Photographing people indoors

10 Indoor Photography Tips That will Improve Your Shots

When I first started indoor photography, I was afraid of the limitations. As a natural light enthusiast, I wanted to have as few restrictions as possible.

When I discovered the positive sides of this genre, I was able to pinpoint my creative weaknesses. It helped me strengthen the skills I already had.

Indoor photography is a flexible genre for several reasons:

There’s usually some kind of artificial light to use it to take unique photographs;
It doesn’t demand a massive budget; and
It’s open to photographers of all kinds.

How do you take good indoor pictures? Here are 10 photography tips on how to get better at shooting inside.

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10. Play With High ISO Numbers

Indoor photography lighting can be very complicated. Especially when it’s almost dark outside. To take sharp photographs, you’ll have to increase your ISO number. As scary as it might sound, it won’t ruin your photographs.

So what is the best ISO setting for indoor photography? In general, ISO 100 or 200 can work well if you are using a tripod and you have enough brightness.

If you are shooting from your hand, you have to raise your ISO to 800 or 1000. Sometimes even higher, as you will notice from my camera settings below.

I took the photos above on a gloomy day. I used both natural window light and artificial one.

These are the camera settings I used:

Aperture: ƒ/2.5
Shutter speed 1/20
ISO 5000

Though every camera is different, most modern ones have a high noise tolerance. Using my Canon 5D Mark III, I can take all kinds of indoor photographs without making them look too grainy.

The camera I used before this, a Canon 60D, produced a little more grain when I played with ISO. But this effect created a cinematic feeling that complemented my photographs.

9. Focus on Insignificant Details

Indoor photographs can look very simple, especially if you’re shooting in an empty or abandoned space. To make up for this, you can add eye-catching elements to your compositions.

Many of us don’t have studios. But you can create your own using things you see every day. Replace vibrant objects that you could turn into subjects, foregrounds, or backgrounds.

Have a look at your surroundings. What do you usually take for granted? Could you use that item in a photograph?

Here’s an example from my own life: I have a few plants on my table. I appreciate them for what they are or use them as subjects in my portraits.

Plants make amazing foregrounds, especially when it comes to simple indoor photographs.

8. Use Indoor Artificial Light Whenever You Can

What is the best lighting for indoor photography? Many photographers would say that natural lighting.

But I say that any indoor lighting you have can give you fantastic results!

My experiments with simple artificial light led to my favourite portraits. I’ve never used professional studio lighting in my life. But I believe in the power of simple light sources.

A few examples are lamps, torches, and phone screens. Regardless of their simplicity, these objects are great to add a spark to your photos.

You can use artificial light not only for brightening your subject. It can also help you to focus better. When I take self-portraits in dark locations, I have to make sure that the autofocus feature captures the right details.

To do this, I flash a torch on my face until the camera finds me. Once this is done, I can take photos like the one above.

Use artificial light sources to get the right focus. It can add more depth to your photographs. It also helps to familiarise yourself with different lighting techniques.

And when you do get your hands on professional studio equipment, you’ll already know what to do!

7. Know the Best Times of Day for Shooting Indoors

Natural light is very limited at indoor locations. If you want to get as much light as possible indoors, shoot at these times of day:

Midday: Shooting outdoors during this time results in very harsh and unflattering photos. But midday light looks fantastic indoors. Place your subject in front of a curtained window to get the most flattering results.
Golden hour: You might already be familiar with this magical time of day. It is shortly after sunrise and before sunset. The diffused light is perfect for every photography genre.
Twilight: After sunset, the sky takes on a pinkish hue. Combined with artificial lights, this can become the perfect background for mysterious silhouettes.

6. Make the Most of Every Room

Every room has its beauty. The white walls of an empty room can be used as backdrops for classical portraits or still life. A cluttered room can reflect your subject’s personality. It can add a touch of colour to your background, or be the subject itself.

Every indoor location can be a great place for a photoshoot.

When you take photos indoors, observe every room. Find details to include in your compositions. Think about how to get good lighting in that specific room.

Sometimes, this might only mean taking photos next to a well-lit doorway. You don’t have to overthink it.

Train your eye to see potential in every indoor space. You’ll notice a great improvement in your work.

