INDOOR PHOTOSHOOT IDEAS!

Looking for inspiration for unusual indoor photoshoot ideas, whether it is for inside your home, in a hotel or a cafe? Wondering how you can come up with unique ideas and poses?

You don’t need much equipment, just a bit of imagination and some creativity! Check out the ideas below for your next photoshoot!

Before we get started, let me answer the following questions that I am often asked:

How and where can I do an indoor photoshoot by myself?

Many people think to do an indoor photoshoot you will need to hire a studio and a photographer but this is not the case! You are perfectly able to create your own indoor photoshoot anywhere you like! Coming up with indoor and home photoshoot ideas and getting the pictures to turn out how you would like can sometimes be challenging though, especially if you live alone!

However, don’t worry about being alone. You don’t even need someone to take your photographs – it is perfectly easy to do your own photoshoots with a tripod, self-timer and some practice! Read my article How to take photos of yourself to discover how! Personally I actually prefer shooting on my own as I feel less self-conscious!

Do I need an expensive camera?

Many people also believe that you need an expensive manual camera to be able to get good photographs. The fact is: you don’t! If you don’t have an SLR camera don’t let it stop you! Whilst it will certainly help with your photography it is not essential! Good photography doesn’t just come from a good camera, but good lighting, good composition and great editing! These days phone cameras and point and shoot cameras are very very good.

Note all the indoor photoshoot ideas mentioned below can all be taken with any type of camera (even phone cameras) – you don’t need specialised equipment to achieve great results! What are you waiting for?!

 

INDOOR PHOTOSHOOT IDEAS

Use Props

Props make a great addition to a photo – for fun and for variety! Plus using a prop will also make you feel less awkward when posing for photos – you have something to focus on and it takes the attention off you a little bit! The props below you can use for an outdoor photoshoot as well as an indoor one and there are many more prop ideas you can use – these are just some of my favourites.

Some popular ideas for props include:

• flowers
• fairy lights
• hats
• pets!
• food and drinks
• book/magazine
• camera
• fire

Props specifically for indoors (home/hotels):

• bedsheets
• bath tubs
• mirrors
• windows

The key with indoor photography is to be creative. Utilise the things you have around you already. As you can see, these props mentioned above are just normal everyday objects. But with some imagination you will be able to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary that will make a great photo!

FLOWERS

Flowers add fun, colour and class to photos. You can either pose with a bouquet, make a flower crown, stand next to a flower wall, frame your picture with flowers close to the camera or throw petals in the air to get the look you want!

 

FAIRY LIGHTS

Fairy lights can make a great accessory for night photography. They add a feeling of mystery or romance – and a Christmassy feel! You can either have the subject holding the lights or surrounding them, or you can have the lights in the background with a fair bit of space between the lights and the subject (Bokey effect).

HATS

Sometimes I love shooting wearing my hat as holding it gives me something to do with my hands! Whilst hats are more appropriate for outdoor photography, you can still wear them inside for a cool chic look!

PETS!

My absolute favourite accessory for photoshoots is one of my staffy dogs! I love the challenges that come with dog photography – especially when done outdoors as there are even more distractions! You never know what your dog will do for the picture which adds to the fun! Sometimes I hold a couple of treats in my hand to get my dogs to look at me and stay still for the picture.

FOOD AND DRINKS

Having the focus of your picture on food and drinks is a great way to get creative with your photography. Lots of food and drink photos look great without anyone in them too (which is great if you don’t feel like getting in front of the camera!).

For close-up food and drink photoshoot inspiration pictures without people in, think:

• brunch flat lays (images of food taken from above)
• close up of cocktail drinks in front of the sunset
• close up of ice-cream cones with a beautiful city view in the background.

And if you want to get pictures of you with the food and drink, some ideas are:

• breakfast in bed
• eating noodles in the middle of a busy Asian market
• drinking coffee whilst reading a book/watching the world go by!
• a picnic set-up infront of a beautiful viewpoint

Some of the food and drink set-ups are more appropriate for outside photography, such as the picnic and ice-cream cones set ups.

 

BOOK/MAGAZINE

Get creative with your indoor photography by reading a book or a magazine!

 

CAMERA

I love pictures where someone is holding their camera or taking a picture – especially with an old polaroid camera, it looks so candid! Just take the photo on your phone – simple!

FIRE

Obviously be very careful with this one. But using fire in photos is a really unique idea. For this one it is ideal to have someone with you or some water nearby, just in case.

Props & Ideas Specifically for an Indoor Photoshoot:

Shooting indoors can be a little trickier that shooting outside as often the light and shadows can be a problem. To help you with the light, try and shoot near a window and facing the light to make use of as much natural light as possible. Alternatively you can buy a big selfie ring or studio lights so you are brighter and there are no shadows.

Hotel bedroom or home:

Here are just a selection of indoor photoshoot ideas using props that you can use at home or in a hotel. Of course there are many more you can use – these are just some of the ones that can easily be found inside houses and hotels! Get as creative as you wish!

