Designing a studio

azure

New member
I have a spare room in my partment and I want to make a studio. What are the essential things required to make it photo studio?
 

blueiron

New member
You have to be able to control all light in the room. Whether it is from a window or from the room lighting, you have to be able to control the intensity, the direction, and the angle of the lighting.
 

Snap Happy

Senior Member
Room (as in space), and as the other person above said. You must be able to control all light. In the studio, you are the boss, so any stray ambient light that is not under you command can be a problem. :)

Now, the rest.... a good cyclorama is a starting point. You can use a cloth background to start out with. A backdrop stand with a black and white cloth background is a good start. Next will be your lights, 2 at least to start with, studio lights with a modeling light would be preferable, but you can get reflector and shoot through umbrellas to start. One as a main the other as a fill.

A third light for hair lights if you are doing portraiture, or lighting on the cyclorama if you can. If you have not worked in a studio before, there are some books available to help you. I suppose what you need will depend on what you are taking photos of. As I have found that different shoots require different lighting, there is no lighting setup that will do you for everything.

Hope this helps.
 

Fotojo

Senior Member
Great advise from blueiron, and snap happy, but I don't see mention of what camera you are shooting. So you also need to look at how are you going to fire the lights. Does your camera have a PC connection if not you will need either Wren hot shoe adapter or something simular. Or you will have to slaves or get into transmitor and recievers. Just do your home work and invest wisely as this investment is one you will use for years and just build from, so you want to start with a good foundation. I assist teaching young adults at a local Vocational School in my area and we start them with sinle light portraiture. Proper placment of light and good posing and paying attension to shadows you can achive awesome results.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Azure - There is some additional information that is needed to give you a more complete response. If you would please add your camera, lens and any other shooting equipment you have in your profile. It will help to know what you have to work with. Also what size square room do you have to work with? Most apartment rooms are usually not very large. If you have a space problem you might want to consider using the Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) rather than large size umbrellas and reflectors. The Nikon flash units that are compatible with the camera being used as the commander are the SB900, 800, 600, 400, SB-R200 and the SU-800. The output of these units can be changed to meet your lighting requirements. You can use different colored gel filters to get different lighting effects. If you have the room these units can also be used with reflectors and umbrellas. This system is also very portable, compact and carriers its own own power so no extension cords. It can easily be taken to someones home, office or even moved outside. Nikon has published a book on their CLS and you will be amazed at the lighting effects you can achieve.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
I agree that having some additional info would be helpful.

  • Camera model?
  • Room size? 10x10 for example.
  • Are you into flash or continuous lighting setups?
  • Is there a window and which direction (N/S/E/W) does it face?
A home studio does not need to be an expensive venture. Since you're an apartment dweller, I'm guessing this is a budget setup and one that must be portable. Check out some of the info over @ DIYPhotography and Strobist for starters.
 
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