Are you sick of paying hundreds of dollars for professional photography and are left wondering how to do professional photography on a budget at home? You don’t have to hire a professional photographer to take great photos!
We gathered some gear and started taking professional photos at home and we love it!
We started taking our own photos at home during the pandemic and have continued as it’s saved us a lot of money and it’s easy to to do portrait photography at home! It’s so nice to not have to deal with driving somewhere, coaxing the kids to smile, paying hundreds for digital photos or printouts, and then doing it all over again months later. This is much, much better.
The best thing is you don’t need a fancy new camera anymore, your phone camera will likely give you great results!
Professional Photography on a Budget
When our kids were babies and toddlers we’d get them all dressed up, packed up into the van, and drive 30 minutes to our nearest mall to get their pictures taken professionally. Sometimes it went well but most of the time it was pure chaos.
Everything was rushed, the kids weren’t comfortable with their new surroundings, someone was always hungry or would suddenly have a full stinky diaper, it just wasn’t ideal. Yet we continued to do it until March 2020 when COVID hit. Then we stopped going in anywhere.
We didn’t start taking professional photos of our kids again until our oldest started Kindergarten through an online school in the fall of 2021. We figured he had to have a back to school photo so we got all of our equipment out, which I’ll detail below, and started taking photos.
We couldn’t leave our twins out so we took photos of them as well!
In the fall of 2022 we did the same and honestly, it’s so nice to have it done at home. No more rushing, driving, stressing, coaxing to kids to suddenly be comfortable with new people in a new place, etc. It’s just relaxed, we can take our time, change outfits if we want, and we don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on the printouts of photos or on the digital copies.
Below are some images that we took in 2022 of our children. My husband and I also took some headshots and lifestyle shots that I’ll be using on my blog as well. They turned out much better than I had expected and I’m so excited!! I’ll put some of mine in the bottom of this post.
Honestly, we don’t have the best camera, our Cannon DSLR camera is over 10 years old and our iPhones probably take better photos at this point. I go back and forth as to whether it’s even worth using the fancy camera at it’s age.
Really though, the good news is, I wouldn’t get a new camera. Just stick with your smart phone, it’ll probably give you great results.
Even better than just the individual ones, we also took some of the twins together and then all 3 kids together which are so fun to have! We also get to have all the outtakes!! This is a great way to let the kids show their unique personalities without being rushed.
Our Home Photo Studio Set Up
We don’t keep this set up all the time because it takes up a large part of our basement but when it is set up it’s pretty cool.
We set up a photo studio of sorts to take pictures of the kids each year and sometimes more often.
As you can see below, the photo studio is set up amongst the toys, exercise equipment, and blocking the way to my husband’s office. It isn’t horrible to set up at least so we’re able to do a pop up photo studio whenever we want.
Below I’ll detail all of what we have set up.
The nice thing about home photography is you can shoot photos from different angles, use natural light or artificial lighting, use a digital camera or phone camera, and really play around with it to get the best photo.
Backdrop & Backdrop Stand
Though you could always try to find a bare wall in your house, we’ve found that having an actual backdrop stand and backdrop really helps our photos look professional. If you’re on a tight budget though, you can surely forgo this step.
Often backdrop stands are sold separately but here is one that is sold with a backdrop as well so you don’t have to buy two things AND you save a few dollars by bundling.
If you don’t want a white background, there are other variations as well.
Artificial Lighting
No matter where your photo shoot is taking place, having the right lighting is key. We used to try and shoot photos with a professional camera and backdrop but just natural light or regular lights in the house but it just didn’t cut it. We’re much happier now that we have good artificial lighting.
We have a couple lighting sets that we use.
These are the softbox ones that are typically used in a professional photography setting such as school photos and a professional photo studio. They work really well and are easy to set up.
Bonus: they fold up really nicely into a case when not in use. The case is so small we store it in our front closet with our coats and I often forget it’s there!
Ring Light
We have one like this that we could put a phone in but we typically use our Canon DSLR camera for these type of photos. I’m sure they’d be great with an iPhone or Android device as well. Now that we have updated iPhones I plan on using our phones from here on out.
The ring light helps get the light right around the camera which helps light the right features.
It comes with a tripod, and can be plugged into a USB on your laptop or into the wall with an adapter.
Digital Camera
If you have a smartphone that takes decent photos, you could always try using that before buying a high quality dslr camera.
We already had a couple Canon DSLR cameras from 10+ years ago so that’s what we use when we do these type of photos. Otherwise for day to day photos we just use our iPhones which I think would be more than sufficient for professional looking photos.
The digital cameras that we have don’t have WiFi like the one does below. If we had that we’d be more likely to use them since it’d be easier to share photos with others and store on our server.
We also have different lenses and whatnot but really this Canon is all you need for these type of photos. You’ll be amazed at how stunning they turn out!
As I said earlier, if you’re on a tight budget, I suggest trying your smart phone out first, it’ll probably take great photos.
Posing
- First: make a deal with the person taking photos that neither one of you will share any embarrassing outtakes on Facebook. My husband should have made that deal with me since I have some really funny ones of him. Lol just kidding, I won’t put them on social media or in a blog post, but we all know that happens to people sometimes so best to deal with that up front!
- Think back to your school photos or other professional photos you’ve had taken in the past. Make sure your back is straight though not awkward looking, shoulders back, you have a nice smile but not one that looks like you’re deranged, ya know, the basics. Lol Sometimes it helps to practice in front of a mirror. (seriously!)
- Have FUN with it! It’s not a film camera (I’m assuming you’re not using film…) so you can take as many pictures as your SD card will store and go through them later to see what you like. Take funny pictures, pose with props, change outfits, whatever your fancy!
Photos for My Blog
We took several different poses and these are three of my favorites. They aren’t perfect but much better than the one that I had as my profile picture all over my blog and social media which was a selfie in my bathroom. Ha! These are so much more “me” and show how I typically dress as well.
No foundation make up, just a t-shirt, leggings, and coffee. Ha! It’s fun to let my personality shine through in these pictures in a relaxed setting that I surely wouldn’t have felt in a professional photo studio.
Product Photos
If you’re looking to take more than school photos or family portraits, you could also take product photos or food photography, now that you’re more than just an amateur photographer!
You could easily use what you already have set up or you could get a smaller pop-up product photos
portable studio which comes in different sizes. I recently got one for Christmas to take product photos
of shadow boxes. I got a 12×12 one but should have gone for the bigger one as it would have fit my 8×8 shadow boxes better, but either way, the photos look a lot nicer with the built in light above and clean background.
Professional Photography at Home
Even on a tight budget you can still take great photos at home whether you’re taking family portraits, school photos, or product photos. You can use your phone camera or get a semi professional camera such as a Canon EOS R or other dslr camera. You can use a blank wall in your home as a backdrop, a white background on a stand, or any color you’d like. Lighting is important and we’ve found that trying to use just natural light doesn’t work well, artificial lighting that is made for photography works much better overall and will deliver better results.
The most important thing with professional photography at home is to have fun with it! There aren’t the usual timelines, paying by the hour, or other pressures that come with working with a professional photographer.
Throughout my parenting journey with 3 kids on a single income, I have become an expert in living comfortably within our means without feeling restricted and I will help you do the same.
I'm a former school psychologist who left my career to stay home with my children, hence the one-income family and needing to adapt to that mentality while still living comfortably.