Photography Tutorial: how to create creative photographs with homemade objects

Discover easy tricks to take professional photographs without technical material with materials you have at home

There are many myths surrounding creative photography, but one of the most widespread is that you need large lighting equipment, filters or rental sets if you want to achieve truly surprising results.

Carol Peña (@misshedwig) is an art director and photographer, she has worked for brands such as Adidas, Carola Herrera or Estrella Damm and if she has learned something in all these years it is that the most extraordinary results lie in the simple, in the that goes unnoticed.

Discover in this free tutorial some tips to give a new life to the objects that live in your home and turn them into the best tools to take incredible photographs.

Take a look at the following video tutorial!

Materials needed to take photographs

- Photo camera.

- Photography space or set.

- A light source, it can be artificial or natural.

- Different objects to experiment with.

How to create creative photographs with homemade objects

Below, we detail the process, step by step, so that you can achieve professional creative photos with simple objects that are extraordinary.

1. Select the object you are going to work with

Homes are full of objects with immense potential, but not all of them are worth. When selecting the object with which you want to work with your photographs you must take into account several factors:

- The material or shape allows light to pass through.
- If it has color it will allow you to play more.
- Angles, curves or perforations will help you compose.

In this case, Carol has selected a red perfume bottle that meets all these characteristics.

2. Create distortions

Placing the perfume bottle in front of the lens allows you to create distortions and also gives it an extra plane with which to achieve more depth. The key is to play and experiment, move the object to emphasize different elements, work on the color or move the angles to achieve this distortion and above all, be patient since It is more complicated to replicate the same effect several times.

3. Projected light

Playing with light is super important and you can do it with something as simple as the flashlight on your cell phone. Start by doing tests on the other elements of your photography to see what effects you achieve by projecting this light on the object, you can move it, bring it closer or further away until you find the position that best suits what you want.

The key to these exercises is to be clear what story you want to tell with each image and how each element helps build said narrative.

If you still want to take out your camera and want to explore the world of photographic portraiture with an intimate approach, you can't miss the course Intimate photography: create real and close images by Carol Peña.

To continue learning about photography:

1. Discover how to photograph indoors with natural lighting with these tips to use natural light or merge multiple exposures in Photoshop.

2. Are you starting out in the world of photography? We offer you more than 365 free tutorials (photo and other techniques) that exist in Domestika. Look for digital photography and learn the best tips, techniques and software!

3. 5 tips for doing creative photography without leaving home home

4. If you are more old school, discover Introduction to analog photography , a CARMENCITA FILM LAB course.