How to take your own porch project photos

Photo by Kate Mannella Photography 2018

By now you have probably seen some porch project photos in your social media newsfeed. Several friends and clients have reached out to me asking if I would take them as well. The urge to document this time in our family’s lives makes a lot of sense and I hope that you are taking as many photos as possible right now of your own family. These photos, after all, will be our way of showing future generations what life was like when a pandemic hit.

First, let me start this post off by saying that few weeks ago when I first heard of this idea, I thought it was creative. If you have done porch photos with a photographer in the past, no judgement. But as you might imagine, with stay at home orders, photographers who are offering porch photos are now facing some pretty serious consequences. So while I cannot offer these sessions, I can give you some tips and tricks to DIY your own porch project photos.

  1. You don’t need any fancy equipment. Your phone has a timer on it! Click on the little clock icon (see below, this is what it looks like on my phone), then set the timer to 10 seconds so you have enough time to get into the photo.

2. Watch the lighting on your porch. Ideally, you want your full porch to be in the shade so that you don’t have any uneven light in the photo. Or, you can use a cloudy day, which we have plenty of here in Northeast Ohio.

3. Include your pets! What a great time to be a dog, right? And they are an important part of your family. To make this easier, put your pet on a leash so that they are easier to contain.

4. Squeeze together. No social distancing with your family for this one (unless someone is actually sick that is). Get everyone really close together and have your faces pretty close to lined up. Anyone that has done a session with me knows how cozy you get. 😉

5. Put your phone, or camera (if you have one that has a timer or remote) on a tripod, stool, ladder or chair. You want to make sure it’s at least at eye level with the adults. After all, no one like the double chin selfie. Right?

6. It is likely going to take a couple tries. Consider it your workout for the day, but you will likely have to run back and forth a few times to the timer to get it just right.

Also, consider not dressing up and wearing what you have been around the house. We are going to be accurate, not perfection, right?

I would like to see your porch project photos, send them my way!

Our attempt 2020 with a tripod.
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