This list will be particularly useful if you have press trips and hotel collaborations and need to create content for hotels. Click here to read more about how to land press trips!

BED SHEETS

Ideally use plain white sheets – you can use them as a backdrop or for bed photoshoots.

Fun and popular bed photos:

• Pillow fights
• Breakfast in bed
• Lying in bed looking out the window to a beautiful view (you can always photoshop one in if you don’t have a nice bedroom view!).
• Vintage 1960’s look with a female in the bed in a dressing gown with a towel on her head on the hotel phone.

 

BATH TUBS

If you have a fancy bath tub, or a bathroom with a stunning view you can get in a flower bath, a bubble bath – or just pose naked from the back in your bath tub!

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

‘When I bought this house the only running water was the rain that poured in through the roof’. ♡ Welcome to 40 Winks, the home of world-famous Interior Designer Mr David Carter and the world’s first micro-boutique hotel with only 2 guest bedrooms. ♡ Located in trendy East London, the interior of 40 Winks is totally eccentric and utterly fascinating. It has hosted hundreds of high profile shoots and is one of the most popular celebrity and fashion locations in London. ♡ It feels like another world when you step inside 40 Winks – check out my highlights to have a look inside! ♡ Tell me some of the most unique places you have ever stayed in! @40winkslondon #40winks #presstrip

A post shared by Catrina | Travel Writer (@24hourslayover) on Oct 9, 2019 at 11:47am PDT

WINDOWS

If you have a nice view you can move your bed or sofa next to your window to create a beautiful and cosy set-up.

Alternatively I love pictures where someone is standing and looking out the window (often holding a coffee!). With this type of photography you can also play with the light. For example if someone is looking through blinds and the shadow of the blinds falls on the person’s face.

 

Another idea is to shoot a picture from the other side of the window if you have a balcony or live on the ground floor (or you can do it at a cafe or restaurant). Pictures taken through the window have always been a favourite of mine as they give such a timeless, vintage and dreamy look. Even if it has been raining don’t let that stop you from shooting – the rain on the window looks great in the pictures and gives such a moody and dramatic effect.

MIRRORS

Mirrors also make a great prop for indoor photography shoots. You can either use a hand held or small wall-mounted mirror (look into the mirror, have the camera behind you on a tripod and look into the mirror so your reflection can be seen in the picture) or alternatively you can use a full-length mirror to create a cool selfie. You can also use mirrors with still-life photography for some great effects.

 

Creating Depth with Props

Add depth to your photography by bringing some things closer to the camera. This really gives the feeling of a photo appearing more 3D, dynamic and lifelike. For example you can put some flowers near to the camera whilst the subject/landscape is further away, or you can have the subject close to the camera and fairy lights further away.

You can even have your model (you!) in the photo holding something close to the camera (we all remember those pictures of the girl reaching her hand out for her boyfriend’s hand behind the camera right?!). It doesn’t have to be as cheesy as that, especially if you are single! You can be holding something close to the camera, you can kick your foot up to the camera or you can throw something in the direction of the camera. Throwing something to the camera is a great way to add movement into the pictures!

QUICK AND SIMPLE HOME PHOTOSHOOT IDEAS:

Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is great as you can shoot it anywhere – in your home or outside and don’t need an Instagrammable background as all the focus is on the person!

Close-up portrait photography, especially of a couple each showing one half of their face in the image, always does well on Instagram. Eyes are incredibly expressive and the images often evoke strong feelings inside us of vulnerability and humanity, especially when the females are wearing no make-up or ‘barely there’ make-up.

Outdoor Home Photoshoot Ideas

If you don’t want to go far from home you can shoot outside your home in your garden, on your patio or balcony for example.

 

Edit the background

If you have a plain background in your home and and want to make it more fun you can use the editing app Pics Art. With Pics Art you can add stickers onto your photos, draw on them, make collages and make really unique edits such as putting yourself on the cover of a magazine!

You’ll find more about editing photographs below.

Clone yourself in the photo

I love this idea as you can have so much fun creating endless possibilities! Use the Photoshop or Gimp app to create multiple versions of you and edit them into the same picture.

You will need to use a tripod to make sure you are taking the photo in the exact same place. It is absolutely crucial you don’t move the camera between shots because otherwise the frame will change and the pictures won’t merge together properly afterwards.

First take a photograph of the room without you in, then pose in the different poses you wish to take (use a self timer). Make sure no part of you will overlap in any of the pictures as it will make post-processing a lot easier.

When you are editing, start with the blank picture first and then add the other photos in layers ontop until you get the desired result!

EDITING PHOTOGRAPHS

Good editing can take literally any photo from average to wow incredible and totally Instagrammable! The trick with editing is to bring out the colours but to not make the photo too saturated otherwise the edit looks unrealistic. There are many different apps on your phone you can use to edit the colours, exposure and lighting on your photographs.

