Help Me Plan a Studio Room

[PixelRabbit]

I should add that the reason I'm leaning towards building into the corner is I had an idea of using metal on the walls and using those strong magnets with arms/clamps mounted to them hold lights/reflectors. I will likely be using homemade solutions for lighting for a while so the area would be set up with it's own lights that won't be moved and used elsewhere.

 

[IByte]

Take a look at this Pixelated rodent

 

[Big Mike]

Even for shooting small objects/products etc. I think it's really beneficial to have more space. For example, you may want to have something fairly far away from the background and/or you may want to have lights behind the object, possibly having to to use flags or gobos as well. So you might be placing the subject in the middle of the room so that you can place lights in any position around it.

While I can see the benefit of using the closed in walls for support, I think it would be more prohibitive than helpful.

Either way, it's all about being creative and using whatever happens to work for you at the time. An old photography instructor once told me "I shoot with available light...any F-ing light that's available".

 

[ronlane]

I'd buy or build some shelves in that area to hold as mentioned, accessories and camera gear. Then when you get it all done, you will be able to justify getting more stuff because that space isn't filled.

I'm sure that Mr Rabbit can easily understand this (It's just like buying a tool box when you don't have any tools, you HAVE to fill it up.)

 

[pgriz]

I vote for a storage box on wheels, with enough height to put stands, lights, bric&brac, in there. The storage box should also have a level top surface, so you can use it, if necessary as a support for your small-object photography. You may want to also consider putting a couple of 2x4 uprights at the far side of the box, with the metal shelving vertical brackets attached, so that if needed, you could place the shelving support brackets which could then support either shelving, or "stages" which could be used for shooting through. With this structure, you have a very versatile piece of equipment - wheel it out when you need to put your light around it, and when you're done, everything goes back in the box, AND you've got a clean room.

 

[IByte]

We have a couple extra rooms here and I've decided to turn one into a small studio of sorts for taking shots w/o natural light. I'm just starting on my journey in off camera lighting techniques so I'm asking for a bit of help planning it out so I don't do something silly and have to redo major things down the line.

There is a corner in the room that is about 5ft wide by 5ft deep (think a small closet that was never closed in).

What would you say this corner is suitable for? I was thinking of putting a table in it and build a reflector frame to fit into the space.

I'm wondering if this is viable and if there is enough room, should I be leaving space between the frame and the wall or can it be built to fit?

Other thoughts?

Thanks in advance for helping me avoid some mistakes!

Shame you guys don't have an in-law house you can convert

 

[pixmedic]

That's where the wine rack and mini-bar goes. ;-)

+1 to the mini-bar.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Even for shooting small objects/products etc. I think it's really beneficial to have more space. For example, you may want to have something fairly far away from the background and/or you may want to have lights behind the object, possibly having to to use flags or gobos as well. So you might be placing the subject in the middle of the room so that you can place lights in any position around it.

While I can see the benefit of using the closed in walls for support, I think it would be more prohibitive than helpful.

Either way, it's all about being creative and using whatever happens to work for you at the time. An old photography instructor once told me "I shoot with available light...any F-ing light that's available".

Thanks Mike, LOVE the bolded! I can definitely relate and get on board with that quote!
Vote 1 for storage....

I'd buy or build some shelves in that area to hold as mentioned, accessories and camera gear. Then when you get it all done, you will be able to justify getting more stuff because that space isn't filled.

I'm sure that Mr Rabbit can easily understand this (It's just like buying a tool box when you don't have any tools, you HAVE to fill it up.)

Thanks Ron
Vote 2 for storage and a GREAT argument for Mr. Rabbit! You should SEE his shop, not an inch of storage space unused!

I vote for a storage box on wheels, with enough height to put stands, lights, bric&brac, in there. The storage box should also have a level top surface, so you can use it, if necessary as a support for your small-object photography. You may want to also consider putting a couple of 2x4 uprights at the far side of the box, with the metal shelving vertical brackets attached, so that if needed, you could place the shelving support brackets which could then support either shelving, or "stages" which could be used for shooting through. With this structure, you have a very versatile piece of equipment - wheel it out when you need to put your light around it, and when you're done, everything goes back in the box, AND you've got a clean room.

Thanks Paul
Vote 3 for storage and a great suggestion to have it on wheels and the supports!