5. Create Your Own Indoor Photography Resources

DIY projects should be your best friends. Besides being fun, these projects are very helpful and budget-friendly. If you want to take your indoor photography to the next level, you must experiment with them.

If you don’t have the time for complicated DIY projects, stick to simple hacks. They change your photography in no time.

You can use foil to light up your subject’s features if you don’t have access to a reflector. If you want to add a dreamy look to your photos, you can cover your lens with cling film.

And if you want to create a studio of your own, you can put up a tablecloth behind your subject.

Another example is placing an object in front of a sheet of paper taped to a window. This will create a soft lightbox effect.

4. Describe Atmospheres Through Diptychs

Indoor photography is often associated with warmth and cosiness. If you are not shooting product photos, you might try to intensify the atmosphere in your work.

This is even more important in portrait photography. This genre relies on emotions to tell compelling stories.

One of the best ways to capture an atmosphere is to photograph various sides of it. When you have a few photos that you like, turn them into diptychs (a collage of two photos). They tell a more wholesome story.

This will give your photographs more personality and make them more relatable. It also gives your viewers a clearer idea of your subject.

Watching out for diptych-worthy moments will make you more appreciative of indoor photography. By wanting to tell deeper stories, you’ll be more aware of details, spaces, and subjects that most people would ignore.

Combined, these things will have a positive impact on your work.

3. To Fit Everything, Use a Wide-Angle Lens (Or Create a Panorama)

There’s only so much you can fit into your camera lens when it comes to indoor spaces. With a prime or zoom lens, you’re going to have to step back a bit. Then you can capture both your subject and their surroundings.

You might not be able to do so because of the room’s size. In cases like this, use a wide-angle lens.

If you can’t afford a wide-angle lens, make panoramas instead. Panoramas are a bunch of different photos stitched together in Photoshop. They’re great for people who want to create detailed compositions that resemble medium format photos.

They’re also great for those who enjoy taking landscape-like photos of indoor environments.

2. Use Backgrounds to Describe Your Subject

Besides complementing your subject, backgrounds should reflect their personality in some way.

This is much easier to do indoors because we associate buildings with homes. They have objects that play a big role in our personal lives.

If you’re planning to take indoor portraits, make sure you get to know your model’s space. Ask them what items they care about most. What part of their room do they love the most? What do they enjoy doing in the comfort of their own space?

Using this information, position your subject in a way that will reveal both their expression and their favourite items. Including these things in the background will make your photos stand out.

If you’re planning to take photos of objects, animals, etc., you can do something similar. For instance, my cat likes watching snowflakes while sitting on windowsills. To capture her curiosity, I took a closeup next to the window.

I also photographed the snow itself so that the viewer would have a better idea of what she’s so curious about. I made the two photos into a diptych to tell a short story.

1. When All Else Fails, Use Windows

Indoor photography is often challenging. Especially when you don’t have a lot of experience with artificial light, backgrounds, and projects. If you start to feel frustrated, just take photos next to a window.

Windows are the best source of natural light. They also make fantastic foregrounds and backgrounds. You can never go wrong with them.

Here are ways you can use them to enhance your compositions:

Foregrounds: place your subject behind a window to create beautiful reflections
Backgrounds: place your subject in front of a window to create a soft, backlit look
Subjects: on their own, windows can look very eye-catching, especially during the golden hour

Conclusion

Indoor photography overflows with frustrating obstacles that outdoor photography doesn’t have. When I began this genre, I was afraid of getting bored, taking silly photos, or not making the most of my creative time.

Then I realised how freeing those obstacles were. I found ways to make indoor photography both enjoyable and challenging. The DIY projects, various lighting setups, and artificial light helped me in the process.

You, too, can enjoy the perks of being an indoor photographer. All you have to do is get up, grab your camera, and photograph something that catches your eye. Before you know it, you’ll be having fun and taking fantastic photographs.

Want to learn how to improve your photography? Try our Photography for Beginners course today!

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8 tips for better indoor photography

Here are eight top tips to help you achieve the best results when shooting indoors.

Some of photography’s biggest trends in recent months—from the resurgence of the flash in fashion photography to professionally-shot, high spec building listings, to minimalist flatlays—all speak to the current demand for indoor photography, reminding us that even everyday environments can provide ample room for experimentation and innovation.

