Bring those dark hut interiors to life with these simple tips.

Get everything in
In small huts it can be hard to get everything into your photograph, so use a wide angle lens and frame carefully. If there is a table or some bunks in your shot, you can sometimes use these as leading lines to help draw you into the photograph.

Find a rustic hut 
While modern huts are very comfortable and nice inside, they often lack the character, quirks and stories of older huts. Shutes Hut, an old rabbiter’s hut built in 1920, has loads of character and history.

Add some warmth
A good fire is an asset to any hut, and any hut photograph. It gives the image a clear focal point, drawing you in. The fire will also make the hut feel like a place where you want to be. Even with a fire, huts are often dimly lit inside, so use a tripod (a table or bunk can work, too) to get a sharp shot.

Include some hut life
Don’t just shoot an empty hut, try to include some hut life; this could be a person sitting by the fire or a billy on the boil. The photograph should tell the story of your home for the night after a long day in the hills.

Location: Shutes Hut, Ruahine FP, Hawke’s Bay
Camera Settings: 24mm lens, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/13 second

– Richard Young runs photography workshops in Tongariro National Park