8 Daily Items and Activities at Home That Make for Great Photo Subjects

Once you start getting into photography, you’ll start seeing countless opportunities for great shots wherever you go—even within the confines of your home.

As countless talented photographers have shown, our homes are filled with potential subjects for stunning photographs.

Each room is filled with limitless moments of beauty, emotion, and creativity, just waiting to be captured.

If you have a smartphone with a good enough camera, then you have everything you need to get started.

However, you’ll maximize the potential of your home if you have quality gear and a solid foundation in photography techniques under your belt.

If you’re within the Greater London area, search for “rent camera London” online to find high-quality photography gear that will push the limits of your skills.

Once you have your gear, challenge yourself by shooting these subjects:

1. Morning Coffee or Tea Rituals

Capturing that perfect pour or soft morning light filtering through the window and the rising steam of a teacup can be a strong way to communicate the simple joys of starting the day.

Use a wide aperture lens to create a shallow depth of field to isolate the cup from the background and create a dreamy vibe.

2. House Plants

Different plants have different textures, shapes, and colors that can create visually striking images.

They’re also great for practicing macro photography. Get close to the subjects and experiment with different angles, lighting, and lenses to showcase the beauty of flora in unexpected ways.

3. Pets

You probably already have thousands of photos of your pets but consider taking a more deliberate approach to capturing them.

Use a fast shutter speed for action shots or go for a slower one when they’re resting to achieve a softer, peaceful vibe.

Experiment with framing as well to give more meaning to their facial expressions and body language.

4. Hobby Nooks

A cozy reading nook, kitchen, or home studio can tell a lot about someone’s personality and interests and are thus excellent subjects for storytelling through images.

Incorporate unique personal items or artworks within the frame to create a homespun sense of warmth and comfort.

5. Cooking or Baking in Progress

Cooking and baking are activities that are full of colour, life, and texture.

Idealized shots of kitchens are rather played out, though, so consider capturing the mess and humanity of home cooking.

6. Children’s Playtime

Learning to take better shots of your children is a highly motivating way to develop your portraiture and action photography skills.

A 35mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 prime lens is just the thing for kids’ indoor photos, as it offers good light sensitivity and a sufficiently wide field of view for capturing playtime activities in context.

7. Window Views

More than just being a portal to the outside world, a window can be a way to show the dynamism of the environment your home inhabits.

Create a photo series that shows the same view at different times of the day or play with reflections on the glass to create a sense of literal or thematic depth.

8. Mealtimes

The ambient light from lamps around the dinner table can be the perfect ingredient for creating nostalgic slice-of-life photos.

Mealtimes are also perfect for experimenting with lighting, object portraiture, and more complex compositions involving multiple objects and people.

Use warm lighting to suggest the closeness of the people partaking in the meal and to show off the food in their most appetizing light.

Tips for Taking Consistently Wonderful Shots of Home

Let’s look at a few must-dos that will make your shots from home as thrilling as anything you take outside:

• Try Different Prime, Wide-Angle, and Macro Lenses. These lens types will cover virtually all of the indoor situations you might need, from still lifes and portraits to whole-room shots and intimate views of your home’s finer details. Buying lenses can get expensive, so it makes sense to rent unless you’re planning on turning your photography hobby into a full-fledged career.
• Utilise Natural Light. The key to effortlessly great indoor photography is to use whatever natural light you have available. Position your subjects near windows, open the drapes covering windows out of frame, and supplement your light with whatever artificial light sources to achieve soft, flattering pictures. Avoid using overhead artificial lights by themselves since they can create an amateurish look that you’re probably not aiming for.
• Stabilise Your Camera. Even if you’re blessed to have a home with abundant natural light, indoor lighting conditions can still be challenging. Meanwhile, homes that don’t have plenty of natural light often demand slower shutter speeds; this can result in blurry images. Use a tripod or lay your camera on a flat, stable surface for crisper low-light images. If you’re shooting handheld, consider enabling image stabilization on your camera or lens.
• Use a Reflector or White Card. Reflectors or white cards can help bounce light back onto your subject, reducing harsh shadows and adding a soft, professional-looking glow.
• Experiment! You’re in the privacy of your home, so feel free to try different perspectives and approaches. Shoot from above, from the side, below, or moving to create more dynamic compositions.

Find Photographic Inspiration in the Everyday

You might not think of it that way but your home is a treasure trove of photographic opportunities.

With some practice and the right techniques, you will start to instinctively see the beauty in everyday items and activities.

Once this happens, the only thing left to do is to practise and grab the right gear to capture and communicate the wonders that are hiding in plain sight.