22/09/2026
Lighting, Reflections, Perspective
I've spent many years of my life out and about filming in all sorts of locations with all sorts of interesting people. One of the parts I loved the most was framing the shots. If I was filming an interview with an artist or an artist at work, the question was always, ‘which angle is the most interesting,’ ‘where does the light fall,’ ‘what do I want to keep in the frame’ and ‘what do I want to crop out’. I still love to obsess over these things when photographing interiors.
Lighting – Filming for documentaries, we'd always try to shoot as much as possible in daylight, partly because it was so much quicker than setting up lighting equipment, but mainly because natural daylight looks so beautiful and makes colours so vibrant. Shafts of light through a window can also become a focal point in their own right.
Reflections and Perspective – I love playing with reflections in mirrors or a window, and seeing how an image changes when you shift your perspective. Angling a camera upwards while crouching down can create a very different scene to the one you see at eye level.
One final thing, looking at a photo of an interior – as opposed to with your eyes - is a really useful way of seeing what works and what doesn’t work. It isolates the scene from the rest of the room, which can be very helpful.
All obvious stuff, but hopefully a helpful nugget in there somewhere.
Can you share your useful tips?
