Designing a studio

I'd like to here from those of you that have designed your own

studio, or work in a studio. How much space would be adequate? What

colors should the walls be? What kind of flooring is best? What are

the advantages of using natural light vs. studio lights

(windowless)? What are your experiencing working in a studio

environment? Any comments you have are greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

I'm fairly sure you're going to get a list of replies saying it depends on what type of photography you intend to do in it... product shots, head and shoulders portraits, cars, cruise ships? The amount of space that would be adequate is going to vary depending.

Good point. My focus areas will be:

Single images,

Group images,

Model images,

Family portraits,

Senior portraits,

Customized wedding images,

Children,

and Pets

There's no concrete answer to how much space is adequate, but the generic answer is the more the better. Ideally you want a good ceiing height so you can get overhead lighting in (ie hairlight etc.). If you've got an 8 or 9 foot ceiling that gets pretty tough, unless your subject is down low. I'd prefer at least 12 foot, higher is better in my opinion. A hard floor is a good thing, because you can always put something soft on top if necessary, but things like high heels don't do well with backdrops on soft flooring. I have a polished concrete floor in my studio. Looks very nice, clean and modern, and it's functional as well. As for wall color, ours are painted nuetral gray, to match a gray card. That cuts down reflection or absorbtion of light. Originally they were nearly white, and the space turned into a giant softbox. Not ideal for controlling light. As for natural light, the nice thing is you could take that away in situations you didn't want it, buy window coverings etc. You can fake it if you don't have it, but it's not true natural light. I don't have any in my space, but it would be nice in some cases. I probably would use it rarely in my work, but at the same time it's easy to take away. If you're shooting groups or portraits you need a good bit of length as well, so you can get a decent distance between subject and backdrop, and subject and lens. Then you need a bit of space on the sides for lighting etc. Figure at least 5 feet between subject and backdrop, plus your distance to the camera, and add a bit to that for comfort and you have your minimum distance.

 

Keep in mind your almost always going to wish you had more space. I thought mine was ideal in the beginning, now with accumulating more stuff, and over time, I wish I had a big space. At the same time it's not more than I need, and I've made it work.

Thanks Jared. That's the kind of info I need! I will go without natural light, hard floor, and neutral gray walls for sure. It's all so very logical since you've pointed it out. I need to discuss the ceiling height with the designer. I'm sure I'll have at least 10 feet but just to be sure, I won't have any overhead light fixtures installed, since my strobes will do all the work. If I need additional lighting I'll purchase free standing lamps.

 

Thanks again,

 

Gregg