So you started a photography business and things are going well.
Now you’re set on taking a step further and finally building a photography studio.
You factored in the costs, you studied your market and can afford to raise your rates to cover the extra overhead, and you’re just itching to start putting up seamless papers and assembling your lights.
Building a proper studio from scratch is a dream for a lot of creatives but unfortunately, getting a studio up and running isn’t as easy as DIY-ing your V Flats or hand painting a canvas backdrop yourself.
So whether you’re setting up a studio out of your garage or you’re renting a commercial space, here’s your definitive guide to building a photography studio in 2022.
Decide on a Location
It all starts here. Where does it make sense to build your first photography studio? A lot of pros started setting up studios in their apartments like I did, while others just want to get out there ASAP and rented commercial spaces in their first few years in the business. Personally, my studio is always changing, you can see my latest setup on Instagram, and nowadays I’m mostly shooting outdoors on Maui’s beautiful beaches. I use to own studio on the mainland, now I have a separate home studio.
If you’re going to build a studio in a spare room, you’re going to have to deal with a lot of space constraints, but you’ll be saving A LOT of money. You could also try looking at Craigslist or ReadySpaces to rent a commercial space and build your studio there.
But if you’re not ready to spend the cash and just want to get your feet wet, try out Peerspace for something more temporary. Think AirBnB, but for photo and video production uses.
If you don’t need another studio’s gear, you can also look into co-working spaces, where many offer packages (eg. 10 hours a month) that fit your need. It can be a hassle if you have a ton of gear, but I have a portable lighting and backgrounds, which makes it relatively easy for me to shoot in various spaces. When I lived in Vegas, I shot a ton in conferences, so I built a fairly travel friendly setup.
Whichever route you may go, here are a few pointers that can help you lock down the room dimensions you’ll need for your work, which will help tremendously when you’re picking out a location.
Width – It’s easy to underestimate the space you’re going to need, even if you’re just planning on doing headshots or product photos. Let’s say you’re doing portraits, and you want to get up to a small group in your frame. For full-length portraits of a small group, you’ll need a 9-foot width seamless paper.
Now what a lot of people forget is that you’ll need extra space on top of that 9 ft for your lights. If you’re not comfortable with having your lights in your shots, allow yourself at least a couple of meters more. Reconfigure these estimates to requirements, but always get yourself more space than you think you’ll need to avoid headaches later.
Depth – Let’s circle back to the portrait example. Most backgrounds won’t sit flush into the wall, so factor in at least a 20-inch space between the wall and the background.
Then you’re going to want another 3 feet between the backdrop and your subject if you want to get some separation in your shots. Here’s the important bit. Take an 85mm or a 105mm lens or whatever glass you know you’re going to use a lot, grab a tape measure, and see how much shooting distance you need depending on your focal length. Add those three things together and you get your ideal room depth.
Height – Don’t forget about ceiling height! Now you might not be getting 6’4” clients daily, but you’ll need ample room for your backdrop stands and overhead lighting set up to work. Aim to get at least 10 feet of ceiling height.
Have a look at Matt Granger’s advice on picking out a studio space for more:
Set up the Backdrops
Now it’s time to use all that space you’re paying for and get yourself a good photography backdrop. Like any piece of gear, a backdrop is a very personal choice — there’s no one size fits all solution.
That’s why we covered the best photo backgrounds for any budget, and I suggest having a read through that if you need more inspiration. To save you some time, I have a couple of suggestions.
There’s no better way to start than with a couple or more seamless papers.
Savage makes some of the best rolls out there and you can never go wrong with a classic white background. Just remember to pick the right size for your space and you’ll have a timeless setup at your disposal with very little investment.
Another versatile backdrop you can get is an EzyFrame Vintage Background by Manfrotto. It can live in your studio like a normal backdrop or you can take the whole thing apart and carry it with you on assignment.
What makes the EzyFrame backdrops so awesome is they perfectly mimic the elegant look of a hand-painted canvas without the premium price tag. You can also build on your first set with additional covers and expand your arsenal with more looks.
