MAKE YOUR OWN HOME STUDIO

If you have access to a reasonably sized room, windows and co-operative family or friends, you already have the basic ingredients for a simple home portrait studio. Available light and a willing sitter are really all you need to get started (plus your camera, of course), but almost immediately you’re going to want to do more, particularly in terms of having increased control over the lighting.

You can have a basic portrait studio setup that you put together only when you want to shoot and then can be packed away afterwards, but as you get more experienced – and more involved – you might want a more permanent arrangement, perhaps in a spare room, garage or loft space. Setting up and packing away can become a bit of a chore if you’re shooting portraits on a regular basis and, if you’re also doing full-body shots, photographing two or more people, or playing around with props and backdrops, then you’ll probably also need more room to move. A permanent studio area is always desirable, but you can work just as well with a temporary setup using all the same equipment and accessories.

If you’re starting out using just available light from a window or doorway, then you’ll need to think about how to ‘fill in’ or soften the shadows on the dark side of your subject. This can be done very simply with a sheet of white card to bounce some light onto the subject. However, purpose-made photographic reflectors are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes, usually with sprung metal frames so they can be quickly folded up for easy storage.

You can also choose between a variety of surface types