even if you don’t have a macro lens you can try macro photography using the reverse-lens method.
Set up an indoor studio
Grey days are perfect for studio photography because they have less contrasty shadows. You need a window, a plain background and something white to act as a reflector. Use a tripod if you have one. If you don’t, use a pile of books and the camera’s self timer to enable long shutter speeds.
Phone journal
A photo a day for a year might be too ambitious for most but why not use your phone to chronicle a shorter timeframe - a fortnight or a month? Take shots of your daily routine, the weather, your to-do lists, what you’re eating, your behind-the-scenes. Put them together in a mini book to look back on and remind yourself of what your life was like.
Master something
What technique have you been putting off? What have you always wanted to try? What’s stopping you having a go? Whether it’s back button focus, shooting smoke trails, adding textures in Photoshop or light painting - now’s your chance to actually do it.
Plan something
Have you thought about trying for an LRPS? Or entering a competition? Printing your photos? Write down your goal. Then write down all the steps you need to take to get there, however small. Then do the first step.
LRPS success - what happens on the day
10 things to do before you enter a photography competition
Print something
Start cheap and cheerful: find an online print service that has a first time offer. Snapfish or Photobox usually have a 50% off offer or 10 free prints. Then send some photos off for printing. Bonus: find some shots of someone that might need cheering up and send the actual prints to them in the actual post.
Do the A Year With My Camera end-of-topic projects
If you have the AYWMC workbooks you might have skipped over the end-of-topic projects in your eagerness to start a new topic. Go back and revisit them, starting with the White on White Study:
“Take a photo of something on a white background. Take care to get the exposure correct so the image doesn’t turn out grey. Keep enough detail in the shadows that you can see what the subject is.”
The workbooks are available on your local Amazon store:
Freeze stuff and photograph it
Freeze flowers, fruit or veg in ice cube trays. Arrange a strong side or back light and photograph your creations. Use distilled water to reduce the imperfections in the ice.
Food photography
Photograph the ingredients that go into making your dinner and then try and take a stylish photo of the actual meal. It’s harder than it sounds. Food suffers from being too “brown” (a lot of food is beige or brown), having to be shot in the evening and having to be shot quickly before it goes cold.
Make the ordinary extraordinary
How can you style or light an egg or a fork to make an eyecatching photo? (Search Pinterest for “egg photography creative” for some ideas.)
In-camera multiple exposures
Dig through your camera’s menus and find the multiple exposure option. Be inspired by the recent International Garden Photographer of the Year Captured at Kew 2nd place photograph, or try the Pep Ventosa technique.
Prisma app
App of the Year 2016, I defy anyone not to have the best time with the Prisma app. It simply turns photography into a joyful, surprising, creative experience. You can apply filters to all the existing photos on your phone - you don’t have to venture outside to take new snaps.
Admin
Back up your photos
That job you’ve been putting off for months. You can get round to it, finally.
Try Lightroom
Or Affinity, or Polarr. If you don’t already edit your shots take this chance to go over your back catalogue and try it. Start here: Getting started with Lightroom
Keywording
If you already back up and edit your shots, could you improve your keywording? Do you tag your shots by subject and place?
Update your firmware
Google the make of your camera and the phrase “update firmware” and follow the instructions. eg. “Canon 5D Mark IV update firmware”.
Learn something new about your camera
Find a hidden trick on your camera in this post (I bet there’s at least one you didn’t know your camera did): Hidden tricks on your camera
Random
Teach someone
Is there someone else in your household who is gloomy about being stuck indoors? Offer to teach them what depth of field is or how to shoot on manual mode.
Tackle your magazine stash
Go through your camera magazine stash and learn 3 things you didn’t know.
Finish reading that book
Finish (or reread) your favourite photography books (mine is The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography by Galen Rowell).
Get off Auto
Join A Year With My Camera
The email version is free for a year. Register here and you’ll be off auto in the first 6 weeks. Join now and get started today:
Download the app and chat about photography
For a small yearly subscription you can join the AYWMC community in our own private app. Find like-minded, non-competitive, non-judgmental people who just want to share photos and be supportive. It’s not like any of the aggressive, gear-focussed groups you find on Facebook.
Join my once-a-month newsletter
Do you fancy doing a mindful photography course? Fine art flowers? Advanced composition? Join my once-a-month newsletter and you’ll be first to hear when registration opens for all my online courses:
You might also enjoy:
Make 30 Photos; a creative photo project you can do on your phone
How to photograph the moon; look up the date of the next full moon and have a go
Smoke trails image Thomas Stephan, with permission