Stay indoors & #CreateAtHome

It has been well over two weeks since my last photoshoot which means I have not picked up my camera since. Thinking about it now, this has probably been the longest time I have not picked up my gear in almost a year and a half, which in itself is absolutely insane.

As a Film, Photography and Media student as well as a freelance content creator, I'm usually never home, always out and about creating, planning, or being inspired. Confined to my house in Leeds, it has helped me sift through a backlog of content that's been sitting on my computer, which has been great for my portfolio and Instagram, but my equipment is slowly starting to collect dust in the corner of my room. This down time is hard to navigate but I'm trying to push myself in new ways to stop these days from becoming one big blur. This is where #CreateAtHome has come into play, drastically changing my mood positively while structuring my week.

The hashtag has been circulating social media but I was mainly exposed to it through a sneaker influencer who I previously worked with during my placement year at JD. It was made to keep creatives motivated despite these difficult times, encouraging us to think outside of the box by using absolutely everything and anything around them. As someone that is constantly on-the-go, running around Leeds or travelling to London or abroad for shoots, it hadn't even occurred to me that I should try shooting in my room or let alone my house.

Now don't get me wrong...I have definitely done indoor shoots before as well as home studio setups. The challenge here was using what I had in my home away from home, which doesn't exactly have everything I want. Moreover the whole idea is stay indoors, which is why I had to come up with a setup using what was already in the house. This definitely required some brainstorming but here's what I came up with so far...

Featuring my birthday present which I fortunately celebrated a week before lockdown, I shot the Converse X Golf Le Fleur Chenille Chuck 70 in my room. Using a silk cloth which I purchased at Kirkgate market not long ago and some stick-on pearls from eBay, I spread the fabric across my bed and relied on natural lighting to take these images. The backdrop is from a shoot I did for my final year photography module, which I shot almost a month ago. It's great to repurpose props and materials to create an entirely different look and I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

The next setup required a lot less creativity in terms of styling but demanded a lot more thought. I only had one silk cloth and was quite frankly against using the same setup as the goal here is to challenge myself to use as much of the house as possible. Seeing as my adidas Originals X Raf Simons were a bright coral pink, I went down to the living room as my landlord loves baby pink furniture and decorated the house with it. The only surface that caught my eye was the IKEA chair in the dining area, which was difficult to manipulate due to its small size. But nothing stops me once I get into the zone, which is why I rearranged the room to make space for the chair in front of the kitchen window and shot the following set.

No flash, no artificial light, just some rare British sun. As stated in my Instagram caption, who needs a studio, am I right? I have worked in countless professional studios before but I do love an outdoor shoot. There is simply nothing that beats sunlight in photography, though is just my opinion as opposed to a hard rule. To add an extra touch, I added a blue to pink gradient layer on top of the image in Photoshop which you can see changes the look entirely compared to the image without the effect on the right.

Though this may not be for everyone, I definitely think #CreateAtHome is a great way to give yourself a break in the day. It takes me away from my deadlines and worries about the world for an hour or two and gives me a lot of enjoyment, making me that much more excited for when I can go out and shoot freely again. Whether you challenge yourself in photography, painting, knitting, cooking, crafting or even planting, I highly recommend you try something new as it's nothing short of rewarding.