How to make a home photo studio

Posted by Australia ETA on February 14th, 2020

Have you seen photographs of teapots or other mirror objects in which the photographer and another floor of the room are reflected? To avoid this, you need to not only be able to use the light, but also properly equip your studio. visit website.

- COLOR OF WALLS -

Since I specialize in subject photography, the walls in my studio are neutral gray . Such walls are needed so as not to reflect (white walls) and not absorb (black walls) light, while not giving color reflexes (any colored walls).

Furniture in the studio: gray sofa, white table, cabinets and shelves. The only really bright thing in the studio is the chair - bright red. When it interferes, it is easy to remove. 

- LOCATION OF FURNITURE -

Positioning your desktop near a window is a great idea! It is convenient to write, read, look out the window and even take pictures on the phone) 

On both sides of the table I have super convenient IKEA BILLI display cabinets , they are small and therefore do not look bulky. At the same time, they contain a lot of props, equipment, magazines and books. 

With this arrangement of the table and storage areas, I left a large empty space for shooting. And the computer to which data is transmitted during shooting is always in sight.

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- TOTAL BLACKING -

It is very inconvenient to work in the studio with a window during the day: natural light often interrupts the modeling light of monoblocks. It’s easier to work at night in complete darkness and only with modeling light. I used to do that before.

But now I have blackout curtains with blackout on my windows. Absolute control of natural light! 

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- PHOTO EQUIPMENT -

At the moment I’m shooting on a Canon 5d mark IV, I’m not going to switch to mirrorless cameras. And I have only 2 Carl Zeiss 50 mm and Canon 100 mm Macro L lenses. But they cover 100% of the tasks. And of course the Macbook and iMac. Apple products are faster than anyone else inoperative, so they are constantly changing to a new one. 

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- MONOBLOCKS -

I have 2 Broncolor Siros pulsed light sources . Broncolor is a Swiss company that has been manufacturing professional lighting equipment for over 50 years! Needless to say, these monoblocks create magical light? Just see my photos)

Why did I choose Broncolor and not Profoto? 

At the same source power, Broncolor has a wider range of light pulses: from a very weak flash at 2.0 to a powerful light stream at 10.0. Someone that does not matter, but I often shoot wide open still-life with burning candle.

More reliable bayonet mount. Here, comments are superfluous - just try to put on a large softbox on the Profoto candy bar not in the new studio.

Better and more reliable light. Once on set, I managed to smash the expensive, but unreliable Profoto synchronizer. My Broncolor synchronizer has fallen dozens of times, but it works properly.

Management via Wi-Fi. I can completely control the sources from my phone. This is very convenient when the candy bar is somewhere in a hard-to-reach place or I myself am standing on a high stepladder or table.

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- TRIPOD -

Another indispensable thing in the subject's studio is a tripod. It should be heavy, steady and rise as high as possible. I have a Manfrotto 475B .

First of all, when shooting with natural light, when the light intensity is low, and you need to either raise the ISO or open the aperture. But the best solution is to increase the exposure time and take off the tripod. 

And a tripod is necessary when shooting a catalog, when all the photos must be exactly from one angle.

And of course, when creating GIFs or cinemagraphs, you can’t do without a tripod;)

- MIRROR -

Without a mirror , I can’t do a single shooting! It is an ideal reflector that can replace a light source. That is why 2 monoblocks are enough for me. Pros of using a mirror: 

it is of perfect rectangular shape with a flat surface, so the lens flare is even and neat, in contrast to the "special" photo reflectors,

takes up little space on the set and is easily transported,

the intensity of the reflected light from the mirror is slightly lower than from the source itself, so the mirror can replace a monoblock.

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- BACKGROUND -

As a background, I use a variety of surfaces. Often the most ordinary paper. I have a huge supply of white Whatman paper and colored paper of A1 format, which is very convenient to store in a basket as in the photo. The packages do not crease and are always at hand!   

I also use wrapping paper (the coolest in the Republic and  Paperie ). 

And of course I have a whole (constantly updated) collection of wooden and concrete photophones. I used to make them myself, but now I trust professionals) For several years I have been working with the Woodville workshop , they can order backgrounds from the collection or ask them to make an individual background for a specific project. For shooting MTS Bank, for example, I ordered red wooden backgrounds.

- DETAILS -

I am not just a photographer, but also a prop stylist. I have a lot of props. I keep it in boxes, each of which is signed. In addition to glass and utensils - they stand in a separate cabinet-display case. So what is my props? 

2 boxes of textile napkins,

3 boxes of New Year's decor,

2 boxes for other holidays (Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc.)

a few boxes with dried leaves, cotton, shells, ... I sign them Natural,

a box of postcards and envelopes,

a box of non-perishable food (cocoa beans, vanilla and even macaroons)),

tubes and beautiful disposable tableware,

cutlery

candles

and many more details that are located throughout the house.

- PIECES -

Often I use all sorts of things that make the filming process easier for me) 

camera control panel - it’s very convenient when the hand should be in the frame (mine, there’s no model) and you need to press the shutter,

double sided tape,

masking (construction) adhesive tape - holds well and leaves no residue,

gag eraser - instead of wax glue,

gloves

artificial ice

lensball

photo effects: smoke, dew drops, artificial snow,

and much more;)

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I hope my story will inspire you to create your own workspace! 

And I managed to create a studio in which I have been working for 5 years. I have shot many wonderful projects and am glad to admit that working in such a home photo studio is more convenient than in a rented one. The picture in quality does not exactly lose! At the same time, the room has not lost comfort and serves as a guest.