If you’ve seen my blog post from last week and are getting involved in my new ‘Stay At Home’ photography project, then I hope you’re enjoying it! Read on for this week’s theme.
It’s been wonderful to see your ‘doorways’ pictures. Thanks to everyone who has got involved.
If you haven’t taken part yet but would like to, don’t worry. There is still plenty of time to get creative with your camera and share your ‘Stay At Home’ photos with us. Go here for tips and instructions on last week’s theme: ‘Doorways’.
Read on for all the details you need about this week’s theme and how to share your photographs.
Week 2 of the ‘Stay At Home’ Photography Project
Before I introduce this week’s theme, here’s a quick reminder of what the ‘Stay At Home’ photography project is.
The idea is that you take photos from the safety and comfort of your own home on a set theme. Assignments include teaching you how to create your background, editing tips, even the best apps to use to create professional photos in your home.
Follow my tips and you’ll learn how to improve your photography skills whilst documenting your time at home during the current lockdown. I hope that these will become special memories to look back on in the future.
How to take part
So, here’s what you need to do….
STEP 1
Dig out your camera or smartphone. You don’t need any fancy equipment for this. We’re going to be keeping it simple!
STEP 2
Follow my tips. They’ll give you pointers on how to take better photos of your partner/children and encourage you to try different things with your camera.
STEP 3
Take photos and have fun! Experiment and see what results you get.
STEP 4
Then, share them with me using the hashtag #KingshillStayAtHome and don’t forget to tag me on Facebook @kingshillstudios and/or on Instagram @susanreneephoto so I can see your creations!
THEME 2: ‘Making Faces’
As you’ve probably guessed, this one is all about capturing natural expressions.
Get your partner or child to pose like no-one’s watching! Smile, pout, frown…it’s up to them!
My niece, Ellie, took these really fun photos of one of her sisters. What could you create?
Photography Tips for ‘Making Faces’
Tip 1
Find a clean, blank wall side on to a window. Make sure the sun is not shining directly through the window. Turn off the room lighting so that just the light from the window is lighting your subject. This will give more contrast and shadows, and will avoid the portrait being ‘flat’.
Tip 2
Google Snapseed is a free editing app for your phone and it’s really easy to use. Here’s a tutorial we found to show you around it if you have trouble.
Tip 3
Download the Layout App by Instagram or the Unfold App. Both of these apps create fun photo collages for your images that you can use on Instagram, social media Stories, and Facebook.
Take your portraits
Find the right spot in your house, and then snap away. Try to create a short sequence of portraits, by keeping the same distance away from your subject, with the phone angle the same throughout. Don’t use your camera’s flash.
Try to get as many different facial expressions as possible. Say something funny, get your subject to think about something daft but remember serious expressions work too!
Select and Edit
Go through your photographs and choose your favourites. Edit them all, in the same way, using the Snapseed app.
Remember black and white works well, and if you’ve got the lighting right, they should have shadows – shadows are good!
Design your Grid
Both the Layout app and the Unfold app work well. I used Layout app for this sequence and tried a few different ways before I chose my favourite. I also flipped one of the pictures to have Imogen looking up ‘into’ the layout.
Sharing is caring!
Don’t forget to share your Stay At Home photographs with me by using the hashtag #KingshillStayAtHome and tag me on Facebook @kingshillstudios and/or on Instagram @susanreneephoto as I’d love to see your photographs and share them for others to enjoy too.