Shooting inside often means working with low light, navigating tight spaces, and contending with unpredictable colour casts, but learning to work indoors is an important part of any photographer’s toolkit, whether they specialise in weddings or still lifes.

Luckily, today’s cameras are better than ever at shooting in low light without creating noise or blur, and there are tons of DIY LED light setups you can try at home. Plus, if you shoot RAW, you can easily fix your exposure and colour-correct using Affinity Photo.

We interviewed eight professionals from around the world to get their best tips for shooting indoors. You don’t need any professional studio equipment to follow their lead and create powerful images in your own house or apartment; all you need is a bit of ingenuity and imagination.

Image from the series of ‘Fictitious Feasts’ by Charles Roux

1. Play with natural light

“To start, try to focus on existing lights and the way they cast within your indoor space,” the Paris-based photographer and art director Charles Roux advises. “Sometimes it’s a matter of redirecting it, and sometimes it’s a question of timing.

“Study the blueish morning light, the contrasted afternoon light, the smooth warm evening light or even night lights—from the street, the moon, etc. There are tons of possibilities. Besides sunlight, another form of natural light that can help you get creative is fire; I have lit entire photo sets with woodfire in the fireplace or candles. Though they provide little light and cast a very warm balance, they provide a unique sparkle. ”

Turn off any artificial lights, and move around your home, studying how sunlight falls through the windows in different rooms throughout the day. By shifting your location and planning your shoot to coincide with golden hour or blue hour, you’ll have more control over the final image.

2. Take some test shots around the house

As you study the light in different rooms, snap some photos to see how it looks on camera. “Wherever I’m shooting, I always take scouting photos of the space with just the existing light and my subject for reference,” the Los Angeles-based photographer Damon Casarez explains.

Image by Damon Casarez

“This scouting shot will give you a sense of the colour balance, the ambient light, and how the light looks on the subject.

“From this point, I will break down the room and see how I could replicate and enhance the light in the space, or similarly, create a lighting scenario that looks natural in the space. For example, if the main source of lighting in a room is an orange-hued lamp, I will put on a modifier (softbox, photek, or reflector bounced into a wall) with an orange filter to effectively replicate and enhance the lighting of the room so that it feels like it is coming from that one lamp. ”

In terms of settings, consider switching off your camera’s auto white balance for more control over the colour cast in your photos, though you can always make corrections in post-processing.

3. Experiment with light modifiers

“My top tip for indoor photography is to break all of the rules you think are set in stone for studio or tabletop photography,” the London-based photographer Felicity McCabe suggests. “If you rifled through the drawers and boxes in my studio, you’d find old silver foil cake trays, tin foil rolls, random torches, headlamps, bits of broken mirror, old fluorescent kitchen lights wired up to 13amp plugs, and loads of scraps of coloured card.

“Play around with all of these things to see how they bounce the light you have available to you, whether that’s sunlight from a window or a house light or lamp. You can easily support small bits of old mirror or card at different angles using a big blob of blu-tack stuck onto the top of a tin of beans. Get creative, and your work will look like no one else’s.”

Image by Felicity McCabe

4. Incorporate some gels or filters for colour

“You don’t need professional lighting equipment to get that ‘neon vibe’ indoors at nighttime,” the Lisbon-based photographer João Marques tells us. “I’ve used everything from small lamps that I have around the house with colour filters to LEDs with a remote. Usually, I like to ‘paint’ the room with light, so I choose a white wall for my shoots and make it look as clean as possible.”

Image by João Marques

For more inspiration, check out our behind the scenes article with Elena Paraskeva on editing an image shot using coloured gels.

5. Use a tripod

“For my indoor still life photography, I use a camera, reflectors, gloves, a tool to blow off any dust from the objects I use, and finally, a tripod,” the Moscow-based photographer Anastasia Kolesnichenko tells us. “For starters, a tripod keeps things simple and gives you the freedom to experiment and move things with your hands.

“Plus, if you need to shoot at a slow shutter speed (for example, in the evening), then you simply can’t do without a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, you can make it work by using a stack of books or finding something to lean on. It can be easy to get underexposed photos when shooting indoors, but a longer exposure will let more light into your camera so you don’t lose detail.”

