Paint color for studio

[gsgary]

The two rooms are very small. One is 10x11 and the other 10x12.

There is also a sunroom that I will be using. Two walls are mostly sliding glass doors and then there is one short wall, maybe 6 ft long and another longer wall, around 10ft. This room is trickier because it is open to the rest of the house, so I feel like the paint color is there is going to have to flow with the rest of the house. I'm thinking of using the gray in there because there will be a lot of light with the sliders. Thoughts?

These rooms are no where big enough, if using a white background you want the model at least 6 feet from the background

 

[table1349]

For small rooms I suggest flat black. In a small space light bounce is a problem with light colored walls. Black absorbs light, problem solved. Thing is, you really need a dedicated studio space to do this. Most wives, husbands etc don't like black rooms for general use.

 

[DreamPhotos]

It is a dedicated studio space, so black wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Big Mike]

Firstly, you don't want any sort of color, because any light bouncing off of that wall will pick up that color. (I know we've already moved past this part, but I'm just trying to lay it out).

Secondly, you should consider whether or not you want light bouncing off of the surfaces. You can use a camera mounted flash and bounce it off of a wall to give you beautiful soft & directional light. But a possible problem is that when you're shooting in a smaller space, the light will not only bounce off of one wall, it will bounce off the opposite wall as well, and light up your subject on the other side. This can give you really soft looking light, which can be great....but if you want to shoot a more dramatic portrait, with a deeper ratio (darker shadows) then you have to start blocking light and getting creative.

Even if you aren't bouncing light directly off of a wall, in a small space, it will bounce off anyway, and affect the light on your subject.
For high key & bright field type shots, this isn't really a problem. But for low key & dark field type shots, this can be a big problem.

So if you know which type of shooting you'll be doing, it can help make your decision.

If you're not sure, grey is a nice compromise between white and black. My own inclination would be to use a darker grey or even black, because I have enough lights to add more in if I need to, but blocking it can be tricky (but not impossible).