Shame you guys don't have an in-law house you can convert

Ok IByte, please expand on that ... I'm having a moment and not getting what you are getting at....

That's where the wine rack and mini-bar goes. ;-)

+1 to the mini-bar.

Haha thanks Pix, that's 2 for the mini-bar! Damn that's a close second to storage....


Thanks so much all, GREAT suggestions and reasons behind turning it into storage. THAT is why I asked, I totally would have built into that corner and perhaps regretted it. I don't have a lack of space to work with around here but I definitely want to do it smart right out of the gate. I think you guys saved me some grief!

 

[Big Mike]

Thanks Mike, LOVE the bolded! I can definitely relate and get on board with that quote!
Vote 1 for storage....

It sounds even better along with the story he was telling at the time.
He was working on a fashion/magazine shoot (I think he said it was in downtown Vancouver) and they needed a tiny bit of light in a very specific spot. So they look around and behind a carpet store they find these heavy cardboard carpet roll tubes. They found that they needed to attach two of them together to form a 24 foot long snoot. They had to push so much light/power through it, that when the strobe fired, it sounded like a cannon.
Any F-ing light that is available.

 

[IByte]

If the two empty rooms are connected, why not tear down the seperation wall? Then you have a bigger room for your studio.

 

[Vautrin]

What lenses will you be shooting with? Specifically, what focal length?

This is actually your critical question.

Before I built my own home studio set up, I had someone stand against the wall, and I took a look with various lenses to see what I can shoot

full body shots: 50mm. 105mm for close up work.

I'd love to use the 105mm for full body, but it's not possible given how small the room is.

5x5 might allow you to do headshots with a 50mm but little else.

If however you're into Macro, you'll have plenty of room...

Because, the focal length will determine how much distance you need between your subject and you shoot. A small subject can have a small distance even with a big focal length. A big subject you might need big distance with a small focal length.

You might also be thinking, what about using a wide angle lens?

That will let you shoot closer to the subject, but will distort your subject

That's why you're better off with longer focal lengths for portraits.

In addition, to get that really nice black background you've probably seen, it's best if there's quite a bit of distance behind the model.

So, in summary, minibar it is

 

[PixelRabbit]

Just posting this from my iPod to get it uploaded, will add my comments when I'm on the computer and not one finger typing lol

If the two empty rooms are connected, why not tear down the seperation wall? Then you have a bigger room for your studio.

Thanks IByte, I attached the floor plan for the upstairs. The room we are talking about is the one at the bottom next to the Master. The "room" I'm thinking about for future possible portrait work would be the one labelled "growing room". The south side of that growing room is all windows BUT it's pretty narrow. As far as I know we can't take the wall out between it and the east bedroom that adjoins to it because the wall is insulated as part of how the "house within a house" design works.

What lenses will you be shooting with? Specifically, what focal length?

This is actually your critical question.

Before I built my own home studio set up, I had someone stand against the wall, and I took a look with various lenses to see what I can shoot

full body shots: 50mm. 105mm for close up work.

I'd love to use the 105mm for full body, but it's not possible given how small the room is.

5x5 might allow you to do headshots with a 50mm but little else.

If however you're into Macro, you'll have plenty of room...

Because, the focal length will determine how much distance you need between your subject and you shoot. A small subject can have a small distance even with a big focal length. A big subject you might need big distance with a small focal length.

You might also be thinking, what about using a wide angle lens?

That will let you shoot closer to the subject, but will distort your subject

That's why you're better off with longer focal lengths for portraits.

In addition, to get that really nice black background you've probably seen, it's best if there's quite a bit of distance behind the model.

So, in summary, minibar it is

Haha, thanks Vautrin! Mini bar is catching up fast!
At this point this room would only be macro/small stuff, the plan (if I decide I like people enough to take their pictures) is to do portrait work in the "growing room" in the picture below.

Right now I use an 18-200 lens most of the time but have old lenses that I got the converter for, a 50mm and a 70-200.

The other two small bedrooms on the east side are somewhat negotiable, one is currently our daughter's old bedroom (moved out ) and the other is a music room.

 

[pgriz]

Judi, no-one said you can't build a mini-bar into your storage box. And if you really want to get ambitious, you can add an overhead let of lights and make it a print-viewing station!