Image by Anastasia Kolesnichenko

6. Get creative with backgrounds

“My apartment is small, with plain white walls, so I must completely rearrange the space, make my own backgrounds, and be creative with my furniture when I shoot,” the Norwegian photographer Sofie Sund says. “I mostly take pictures of smaller objects, so that makes it a little easier.

“If your walls are plain like mine, and you want a different type of background but don’t have studio backdrops, you can just use what you find at home. Fabrics, curtains, or even bedsheets can work. Hang them up on your wall next to a window or even in front of the window if you’d like a backlight. Experiment with it and see what you like.”

Image by Sofie Sund

White walls and backgrounds will bounce the light, and darker ones will absorb light, so keep those principles in mind when setting up your shot.

7. Make space (literally)

When you’re indoors, you have finite space to work with, so feel free to rearrange and reorganise the room for maximum potential. “I’ve tried to sacrifice everything I don’t really need so I have as much free room as possible,” the Basel-based photographer Chantal Convertini tells us. “I don’t have a big closet; I don’t have a desk, and I only have a mattress on the floor.

“Everything I have is movable, so I can adjust it according to the lighting situation and time of year. Also, if there is a lot of direct sunlight falling into your room, I recommend transparent curtains. They diffuse the light a little bit, so you don’t lose the highlights.” You can play around with opening and closing the curtains and changing the quality of light.

Image by Chantal Convertini

8. Start small

“To photographers facing space limitations, I would encourage them to experiment with and embrace a change of scale,” the Toronto-based photographer Justin Poulsen tells us. “Photographing individual items/people separately and compositing them together or shooting miniatures and enlarging them in post-production are both approaches to playing with scale.

“Later, these skills will become part of your creative problem-solving tool belt that you use outside of your home as well. Even large-budget feature films rely on miniatures to fulfil shots where there are logistical limitations. The Dark Knight’s use of small-scale batmobiles for chase scenes comes to mind.

“You may not be able to fit the outside world into your home, but if you shrink it down bit by bit, complicated concepts start to become more feasible, and you suddenly start to create new worlds rather than just existing inside of them.”

‘Trojan Beaver’ by Justin Poulsen

Feature Shoot showcases the work of international emerging and established photographers who are transforming the medium through compelling, cutting-edge projects, with contributing writers from all over the world.

Shooting indoors, fighting with light - Simple tricks

Shooting indoors is a rather difficult moment for a beginner photographer, because, in fact, a lot here depends on technology. Any professional will say that in a room where sunlight reaches only on holidays and, as a rule, not at all when you need to shoot, and there is nothing to do without a good camera, a bright zoom and an external flash. However, this does not detract from the importance of mastering the shooting technique itself, and if you calculate the costs themselves (a camera from $3,000, a zoom glass from $1,000, a flash from $500), you get an amount that makes you think ... at least that the shooting technique will still be necessary still master. Let's try to understand how to do it, who to fool and what to replace in this expensive scheme, using what we have from the very beginning (i.e., from buying a camera, it is highly desirable, a SLR). nine0003

How not to shoot indoors

First of all, you should remember about the terrible shooting conditions: there is an order of magnitude less light indoors than outdoors, which inevitably leads us to use a flash, which a beginner strives to turn on in the normal TTL mode, taught by delirium from the forums that the ISO value should be set as low as possible. As a result, a “stunning” frame is obtained with a face against a black (or close to it) environment, to which the flash simply did not finish, and if there were objects closer, they would be overexposed. Actually, this is the position from which we will dance. nine0003

Mind the background

In fact, any indoor shooting (if not any shooting at all) is a balancing act between motion blur and heavy digital noise . Why such a dependence arises, you probably know, because. You have already heard about the main components of the exposition. If you think that the main thing in photography is the subject, you are mistaken. It's just a chip on the field, which consists of a background (foreground, background, middle - you probably heard it too), and if the background is zero (it's black, R0 G0 B0), the object also becomes zero. Therefore, we are trying to get the background, trying for the time being to distract ourselves from making it interesting. nine0003