I personally own the smaller version, which is collapsible and easier to pop-out when needed. Here’s a shot of my Pug, Benji (RIP) on it:
Let there be Light
Having absolute control over your lighting is probably up there in the top three reasons why creatives dream of owning a studio. The ability to slip into your own “lab” and play around with different lighting setups however and whenever you want adds a lot to your growth as an artist.
If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, you can’t beat the used market. Try looking for AlienBees B800 flash heads on eBay for a good deal, or for not much more, get them brand new. These things have been around for ages and are highly regarded pieces of kit. The B800s pack a lot of power and a great step up from speedlights.
Another route you can take, instead of building a lighting system by piece, is to take advantage of kits. Elinchrom currently sells a bundle which includes two tried and true D-Lite RX 4 monolights that output 400W, light stands, a softbox and an octa box that should be more than enough to get you started right away.
Keep in mind that both options are AC powered so you won’t be able to take them on location unless you invest in battery packs. Since you’re building a studio lighting kit, both options should do nicely.
Of course, you’re going to want to expand your kit and add more light modifiers to your bag of tricks. You might want to look at basic, bigger shoot through umbrellas and softboxes to start, and then add more specialized modifiers later on. Here are a few options to get you started:
- Elinchrom EL26357 Lighting Umbrella Deep White – Best
- Godox UB-130S 51 inch Parabolic Umbrella – Better
- Neewer 65cm Octagonal Softbox – Good
- Beauty Dish w/ Grid – A beauty dish with a grid is my favorite light modifier. A little cheaply made compared to others I own, but a great value and produces the same result.
Chances are you’re doing with modest spaces when you’re just getting in the game so check out Kayleigh June’s awesome guide for doing beautiful lighting setups for smaller studio spaces.
Grip Equipment and Studio Accessories
You need something to keep all your gear up and running, and that’s where grip equipment comes in. We’ve covered the best photography light stands for every situation before if you need a primer on this very essential studio equipment, but here’s the rundown of the must-haves you should get first.
Impact Heavy-Duty Air-Cushioned Light Stand – The building blocks of every studio set up. Light stands hold up lighting gear, modifiers, or whatever you may want to be suspended in the air. Get yourself a few good quality light stands that will last your entire career.
Mathews C-Stand with 20″ Grip Head and Arm – C-stands (or century stands) are the most reliable, sturdiest stands you could get for your studio. These hardy things have boom arms with grip heads that’ll let you position lights or modifiers freely without moving the entire stand.
Tripods for Portrait Photography – Invest in a high-quality tripod at the start of your career and you’ll thank yourself later. I have a solid Manfrotto tripod for in-studio sessions, and then I use a lot of different portable/lightweight tripods for travel.
Next up are the bits and pieces that’ll make studio management that much easier. We’ve covered the best gifts for photographers and the best camera accessories before, and were taking some recommendations from those articles.
ABCCANOPY Sandbags – Reinforce light stands with more weight for better stability. They’re cheap and you can get a dozen of these for about $60 bucks.
SLOW DOLPHIN Studio Clamps – You’ll need proper clamps to hold down reflectors or backdrops.
Polaroid Now+ – You don’t have to get a polaroid but if you have the dough to spare, I suggest grabbing one. Sometimes, it’s fun to document the work you’re doing or give a client a nice souvenir of their time at your studio.
LaCie Rugged USB-C 4TB External Hard Drive – Great for backing up files in your studio. Follow the 3-2-1 rule of redundancy system: 3 copies of your files, on 2 separate storage devices, with 1 device outside the shooting area. Getting yourself a few of these rugged hard drives can save you a lot of money and headaches in the future. Personally, for externals I use HDD instead of SSD. I’ve used SSD’s before but it crashed and I learned the hard lesson that you can’t recover data on an SSD like you can an HDD. The LaCie hard drive’s write speed isn’t as fast as an SSD, but certainly sufficient for photo (even video) editing.
Wrapping Up
If you’re set on building yourself a photography studio, the most important thing is to not get bogged down by budget constraints. Get out there and grab whatever you can afford now and sell it later when it no longer serves your needs. Matt Granger said it best:
“Don’t sit there for a year, not shooting, because you think ‘I need to have the top of the line before I can event start.’ Enjoy your photography now. Who knows what’s gonna be happening in a year?”