Making Great Images At Home

Making Great Images At Home

by William Lulow

I have been writing quite a bit about making images when we travel, but how about doing the same when we are right at home? It all comes down to what we refer to as “looking for light” and what makes a scene photogenic. Here is an image I just saw on one of our many walks around the resevoir in the neighborhood close to where we live:

The sunlight on the building, the reflection in the water, the color of the fall foliage and the way the close branches helped frame the image all made this what I think of as an outstanding picture. It incorporates almost all of the elements that make for really good photographs. Here they are again:

1. Composition: The image needs to appeal to my sense of what a good composition entails. It has to draw the viewer into the frame and have enough information to keep someone’s attention.
2. Tonal Values:  The image has to follow basic requirements of good Black&White images, (if it is a monochrome image, of course). There has to be detail in the highlights as well as in the shadows and has to have one spot of pure white and one of pure black.
3. Sharpness & Acuity: Images need to be sharp where they are supposed to be and need to have plenty of detail to look at.
4. Subject matter:  The image has to be visually interesting. Either the action or the subject matter needs to have qualities that would make people interested in viewing it.
5. Visual interest:  The image, because of all the above aspects, really needs to be interesting to look at. It needs to have sight lines that draw the viewer’s interest and hold it.
6. Lighting: It almost goes without saying that light is a major factor in the making of photographs. By definition, they are “light images,” so the lighting is of paramount importance and it should be exciting.
7. Intrinsic interest: This means that the image has to have it’s own reasons for holding our attention. There are many images that have prurient interest because they may depict death, birth, enjoyment, sadness, excitement, or be a new way of looking at something.

The image was actually made with my iPhone 13 Pro which is equipped with a really good camera and lenses. I believe this one was made with the “portrait” lens setting. It was also enhanced somewhat in Photoshop using the Vibrance/Saturation tool.

This one was taken right off the balcony in our apartment on a snowy day, last February! And another one made inside our apartment showing some exposure balancing techniques between indoor and outdoor lighting. It is done by making three exposures and then combining them. Another way to do this (the way we did it before computers), is to light the interior making sure the exposure balances with the outdoor one.

There are many images that can be made close to home if you know what to look for. Here is another idea:

Don’t forget dramatic Black&White images! This one shot in original monochrome with a #25A (red) filter over the lens making for a contrasty image.

Foliage at the entrance to our apartment complex here in New Jersey.

The trick to making images like this is to choose the right day, time and spot and then to pay close attention to the items listed above. All of these “rules”, if you will, apply to making scenic images wherever you are, but employing them close to home, increases your awareness of light and composition so that you can make stunning pictures anywhere.

Here’s another shot made right off my balcony:

So don’t neglect the kinds of shots you can get right at home, either in your own back yard or at locations close to you. The thing you need to remember is to try to capture places, objects or people in unusual settings, with unusual light hitting them and compositions that are compelling.