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I am hoping to get some feedback on an idea I have on converting one of the rooms in my house into a home studio. Currently I have an office on the side of my house which I have converted to a fully equipped gym. I don't really need my own gym anymore as I have a great one at work.

I've set up my own make-shift studio in regards to products shots but that's a different kettle of fish, as I am hoping to use this home studio for modelling people not products etc.

I've seen a few photographs of home studios but I've never actually checked a quality one out for myself in real life. My concern is that the room itself may been too small for this purpose. Here are the dimensions:

Length: 5.5 m
Width: 3.5 m
Height: 2.5 m

I know that lights and softboxes can take up heaps of room and I'm thinking that if I set up a background at the usual width my lights would actually be within the background width.

As I said I'm only thinking about it (but fairly seriously) so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps
Cyrus

Cyrus,

In my experience the room may be too small. having said that, I have had to make do at times with circumstances similar to that.

For good studio lighting it is essential to be able to get good separation between subject and background. It is also desirable to be able to back the lights off the subject a bit. Standard rolls of background paper are 9 feet wide and yyour room is a bit over 11 feet wide so you are correct in saying it will be tight on the sides. And the ceiling height will not really allow much scope with overhead lighting. For still-life table top stuff It would be adequate for a lot of stuff, and it might even serve for head-shots. But full length could prove problematic.

Mind you, why the fascination with using excess walking protein to bounce light off?

Cheers,

Sheetshooter wrote:
Mind you, why the fascination with using excess walking protein to bounce light off?

Cheers,

Thanks very much for your feedback Sheetshooter, I appreciate it. I'm not sure what you meant by this though? Are you asking why I have developed an interest in studio photography of models?

Cyrus

well i think it could be big enough for small product photos, if you can fit a shooting table inside. i guess the room would restrict you to certain shooting styles.

One of the biggest regrets I have in moving out of our house (which was actually before I had the d70) was not being able to set up a studio... our apartment here at the ANU does not have enough rooms...

I would love to set up a room for controling my shooting environment..

Without any real knowledge I would agree with what has been said... however, get/use a macro lens and everything suddenly becomes interesting no matter what the size!

Cyrus wrote:

Sheetshooter wrote:
Mind you, why the fascination with using excess walking protein to bounce light off?

Cheers,

..... I'm not sure what you meant by this though? Are you asking why I have developed an interest in studio photography of models?

Cyrus

Cyrus,

Don't worry about it. I am just a jaded victim of too many bimbos (and male bimbos). Tens of thousands of them, in fact.

There are so many subjects one can shoot (including people who are NOT models) where your efforts will be rewarded by acclaim and your message heard loud and clear. But put a model in the picture and all of a sudden the picture, your message and your skills no longer matter. It will become simply all about the model. Irrespective of the quality of the shot a picture of an ugly broad is a dud shot - period!

And that is before we get to the point that it is the most challenging and difficult of genres from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint and a pursuit at which most fail abysmally.

But give it a go - you might be great! I hope you are!!

Cheers,

have a word with fellow Queenslander, Xerubus [mark] he had a home studio and I think he is selling his studio equiptment.........have a look in the for sale section

Sheetshooter wrote:And that is before we get to the point that it is the most challenging and difficult of genres from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint and a pursuit at which most fail abysmally.

But give it a go - you might be great! I hope you are!!

Cheers,

Thanks again for your comments Sheetshooter, I agree with you on many of your points, I'm just not as jaded as you yet.

In reards to the quote above, if I was detered by a challenge, I wouldn't have picked up a camera in the first place!

Also thanks Big Pix, I have seen Marks post on another forum about his studio for sale. Timing is everything and now is not quite the right time as far as purchasing the gear for my home studio, which is a pitty as I'd love to have the gear Mark is selling.

Cheers
Cyrus