Once in a dark room, we first increase the shutter speed to the limit of , at which we can shoot without blurring - usually this is the reciprocal of the lens focal length used, it can be a little longer if you are sure in your hands. For example, if you are shooting at 28mm wide, the shutter speed should be no longer than 1/25s, unless the subject is moving fast, otherwise it will result in flickering. If the focal length grows to 80mm, and the shutter speed should be set to 1/80s. Naturally, with a quick change of plans, you can put 1/80 and calm down, but then you will lose a step elsewhere. Which shooting mode to choose is up to you, at least the shutter speed priority with the required setting, at least the aperture (to monitor the depth of field), you just need to constantly keep your finger on the pulse, controlling the shutter speed itself. nine0003

Accordingly, if the shutter speed does not decrease (Lo flashes in the viewfinder in place of the aperture), and there is nowhere to open the aperture, we start using the third exposure parameter, matrix sensitivity . Doubling the sensitivity gives us a step gain (the ability to halve the shutter speed) - we can play with the matrices of modern devices for a long time, up to about ISO 1600 on the Nikon D5000 you can live very well. On junk, like Nikon D70, it is difficult to rise above ISO 800-1000, but these parameters are quite real. nine0003

Forget the noise

Noise exists on the forums, where it is discussed, ground, created and considered. Photographers are accustomed to grain , as our eyes are accustomed to it when looking at printed photographs (otherwise, why take photographs if they are not printed?). A modern “affordable” camera, regardless of manufacturer, generates noise ranging from “good” to “quite tolerably” up to the ISO 1600 bar, and the resolution allows you to further reduce it to reasonable performance when printing even large formats. For posting on the Internet, you don’t have to worry about it at all (a bold statement, which is only the result of the omission of some reservations). nine0003

However, one should not take too much noise - this is an extreme that you need to go to, nothing more. If it is possible to make the sensitivity smaller, do not miss such chances (naturally, not as a sacrifice to the above).

Pay attention to the noise in post-processing - shoot indoors in RAW, process in Lightroom (for large noises, the color noise slider goes beyond 50, light very carefully, no further than 30, which is already a lot, just to bring the noise picture to a pleasant mind, not plastic). This will make it easier to get the most out of your photo. nine0003

Use your flash wisely

Indoor flash - not the main light, but the auxiliary . It should fill the shadows, stand out from the background, highlight a little - nothing more, otherwise the photo will become slurred. In principle, it is permissible to use it with a direct shot at the ceiling, but this is usually also an extreme, and you can’t guess with ceilings and walls everywhere, and then you can suffer with color temperature due to green / red / blue / yellow walls in different rooms for a very long time .

However, this option cannot be thrown away, especially if you use reflectors, like 80/20 Lumiquest, “buckets” of them. Gary Fong or just a white card - a white ceiling (not higher than 4 meters), if you direct a flash at it, can become a large light source . Naturally, if at the same time the shadows under the eyes "a la marmot" are filled with success. It is clear that the ceiling should be white, and the walls should strive for it.

Otherwise, the main flash mode is slow rear-curtain sync (Nikon slow-sync rear, Canon just rear curtain). There is no big difference in shutters with a short shutter speed, but you still need to play it safe and “cover up” the blur with an impulse from the flash (I’ll explain: on the front curtain, first the impulse, then the exposure, on the back, vice versa, i.e. the light spot falls as if from above - t .e., if there is any jitter, the key object should be fixed by the flash pulse).

In view of what was written above, that the flash in the room is an auxiliary light, you can try to shoot without it, if you fit into the above exposure parameters, you just need to watch people against a light background, because they will be underexposed. That is, a flash, in principle, is optional (and many wedding attendants in registry offices generally shoot without a flash). nine0003

