Light & Shadow {Experiments in Indoor Photography}

| Allison

Hello, dears!

I had so much fun with the pictures for this post! Usually I just take photos of pretty things, but this time I pushed myself to create photos that tell stories rather than just show what’s already there. Over the past week or so, I’ve been finding interesting patterns of light and shadow around golden hour and incorporating them in my photos. We live in an old farmhouse with big windows that make great photo opportunities, but you can also use any sort of windows, blinds, lamps, and so on.

Light and shadows are two (free!) things to be happy about, so I think they’re worth noticing. 😉 I hope you guys enjoy these pictures!

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Around eight in the evening, I just walked around the house and looked for interesting patches of light. It’s super fun, actually. 😛 Kind of like a treasure hunt, with gold pieces hidden in plain sight. I found one on the rug in the hall. I love how this photo turned out!

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A family from church has been bringing sunflowers to church for the ladies to take home. ❤ Last week, we got to take the whole vase home for mom, who is still recovering from surgery and hasn’t been able to be in church yet. She was delighted. 😀

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Sunflowers are also SO fun to photograph, especially against a dark background. The petals almost have a light of their own.

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I found a patch of light in the library, wavy from the old glass, and perfect for some self portrait pictures! It was a tad difficult, but even some of these with the “wrong” angles or focus I thought looked pretty neat. 🙂

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Shadow and light is SUPER fun to play around with for portraits because of the emotion and story it conveys simply by the way it falls on the subject’s face. I love how one eye is bright and the other is dark here.

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Ooh, here’s my favorite from this set. ❤ I usually go for color in photos, but I kept playing with B&W because of the contrast they added to the shadow patterns. Also, black and white definitely adds an extra “mood” to your photos, you know what I mean?

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We framed a bunch of old letters and pictures by our hall staircase, and the glass beside the door cast some more shattered gold pieces on one of them. 🙂

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The wavy glass gave the light such a neat texture. I love how it looks in B&W!

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Something about golden hour and the contrast of shadows and sunshine makes even normal things, like this wooden chair, look dreamy.

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Ooh, I like this one too! Like I said, I tried to “make” some photos rather than just taking them. You know? I love making art, so this is like another medium to do that with!

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Even my very dirty studio window that’s had a cracked pane since we moved here made for an interesting photo. 🙂

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Back to a burst of color! It’s easy to take really saturated images at golden hour because the light is… it’s like sweetened condensed sun instead of sweetened condensed milk. 🙂

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Even if you don’t have any ready-made shadow patterns, you can create your own with basically any object! Plants and hands make especially interesting ones.

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Again, dividing the face in half (well, in two) with light and shadow. It makes an otherwise plain photo more unique.

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Curtains are fun to photograph in the evening because they soak up or diffuse the light and look all glowy and lovely. The sun temporarily stained the lace a rusty orange at the top. (Also yes, we really need to clean that window. :’D It’s complicated to clean since it’s old and has no roof to stand on outside… Gotta get a ladder up there one day soon.)

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More favorites coming up! This is the door to my brother’s bedroom down the hall, featuring white-chocolate bars from the balcony doors. 😀 It’s amazing to me how such a simple photo can still convey a mood and emotion. How does this feel to you? Ominous? Peaceful? Lonely?

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The boys’ room has the fourth old window in our house, conveniently casting a pattern over a stack of books. Somehow orange light like this reminds me of puzzles… Anyone else? I dunno, maybe we’ve just done a lot of golden-hour puzzles. XD

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And we’ll end with another one of my favorites. I really like how the center of the photograph is blank and mysterious, balanced on both sides with a glimpse of the room, books/a notebook, and a window/reflection of one.

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That’s it for today, my friends! I hope this inspired you to find and enjoy the small stories hidden in everyday life. 🙂 I love that about photography; it reminds you that mundane and everyday things are actually breathtaking and beautiful. So often we forget that.

Which photo(s) did you like best? What mood or feel did these pictures have to you?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. Photos taken with my Nikon D3400 and a 35mm lens. Edited with Lightroom.

77 thoughts on “Light & Shadow {Experiments in Indoor Photography}”

  2. Wow the photography is just brilliant, the contrast is so well brought up, especially the black and yellow combination. I need to learn to photograph like that, amazing 🙌

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  4. Oh wow I’ve actually been wanting to try something like this!! your blog is perfect because I’m so into photography!! I just started a blog mydaysinmontana.WordPress.com I would love it if you would follow it! 💖

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  10. These are so cool! You did a great job conveying emotion and depth with the light and shadows! I love how your work reflects your love of poetry. There’s just something poetic about your photos. 🙂

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  13. Aghhh! These are all so so calming, and just beautiful! All of the pictures make you feel like you need to whisper or like you’re just in a quite place, I don’t think I’m making any sense. XD What I’m trying to say is that these pictures are just wonderful. ❤

    -Laura ❤ 🙂

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  14. Wow these are gorgeous. The tones remind me of a Rembrandt painting. (:
    I probably won’t look at the shadows in my room the same way this evening.

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  18. Another fantastic series! I look forward to your pictures so much❣️ I love the b&w but the golden light photos are just as inspiring. I don’t know what it is about the last picture though, like there’s so much more going on there! For some reason I can’t help but think that the two sides of the room are having a conversation with each other? I’m not sure that even makes any sense! It was like they were having a conversation and they paused it long enough for you to take the picture💕 Maybe my brain is trying to make up a story about it 🤗 Thank you for sharing your talents!

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    1. Ahh, that means a lot! Thank you. ❤ Ooohhh, I love that description! No, I totally get that. I think too that it seems like there's more going on in the picture than it shows. And I can imagine the conversation now… 😀

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  19. Good morning! I wasn’t sure if I should post this on your site or email, but I was wondering if you ever sell any of your photos? If so could you let me know how I could go about purchasing the last b&w photo in this series, the one with the table on one side of the room and a book on the other? Not sure why I’m so obsessed with it! At first I thought it looked like the two sides of the room were having a conversation, but the more I think on it, it looks like the window is actually illuminating a thought in the dark (the book). I just find it very inspiring and would like to see if I could purchase a print to frame and hang in my room.

    Thank you for sharing your passion with us!

    Vicki Pike

    >

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    1. Aww, that is so kind! ❤ I don't currently have a shop with my photos, but I could certainly work with you and get you a print of this one! 🙂 If you'd like, you can email me with art/business email at thecolorboxstudio @ gmail. com and we can figure out the specifics. 😀 So glad you're enjoying my photos!

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  23. Allison, each moment is moving in its own way but I’m partial to your feet on the rug with a patch of light … oh, and dividing the face in half. a face divided cannot smile? let’s discuss. – tony

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  25. Yes!!! I love light and shadow photos! 😀 The sunflower photos are AMAZING! And I love that last photo. It could totally be a story inspiration. I love how light and shadows can be used to tell a story.

    A couple weeks ago, I got together with some friends and we put on some shadow shows. It was really fun, especially with some epic music playing for background effects. 🙂

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