Whether you are looking at using your home photography studio as a place to practice and perfect your craft in studio photography, or are considering using your studio in your own business, you have to be realistic and look into the business side of having your own home photography studio.
Written by Amber Richards (Wichita Falls Texas)
In the long run, you would definitely want to start earning with the photos that you produce from your home studio, but while you are still learning the ropes of lighting and studio photography you can actually start earning income from your studio by renting it out to other budding photographers. Keep in mind however, that renting out your home photography studio to other photographers also means renting out your studio equipment. That is why it is important to make sure that you invest in studio equipment that will also be good enough for other photographers to use. This is another reason why it is ideal that you invest in equipment that would be enticing for other photographers as well.
By renting out your home photography studio to other photographers you can start getting a return on investment with the lighting and photography equipment you have purchased immediately. Just make sure to have procedures and policies in place to ensure that your equipment is handled with care.
Before you get started in building your home studio, you have to first identify the room in your house that you will be using for your studio. Ideally choose a room which is not being used. Make sure that the room is big enough to accommodate photography and lighting equipment. Think of it as an office where you can work and focus on your photography. It would be ideal if you can have the computer that you use for storing your photos on, as well as post processing set up in that room. It would be more convenient to be able to immediately transfer files to your computer from your camera after each photo shoot, instead of having to run back to your bedroom from your home studio just to transfer and work on your photos. You will definitely be able to save yourself a lot of running back and forth when you have your computer set up in your home studio.
Once things get going with your home studio you can also start decorating, perhaps get a couch and a coffee table, so that you can also entertain guests and clients. To add a personal touch, you can also decorate your home studio with your past works and photographs. Make sure to choose the best and have them framed, these will be great conversation pieces and will also a good opportunity for you to show your talent to guests and clients.
After choosing your room and thinking about some of the interior design elements, you need to consider how the room will function as a photography studio. You can do that by blacking out any light coming from the outside (if you decide on having a blacked out studio). You can use black garbage bags to cover the windows, no need to spend money on anything expensive, as long as it gets the job done and covers the light from the windows, then you are good to go.
Get a white backdrop (fabric or paper) and place it at the back of the room, make sure that it runs from the ceiling to the floor and try to get a white backdrop that does not have any creases in it. You can then place your lighting equipment in front of your white backdrop and you can start experimenting with effects, and start shooting! If you are financially able, there are backdrop stands with either paper or fabric that can be ordered at fairly reasonable prices online.
One of the decisions you have to make while setting up your home photography studio is whether you would want to work with continuous lighting, or flash heads. Like everything else, there is always an advantage and disadvantage to both; it really boils down to how you will make the most of it.
Continuous lighting costs relatively less than flash heads and also offers a good option for a budget, if you need to work with one. Because the light is always on, you can easily assess and examine a scene to see where the shadows are and what the lights are doing in relation to your subject. From there you will be able to work on manipulating the light in your studio.
Now the biggest disadvantage when using continuous lighting is that it actually emanates and produces a lot of heat compared to flash systems, and this can actually heat up your studio and the models or subjects you are working with. Sometimes it can get hot and uncomfortable under these lighting circumstances.
If you will consider or opt to use a flash system instead, you will get to work with greater power and have more control of your lighting settings in your studio. Flash systems will also have more consistency. If you are just starting setting up your studio and purchasing equipment it is actually ideal to start with a lighting kit which will be discussed throughout the ebook.