On the other hand, the photograph should be taken at light color temperature . This is already aerobatics, but you still need to know the basics. The fact is that of all light sources, only a flash has the most neutral color, close to true daylight - white. All other lighting devices deviate from it - fluorescent lamps, they are also fluorescent, can give a reddish or greenish tint, incandescent lamps - yellow. Daylight is also yellowish, and even reddish in the evening (these are windows, if you don’t understand - it enters the room through them). All this can mix in a terrible way indoors, and here you are with a flash: the face will be lit white, and the background, for example, greenish (energy-saving fluorescent lamps are most often installed in rooms today) - it can take up to half an hour to edit such lighting in Photoshop if you have skills. Accordingly, it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat it - in order to equalize the temperature, you need to take a test shot with the white balance set to “flash”, but without a flash, then look at the screen to see what shade the background has turned into and add such a filter to the flash (they are called gel, although the gel is related only through a bad translation). Accordingly, it is not bad to have a red, green and yellow filter for the flash with an effect of no more than a third of a stop, i.e. very light (with good flashes are included, for cheap ones they are cut by hand from anything). Please note that filters take some getting used to. If you don’t have them, if you don’t want to fool yourself with this, just hammer it. nine0003

Choose adequate media

“Shooting indoors” is too broad and general. You can shoot press conferences of presidents - this is one thing, you can weddings in registry offices - this is another, or you can just drink friends or children's photos - this is quite the third. The difference here is in the final quality of the photo - it is unlikely that you will be able to provide the editorial office with a noisy photograph of Medvedev (although they are still printed when there are no options), and even in a wedding shoot, the customer may not be pleased. But it’s easy to post pictures from yesterday’s booze for friends online - when you reduce the images, the noise magically disappears by almost 80%. And therefore, in most cases, you can get by with existing equipment: compacts are quite suitable for everyday shooting (if they focus quickly), DSLRs are enough for shooting weddings, special equipment only requires professional reporting. Therefore, it is necessary to choose tools according to the tasks. Although it is not good to say that expensive equipment is not needed ... we will explain what's what. After all, if the equipment was not required, they would not have bought it, they would have filmed the presidents on inexpensive DSLRs with whale lenses. nine0003

Camera of professional reportage level (the one from $3000) can not only shoot fast, but also shoot at full frame and, as a result, has noise 2-3 steps lower (read, noise at ISO 6400 is the same as as at ISO 800), which means that either the shutter speed can be set two to three times faster, or the sensitivity can be reduced.

Flash ($500) even with slow synchronization can give a gain of about ½ or ⅓ stops, which, in principle, is not critical, but something else is much more important - it can help freeze a small blur or simply highlight the object from the background. nine0003

A professional-grade lens (from $1000) usually, in addition to clarity, also wins a step or two in aperture ratio - the minimum f-number on expensive zoom lenses is 2.8, while regular ones have 3.5-5.6 (the short end loses on 2/3 steps, 2 long). Accordingly, although the depth of field is less, you can reduce the sensitivity by one or two stops (ISO 400 versus 1600 is also not bad, right?).

As a result, it turns out that professional equipment allows you to be a whole head higher (or ahead, as you like) of those who shoot on a regular one - 4-5 steps of a head start are provided for a professional. Actually, they also cost not a penny, and therefore, you have to think about what is better, spend money or soberly assess the situation. nine0003

Walk up the stairs

Step up - step down. Each step is an increase (or decrease) in the amount of light by half, no matter how you implement it. As an option, in many models of modern devices today you can set ISO Auto so that this parameter does not fall below the specified value (for example, 800 or 1600, salt and pepper to taste), set shutter speed priority when shooting long shots (28 mm, f/3.5) set the shutter speed to 1/25s → the camera will reduce the sensitivity, for example, to ISO 200; when shooting close-ups (80 mm, f / 5.6), set 1 / 80s, the camera will set the ISO to about 1250, which is not a problem for modern ones. In this case, on general plans, where there are more details in the shadow areas, we will save the detail in them (it can be critical), and on large plans, where we are talking about faces, you can sacrifice a little shadows (kill noise), they will still be blurry. In Lightroom, this is a matter of a couple of presets, nothing more, but the result will be different. It should, however, be remembered that such a step is only for those who have no memory problems - they forgot to switch, and sat in a puddle. Perhaps it would be easier to set the shutter speed to a fixed one, leaving ISO Auto - when the light improves, the device will reduce the sensitivity itself, and it will save you when you go outside. nine0003

Do not be afraid of experiments

Actually, the above is just a base, a stove, from which you can already dance. Practice the technique, and as you get used to it, try to come up with and use your own techniques (by the way, if you comment below, we won’t mind at all) - photography is akin to life itself, it is constantly moving forward, so this article, perhaps in a couple of years, will boldly find its place in the bin, and it will be possible to replace it with a new one that meets the changed conditions. nine0003

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Law on photo and video filming in 2021

There is no single law in Russia that regulates all the main issues of photo and video filming. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on a variety of regulatory legal acts, depending on the accompanying circumstances. Sometimes, in order to delve into all the legal nuances, you may need a free legal consultation, which is now provided by individual law firms.

