Wanting to make a studio

[MeganChristine]

Hey all. I'm starting a slow process of getting a little photography studio set up in my house. I really enjoy photographing kids, especially babies. The room I plan on using is 10.5 ft wide by 11 ft long. I am in the process of spackling walls and filling cracks now. This may sound like a silly question, but what is the best color to paint the room? I am assuming white but not sure and want to ask before I paint it. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated. The room has a total of 3 windows. One window is on the north side and the other 2 are right next to each other on the west side.

 

[JustJazzie]

I think hot pink would look nice. ;-)
I'm not an expert but I'd go white too. My studio has beige walls though and it hasn't been an issue yet. Just adds a little warmth.

 

[gsgary]

I wouldn't go with white because it's a small room for a studio and you will get light bouncing all over the room

 

[tirediron]

That's a VERY small space in which to photograph. How high are the ceilings?

Gary's right in that white will 'bounce' the light everywhere, but if you're looking to do ambient light work, especially with children, that may not be a bad thing. If it were me, I would go for middle gray, and then use my lights and/or gels to change the colours as required.

 

[Designer]

If I were going to do that in my own house, I'd paint the walls and ceiling flat gray. Everything flat paint, including any wood. Gray commercial carpet on the floor.

 

[KmH]

I have a bedroom I use as a small studio - 12 x 12 x 8 foot ceilings.
I painted the walls a flat (no gloss) medium gray and I painted the ceiling a flat white so I could use it to bounce light without getting a color cast from the surface.
I use 107" (8 feet 11 inches) wide medium gray seamless paper for my background.
The room has a double window that faces north.

 

[fyeo]

I wish I had a white wall with a white floor that curves smoothly in my studio, it would make some things much easier. And with that I could have pull down backdrops to give me more variety and also block the light bouncing. but I use strobes, not so much ambient.

18% gray walls are probably good, helps control the bouncing, and doesnt add a color cast to the light. if the back wall and ceiling was white you could in theory turn that into a huge softbox by bouncing a light off of it onto the subject.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

If you want fill light from bounced flashes as many have said above gray is the way to go in a small space; however, if you like having complete control of your light and have the equipment necessary to do so then in my honest opinion a black studio is always best. It's very much up to personal opinion and preference. The lighter your walls the more and brighter bounced light they will create and the color will effect the tonality of the light.

I would recommend black if you have access to a lot of lights and do not plan on shooting with natural light or a shade of neutral gray based on what type of work you will be doing.