5 Tips For Taking Better Pictures at Home

I have been wanting to compile a list of basic tips that anyone can follow to take better pictures, whether it be with a cell phone, point and shoot camera, or a DSLR. So glad that I have finally gotten around to this!

There is a quote that I love by a photographer named Chase Jarvis, "The best camera is the one you have with you."

This is absolutely true. Although pictures taken with cell phones or point and shoots may not be up to par with the quality of professional pictures, that shouldn't cause you to miss those special moments in between your annual family photo sessions or the like.


1. Find the light - When taking pictures, try and find a room in your house that has the most light in it, whether it be from a light fixture or light pouring in through a window. When you try to take a picture in a dark room or a basement, the camera has to work harder to make the room lighter and will cause your picture to look grainy. There are a bunch of technical reasons why this occurs but I won't go into detail about that here.

This picture was taken in my dark basement with the lights off which is why the picture is so grainy.

2. Window light - If you have the option, window light will always be better than artificial light. This is because some lightbulbs are very cool or blue in color, and some are very warm or orange in color. What may not look bad to you in person, will be a lot more noticeable in the picture. This can sometimes make people look like smurfs, or oompa loompas before even applying a Valencia or Nashville filter!

This picture was taken with no lights on, only the shades pulled up on a nearby window.
His skin tone looks true to his actual skin color.

3. Backlighting - (This applies to cell phone cameras.) If you are taking a picture of someone outside or in front of a window, the camera will asses the whole scene and set the camera settings for the whole picture instead of your baby or family member's face. You will get a picture that may look like this.

What you can do is hold your finger down on the subject's face on a touchscreen phone, and the camera will then adjust its settings for the persons face instead of the whole scene. This will also make the camera focus on the subject making them look a lot more sharp. Your picture will then look like this.

4. Steady does it - Whenever I am taking pictures with a cell phone, I like to hold it with two hands and use my thumb to snap the picture. Sometimes for good measure I will take a breath, and hold it for one to two seconds when I snap the picture. Alternatively, I will put the camera/cell phone on a steady ledge if there is one available. What this does is make the picture look tack sharp (most of the time).

If your subject happens to be a wiggly child, this tip will most likely not work because they are moving faster than the camera can take the picture. If your child/pet/family member can be still for two seconds you will have enough time to take a sharp photo.

5. De-clutter - your picture! Sometimes you can't help a messy environment (i.e. someone else's house) but when I take pictures I try to remove distracting elements out of the photo in the background, or move my subject to an area that is more clean. If all else fails I try to fill the whole picture with just their face, so you are unable to see any surrounding mess. When there is clutter in the picture, your eye might be drawn to that adorable newborn at first, but then it will wander and see oh they use the same baby lotion as our family or oh they have the same swing/bouncer we do, you name it. If you can help it, why not move those things so your attention is drawn only to that baby?

So those are my five tips to taking better pictures. I hope this helps, and if you have any additional questions leave a comment below and I will try and answer as best I can!