Can I shoot in a public place

The law allows filming in public places subject to certain additional requirements (Article 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). True, the normative act does not define what can be considered a public place. Therefore, one has to be guided by established practice and ordinary logic. A public place is usually understood as an area without limited access. This includes shopping centers, shops, cafes, restaurants, stadiums. On the one hand, these structures can be private property. On the other hand, it is a publicly accessible place where filming is allowed if it does not violate the laws of the Russian Federation. An exception is holding events with limited access in public places. Then shooting is allowed only with the permission of the organizers. nine0003

Is it possible to film a person without his consent

There is no law in Russia that would directly prohibit filming or photographing a person without his consent. However, Art. 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, aimed at protecting the image. The law establishes the need to obtain consent to the publication and use of a photograph, video recording of a person from himself. And if such a citizen has already died at the time of the forthcoming publication, the children (and in their absence, parents) of the deceased must give their permission. Consent is not required only in the following situations:

The image is used in the state, public interests. For example, as evidence in a trial.
Photos and videos taken in public places. But only on condition that the filmed person is not the main object on them. For example, you can take and post on the Internet photos from the beach, where various vacationers got into the frame. But you can't intentionally take a picture of one of them and then put the image on the Web.
If the captured person posed, thereby providing a paid service. nine0098

In case of illegal use of an image, all detected media with it are subject to destruction without payment of compensation. But only on the basis of a court decision.

Filming in public places

Filming in a public place and/or during a public event is allowed without the consent of this issue and is completely free. If the law of the Russian Federation does not establish a special status of the object, requiring permission to conduct video filming. The ban on its implementation is possible on the following grounds:

Video filming hinders the movement of citizens and poses a security threat.
The footage is directed at one specific person, which is a violation of the right to privacy.

The law does not prohibit making videos with the participation of officials performing direct duties in public places. For example, Article 8 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 3 (dated 02/07/2011) allows you to film a police officer who stopped for a document check. But in special situations, filming of law enforcement officers is prohibited. For example, during special operations and/or at a specially guarded facility. If a representative of the authorities reports a ban on video filming in a public place, he must refer to a certain legal act. Personal wishes in this matter are not taken into account. Video filming of an official in the office is possible only with his personal permission. nine0003

Is photography allowed in the store

In 2021, Government Decree No. 2463 (dated December 31, 2020) came into force, which, with its conditions, amended the Rules for the sale of retail goods. This normative act secured the right to conduct shooting in the store, if it does not violate the current legislation. Any citizen can freely take pictures of goods (including printed publications), price tags, but only in trading floors and other premises with free access. This rule applies to catering establishments, car dealerships, shopping centers. Photography is also allowed for store employees. But it is forbidden to publish recordings without the consent of the filmed persons. Shooting in back rooms with limited access only for employees without the permission of the administration is not allowed. Any attempt to prevent security from filming by reference to internal directives is illegal. nine0003

Where you can take photos

Photographs must be taken subject to the same legal regulations that govern filming. This means that you can take pictures in public places, if this is not a violation of applicable law. Any person can come to the shopping center and take pictures of its interior decoration, the location of the halls, and visitors. Those. you can take pictures on the territory of any object, if there are no special restrictions established at the legislative level regarding shooting here. nine0003

Where photography is not allowed

Several legal acts at once contain information on the prohibition of taking photos and videos in certain places: APC of the Russian Federation (Article 11), Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation (Article 10), Law of the Russian Federation No. N 5485-1 (dated 06/21/1993). First of all, it is impossible to film people in any area, premises, if these acts violate their right to privacy, to preserve personal and / or family secrets. In this case, the publicity and media character of the person caught in the frame does not matter. Where you can not take pictures and shoot videos: