As a photographer, being stuck at home and not being able to shoot outside is such a bummer!
But there is always something smart you can do to improve your photography, even if that means not going on shoots.
Whatever the situation, you can always get better at photography, even at home. So no excuses!
This is in fact a timely reminder as we tend to get carried away with constantly pressing the shutter, without giving much thought into what we are doing with our art.
It is time for some introspection - take a deep dive and reflecting internally, where is your photography going?
Here are 5 things to do to improve your photography skills while stuck at home:
Re-edit old shots
Practice styling skills - lifestyle or food
Upload your work onto online communities for critique
Learn how to set up a home studio
Develop photography appreciation skills
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Re-edit Old Shots
Why does this improve my photography?
Admit it. You cringe when you look at your earlier shots.
Every photographer goes through a phase where they go totally overboard with their edits; I used to think the more the better.
Now look at the overly blurred out skin on your model, the overly contrasted street snaps, the overly saturated sunsets.
Re-doing the edits on these images makes them more usable than they currently are. There is a good chance that many of those were good shots that could have made it to your portfolio, were it not for the editing.
Also, you see clearly how your editing styles has evolved over time, which consolidates your learnings and growth as a photographer.
Re-editing is something we were lazy about because we were so occupied by ongoing projects and shoots.
But now, when we all stay at home, is the perfect time to revisit our old work and improve them as we became better photographers.
What to take care of when re-editing
Now that you are at home, you have all the time in the world to turn some very questionable edits around.
Here are a few things I would recommend you to focus on in particular.
Skin retouching - this is a technique that takes a lot of time to acquire decently, and therefore it is highly likely that when you first started out, you made some serious mistakes in retouching skin. Now that you have improved, you can edit skin using better methods such as frequency separation.
Colour manipulation - again, developing your own eye for colours takes time. The tones you adopted in your earlier photography is probably going to be very different from what you do with your photos now. The colour grading becomes more sophisticated and harmonious, as compared to a relatively juvenile approach to colours.
Contrast/ sharpening - a general impression is that beginner photographers tend to sharpen their photos globally, and by too much. Dragging contrast/ sharpening sliders all the way to the end is a very tempting path to take because it takes some time to see the value in taking care of details.
These are but a few things on an inexhaustible list of things to revisit! Make the most out of your time at home.
Here are some of my jpg-era photos, if you want a good laugh, and I will be fixing them as I stay home.
Practicing Styling Skills
Why does this improve my photography?
If you have been shooting commercially, or thinking of doing so, simply knowing how to take great images is no longer enough.
Clients nowadays are expecting much more from photographers, and product styling is a big one.
In order to show a product in the best light, plain-looking standard shots simply won’t cut it, especially on social media.
Many clients want pictures with a lifestyle element that tell the brand story. To be able to take up jobs as such, you need to learn how to style the product.
But as photographers, styling a lifestyle/ food shot is not necessarily our strong suit; it took me days just to style three photos for Shiseido’s blog.
A lot of planning goes into these seemingly careless and spontaneous shots - it is a skill to be learnt!
Photographers tend to put this off because of the time and dedication required to learn this.
Therefore, with more free time staying home, there is no better time than now to start experimenting with product and food styling!
Having this skill will definitely open doors for you and improve your versatility as a photographer.
How to experiment with styling products/ food
What you can do is to run yourself through a hypothetical situation, in which you are to style a product/ food shoot with a brand/ restaurant you have always wanted to work with.
Pick that brand and their product(s), which you probably already have at home, and here are some steps for setting up a mock shoot.
Create Moodboards - most communication with brands begin with a moodboard. The brand will either give you their moodboard, or ask you to create one to discuss matters further. In the case of my shoot for Shiseido, they gave me a moodboard and wanted me to emulate that vibe. So definitely familiarise yourself with how to draw inspiration from moodboards.
Brainstorm props - to tell a cohesive story, you need to place related objects together with the product. If you are shooting a food product/ dish, then you will need platings and cutlery that has the right aesthetics.
Position your props - this is the hardest, yet most critical, part. The focus should be placed on the product you are featuring. It is easy to create a nice looking flat lay and forget that the product should stand out.
Technical issues - You might have to deal with reflective products, which requires extra care in lighting setups. If you are shooting birdview, be sure to avoid shadows in your frame.
Much work will be required, but it will be worth setting time aside while at home to practice this skill.
Upload your Work to Online Photography Communities
Why does this improve my photography?
Because of the simple reason that we are all biased towards our own work.
Photographers all have egos. Not that it is a bad thing, because the ego stems from the fact that you believe you have something valuable to say that is worth people’s attention.
But to not let that ego blow things out of proportion, you need perspective as to how good your work really is.
This is something we tend to overlook because we just want to keep shooting.
Frequently shooting does help you improve, but truthful feedback might bring you even further, especially when the comments are from photographers you don’t personally know.
Therefore, it is a good move to spend your time at home on collecting more feedback from peers and mentors.
How to find online photography communities
I would recommend mainly Facebook groups.
There are plenty all over Facebook, some of them are very active with a hundreds of posts per day.
These groups are very tight communities where everyone is willing to help each other out by leaving thoughtful comments and tips if the photographer asked for feedback.
I am personally a moderator of Photography: Learning and Sharing. But there are a couple other high quality ones too - just type ‘Photography’ into Facebook search and look at the results for groups.
Some are more specific than others, by narrowing down the theme for portraits, landscapes or street. Others niche down based on skill level - beginners, amateurs, and pros.
Just start your search since you are at home anyway. There will be something for you.
Learn how to Set Up a Home Studio
Why does this improve my photography?
Again, it is a matter of versatility.
Especially if you are an amateur wanting to transition into being a professional photographer, you will need to make shoots happen with very limited resources.
You might not be able to afford to book expensive studios and rent professional equipment for a shoot you are assigned to do.
But it is no secret that good photography can be made anywhere, anytime.
Knowing how to turn your home into a studio will improve your ability to work smart and be resourceful as a young photographer.
It also means that you will be able to cope with last-minute venue changes (which happens a lot) because you can create the conditions required for a shoot.
How to create a home studio
There are countless of ways you can go about it because there are no rules.
Here is a detailed example made by fashion photographer Elaine Torres. I admire her editorial work, and in this video she will show you how to set up a home studio from scratch.
Develop Photography Appreciation Skills
Why does this improve my photography?
I am not sure if you feel this way, but I feel that there is some highly celebrated work out there that I know I am supposed to be able to appreciate, but do not quite make sense to me (yet).
Simply put, you need to know why these iconic images are considered iconic.
Take the example of Magnum Photos. It is the one most influential groups in the photography community whose member photographers are of the highest calibre globally.
These photographers are in there for a good reason and it is our job as aspiring photographers to figure out what is it in their work that put them in such a highly-regarded place.
If you are serious about photography and want to improve, get to know and learn from the best of the best.
Your own philosophy in photography appreciation takes time to build. But get started today at home, without other mundane photographer routines caving in.
How to develop my photography appreciation skills?
The answer is no surprise - listen to how experienced photographers critique classical, all-time best work.
But what stops a lot of photographers from doing so is the overwhelming amount of resources out there. It is a tiring process to have to sift through every single sources and to finally curate a pool of content that you are happy with.
I have recommended various advocates in the photography community before, most notably, Ted Forbes who run the show ‘The Art of Photography’, in my previous article 5 Fast and Free Ways to Learn Photography Yourself.
So this time, let me recommend something new - ‘The Candid Frame’ podcast run by Ibarionex Perello. Every episode in this podcast features a contemporary artist, conducted in the form of interviews.
For instance, the interview with Keith Carter was a popular episode.
In these resources, a lot of key issues regarding what is good photography are touched on.
These conversations are so interesting that you can literally binge on them all day long at home and not feel bored.
I don’t want to apply an overly formulaic approach to the appreciation of photography, but by hearing what the opinion leaders have to say, you think more like them.
Summary
In this article, we talked about 5 ways to improve your photography while stuck at home:
Re-edit old shots
Practice styling skills - lifestyle or food
Upload your work onto online communities for critique
Learn how to set up a home studio
Develop photography appreciation skills
More sharing coming soon!
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