Editing pictures however doesn’t have to stop there. These days there are so many tools and apps you can use to totally change aspects of the photo, add things in or remove things from the photo! Here are some useful ones:

Mobile Apps for Photo Editing

• GREAT EDITING APP TO START OFF WITH – ‘VSCO’ app

VSCO is a great app if you are new to editing or if you don’t have too much knowledge about photo editing. It’s also great if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on editing your photos as it is quick and easy to use. There are several good free filters you can use, or you can pay for the subscription which gives you access to many advanced settings including video editing tools. Click here to get a free 7 day trial.

• LIGHT/COLOUR EDITING – ‘Lightroom CC’ app

The main program for photo editing that most photographers and travel bloggers use is Lightroom CC. It is great for editing the light, colours and tones in your pictures and you can adjust and manipulate the pictures in a very detailed and specific way. At first editing with Lightroom might take you a while as you experiment with the features, but after a while you will find a particular way of editing your pictures that you like that is unique to you. You can then develop your own presets (filters) so that your photography has a more streamlined and cohesive look and the editing can be done simply in one click!

Lightroom CC is also available on desktop, which is great if you want to edit your camera pictures or phone pictures on your Mac or laptop. I always prefer editing pictures on a laptop screen/Mac as opposed to a phone as the picture is larger and you have greater precision over accuracy. You can even totally change the colour of something (a dress or wall for example) by using the bush tool.

• COLOUR EDITING/BLURRING THE BACKGROUND – ‘Snapseed’ app

Snapseed is another great app that is popular for photo editing. Whilst it doesn’t offer as much variability as Lightroom in regards to editing the colours, it has lots of great features such as being able to blur parts of the photo (make some parts in or out of focus) and smoothing and removing parts from the picture.

• PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY/SELFIES – ‘Facetune’ app

Facetune is the best app for editing selfies and portraits. It allows you to enhance the subject by smoothing the skin (remove acne or wrinkles yay!), whitening teeth, changing the shape of your facial features or body. With the paid version ($3.99) you can unlock all the features and even you can add makeup onto your face!

• REMOVE THINGS FROM PHOTOS – ‘Touch Retouch’ app

Touch Retouch is a great app that can be used to easily remove unwanted things from photos, for example barriers, crowds on a beach or people in a swimming pool. It costs just $2.99 to download. Download it here.

• ADDING IN LIGHT RAYS – ‘Lens Distortion’ and ‘Rays’ app

With the Lens Distortion app you can add some really cool effects to your pictures such as light rays, fog, rain and snow!

The ‘Rays’ app is also really good for adding in light rays.

When you add in light rays, just make sure the angle of the light rays looks realistic! For example if the sun is behind you don’t place a light ray in front of you!

• EDITED BY A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER – ‘MIKU’ app

With MIKU a professional designer will personally edit your photo for you and send it back to you within two hours! You tell them exactly what you want them to edit in the picture and they will edit it for you, whether you want to change the background, make your nose smaller, or change the colour of your eyes or whatever you wish to edit! Plus, if you aren’t happy with the end result they will edit it again until you are happy!

You get one photo edit for free when you sign up and download the app. Thereafter you’ll have to pay to edit the pictures: $3.99 for one photo, 5 photos for $9.99, 10 photos for $14.99 or 20 photos for $19.99.

MIKU is only available for Apple, it is no longer available on Google Play.

 

What is the benefit of doing an indoor photoshoot as opposed to outdoor?

Doing a home or indoor photoshoot has many advantages compared to shooting outdoors!

Indoor/home photoshoots are great for:

• winter weather or when the weather is cold, windy or rainy as you can do a photoshoot indoors at home whenever you want! You can stay warm inside and don’t have to worry about the weather so can do indoor photoshoots year-round.
• you don’t have to wake up early to avoid the crowds or worry about getting other people in your pictures (and then editing the crowds out afterwards!), meaning you can do an indoor photoshoot whatever time of day you wish – no early alarms to beat the crowds and get there first!
• you can be more creative as you can take as long as you want to shoot as there won’t be other people there also waiting to get a picture. Plus nobody will be watching you so you can pose as wild as you like! Often indoor photography is more fun as there is no expectation to get the ‘Instagrammable’ photo!
• home photoshoots are often free (or very cheap to buy props!) meaning you don’t have to spend any money to visit anywhere!

What to wear for Home Photoshoots?

Of course wear whatever you like! This is all about YOU, your style and your creativity. The following items are merely suggestions and absolutely not a definitive list.

Your own style!

Whilst the long flowy skirts and dresses look nice and always do well on Instagram travel photos (and gives the subject a task to make the dress flow perfectly!), you can also wear them for home photoshoots if you wish to create a glam look. However if ballgowns and long dressed are not your style then of course don’t wear them! The most important thing is to wear something you feel comfortable in and that is your style!

With home photoshoots you can even shoot in your pyjamas or underwear if you wish!

Sunglasses

Sunglasses instantly add a touch of glamour to your pictures, whether you are wearing them indoors or outdoors, or if they are on your head or you’re holding them.

 

I hope this post gave you lots of inspiration for ideas for your indoor home photoshoot! Are there any more ideas that you have and love? If so let me know in the comments below! If you like to know more about photoshoot prop ideas check out this Photoshoot Prop post on Pixpa.

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