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I’ve learned a lot about photographing my home over the last several years. I look back at some of my early shots of the house (like the photos in this post featuring my library), and I cringe at how bad they are. Today I’m going to share all of my tips and tricks with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did! You can make just one of these adjustments to improve your shots, or you can combine several changes to really make a difference.

Tripod vs. Handheld

Use a tripod. Always. That’s rule number one, because it’s that important. Rule number two should be to turn off your flash.

Don’t Just Stand There

A lot of people make the mistake of taking pictures from a standing position. It looks amateurish. It’s far better to crouch down just a bit and lower your tripod. (You are using a tripod, right? Rule number one!) Photographing a room from a lower angle makes the ceilings look higher and eliminates weird perspectives from above.

Depth of Field

Want that pretty effect where the subject is in focus and the background is nice and soft? You want shallow depth of field. You use a wide aperture (small F-stop number) to get it. Want everything in focus and sharp? Use a higher number F-stop for deeper depth of field.

Lights On, Lights Off

This comes down to personal preference. My library has been photographed a couple of times by professionals (here and here), and one photographer turned off every light while the other turned them all on (and brought in a few more). I like the look of the photo above with the lights on, but the one with the lights off has truer colors. (Yes, the ceiling is a soft green.)

Proper Exposure

I was focusing on the same spot (the pillow), but that window was making the whole room look backlit. When I first photographed the library in 2007, all of my pictures had this exposure problem, but I had no idea how to fix it (other than trying like mad with Photoshop, to so-so results). I got a better shot here by keeping the aperture the same (to maintain the same depth of field), and decreasing the shutter speed to keep the shutter open longer and let more light in.

Practice Makes Perfect

I’ve been blogging about my home since 2007, so I’ve had a lot of practice and a lot of time to improve. Hopefully these tips will help you get a jump on your own photos and you can avoid some of my early mistakes!

Eventually I want to reshoot some of my older pictures. I would love to make a photo book of my house, maybe featuring a bunch of before and after shots (now that I can take better “after” shots!). Or wouldn’t it be great to make a book for you or your kids to remember their home by if you were moving to a new house? I would have loved a memento like that of my childhood home.

Are any of these tips new to you? Or do you have any you’d like to add?

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Five Important Tips for Photographing Your Home | 74 comments

I’m going to start photographing him monthly too, but I’m considering a change of location. I think that the library would make a good backdrop, yes?

I don’t know if I should prop him up in the white chair that’s already up there, or if I should bring the Eames rocker up for each photo. I think it could be cool to have him in the same chair to connect his photos to his sister’s, but I also think it’s going to be a total pain to have to set it up every month. Sigh.

C’est la vie de l’overachiever.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Planning August’s Monthly Photos | 93 comments

They look better than my mockup (as I had a feeling they would). I haven’t been this pleased with a purchase in a long time! It took two and a half years, but I finally have curtains for the library that I love.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as These Are THE Curtains | 126 comments

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Windermere Curtains in the Library | 38 comments

Remember, here’s the before (with the curtains that everyone except me seems to love)…

I love the colorful curtains, but I don’t think they’re right for the library. Too kooky? Of course that makes me wonder if I’d like Orla curtains as much as I thought.

Now I’m thinking I might want something more masculine. Maybe a crisp geometric in brown and white.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Are These Curtains Better? | 177 comments

It’s so much better than the light that was there before.

It’s understated, but it’s a perfect compliment to the room.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as The New Light in the Library | 57 comments

I had been looking online at curtains for the library. I know everyone always says that they love the ones that are up there now, but I don’t. I’m looking for a bold, graphic print that has brown and mustard yellow in it to work with the wall colors, but I didn’t find anything I really loved (these came closest). I had given up for the night and figured I’d look again in a few months when there might be some new options on the market. Then, I had a dream in which the perfect solution presented itself to me: I want curtains made out of Orla Kiely stem print fabric!

Too bad it doesn’t seem to be available. Wah-wah.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Dreaming of Orla Kiely Curtains | 58 comments

The alcove used to be more pared down and it looked nice, but it didn’t really serve any function. I put four bookshelves with doors together in an ‘L’ shape, and it’s a much better use of space. The unit in the corner is only half-accessible, but it’s working out just fine.

The knobs on the doors were from Anthropologie. I bought them when we moved in for my closet before we decided to use sliding doors, but they were so pretty that I decided keep them. I had never found the right spot for them until now.

Also, note that I finally found an Orla Kiely pitcher (that I’m using as a vase) in green! I thought it was going to be yellow from the photos I had seen, but the green is nice.

And because I know someone will ask if I don’t source them… Those are dried billy buttons in the vase. I bought two big bunches a while back, and they’re always showing up in various spots all around the house.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as The Library Alcove’s New Storage | 44 comments

I don’t think it looks bad. True, there is no yellow in the fabric, but I think it looks fine next to the stairway color.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Primrose Fabric: Yay or Nay? | 132 comments

(photo by Janet Mesic-Mackie for Home Magazine, September 2008)

The little light in the room is horrible and it doesn’t even fully cover the hole in the ceiling for it, but I’ve had a hard time finding a replacement because our ceilings upstairs are only 7.5′ tall. I had ordered this Jonathan Adler light previously, but it was far too large for the space and we used it in my studio instead. I did see this light recently, and it may work since it’s a bit smaller.

The stairway woodwork has been painted mustard yellow (“Campground” by Behr), which does look nice with our current curtains, but I was never a huge fan of those. They’re okay, but not great. I’ve always loved Amy Butler’s Lime Primrose fabric, and seeing it recently as pillows made me revisit the idea of using it for new library curtains.

I’m just a little worried that the fabric won’t work with the yellow wall. Brandon’s mom gave us a curvy wooden side table recently (and the go-ahead to paint it or do whatever we want to it), so maybe it would be nice if it were painted the same yellow? I also have a neat little side table on the way that could be painted. Or we could keep a dark brown side table to match the legs on the chair and ottoman, and rely on the mustard yellow throw that’s in the room (which was just $1 at goodwill). The Orla Keily pitcher from Target that I’m eagerly awaiting (used as a vase with some pink flowers) would be nice too.

I love the fabric so much, I’m determined to make it work.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Plans for the Library | 35 comments