When I moved into my downtown loft nearly three years ago, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to create an in-home photography studio. I had just begun to think of myself as a professional photographer, and I felt that having a studio at my disposal would enable me to take on more work.

And while it has increased my professional opportunities, I've found that having my own studio has also contributed to the creative process, gets the creative juices flowing. Once, for example, I assisted on a commercial shoot for Verizon. The session used a huge arrangement of helium balloons, which at the end of the day, were headed to the trash bin. Instead, I took them home with me, thinking I'd be able to do something fun with them in my studio. I called up a friend to model for me, and in a few days I had some great images to show my stock agent.

If I hadn't had a home studio, I would have had to think about a studio rental. And equipment rental. And booking a model in advance -- one who wouldn't flake out and leave me paying for a studio rental with nothing to shoot. All of that may have been enough to deflate the whole idea.

And therein lies the advantage of having your own studio: financial and creative benefits. When it costs less to shoot, you can experiment, try new things, photograph more freely.

Slideshow

At-Home Photo Studio Setup

At-Home Photo Studio Setup

By Eileen Sweeney, eHow

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Overview

If photography is one of your interests, you probably know how expensive it can be. One way to cut down on costs is to set up a photography studio right in your house. Photographer Arisa Kim provides a tour of her home studio, tips on the set up and a few examples of what can be accomplished there.

Arisa Kim

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A Great Space for a Home Photography Studio

This is how my living space is normally arranged, minus the usual clutter. (You would be appalled at the amount of stuff hiding just behind the screen.) Do you see the white seamless hanging from the ceiling? I usually forget it’s there.

Arisa Kim

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Home as a Photography Studio

Full studio set-up. Here’s how it happens: The red bench, sofa, table and stools get pushed to the side. I pull out my ladder to unroll the white seamless and tape it down to the floor. While I’m up on the ladder, I take down two of my pendant lights that hang from a track on the ceiling. I set up my main strobe light (with the octo-box), fill light (with the umbrella) and background light. I added the stool so you can picture where the subject would be.

Arisa Kim

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A Colorful Shoot

This is one of the shots taken with the Verizon balloons. I had the studio set up very similar to how it’s pictured in the previous slide.

Arisa Kim

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The One-Light Set Up

An option for a one-light set up. I clamped a reflector to my ladder to give me a little fill light.

Arisa Kim

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Using Your Flash

Flash unit on a stand. I have a small diffuser on the unit, but you can still see how much harder the light is by looking at the shadow of the stool.

Arisa Kim

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Storage Solution

My background holder. All materials except for the cross bar were bought at Home Depot for around $15.

Arisa Kim

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Background Options

Studio set up using background stands and a cloth backdrop. The fabric in this shot is made to be a backdrop -- it doesn’t wrinkle, it’s large, and there’s a loop sewn at one end for the cross bar to fit through. It cost a couple of hundred dollars. A cheap alternative is to get large lengths of fabric and just clip them onto the crossbar.

Arisa Kim

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A Dramatic Shoot

Here’s a shot using a black background. I just used one light (no reflector) to increase the drama.

Arisa Kim

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Try Different Backdrops

Don’t have background stands? This is your chance to be resourceful. Just look around for something cool to shoot against. I tried using my screen.

Arisa Kim

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Be Creative

Here’s how it turned out. My awesome assistant Rebecca was not happy when I asked her to jump in for this shot. This was the only picture where she didn’t look annoyed at me.

Arisa Kim

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Shooting Without a Backdrop

If you have the space and the lights, you don’t always need a backdrop. I shot this in a friend’s living room, and the decor was better than any backdrop I could have provided.

Arisa Kim

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Wireless Shooting

Did you notice those cords in slide 2? Imagine another one connecting the camera to the main light. To avoid that additional cord, get a set of these.

Arisa Kim

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Viewing 1 of 13

If photography is one of your interests, you probably know how expensive it can be. One way to cut down on costs is to set up a photography studio right in your house. Photographer Arisa Kim provides a tour of her home studio, tips on the set up and a few examples of what can be accomplished there.

Arisa Kim

Space: Find Your Area

I've known some photographers who set up studios in a garage, storage room or other dedicated space. My studio, however, is truly an in-home studio. When I'm not working, my loft looks like a typical living space; but when I shoot, I do some clever rearranging of the sofa, chairs and other fixtures. This can feel like a hassle at times, but then I recall the Arnold Newman quote, "Photography is 1 percent talent and 99 percent moving furniture," and I'm reminded that it's all just part of the job.

Consider your space. Any studio you work in should provide enough space for your subject, your lights and you. I like to stand at least 8 feet away from my subject. Add a couple of feet between the subject and the background, and you'll get an idea of how much length you're going to need. When considering the width of the room, remember that light diffusers can be a few feet wide. I also recommend that ceilings be at least 9 feet high, though I have seen workable studios with 8-foot ceilings. Just make sure you can shoot comfortably once your lights are set up.

"When it costs less to shoot, you can experiment, try new things, photograph more freely."

Light: Ambient and Studio

Are your walls painted bright green? My boyfriend's bedroom is. And while it's his prerogative to have teal green walls surrounding him if he so chooses, it's an absolute no-no for your studio. Your wall color will affect your light and reflect on your subjects. Keep the walls white or neutral.

Consider the light coming into your space as well. I have large windows that offer beautiful natural light. But I also have shades to shut it out if I want to rely only on my studio lights.

One advantage of having your own studio is having the ability to control the light. Unfortunately, lighting equipment isn't cheap. A set of studio strobe lights plus diffusers can cost a few thousand dollars. Part of the reason my studio came together so readily is that I already owned a set of three mono-lights and diffusers. But you can always start with one light and build from there. I certainly don't use all three lights on every shoot. Sometimes I use only a single light source, which can result in strikingly dramatic images. You might also choose reflectors or ambient light to supplement your single strobe.

But if buying even one studio strobe is still too much of a strain on your budget, try starting with some off-camera flashes. Get a number of diffusers and put those flash units on light stands. Move and shape your light. After all, that's what your studio is for.

Remote Flash Triggers

When getting your lights, you might also want to think about a set of wireless transmitters to fire those fancy new lights. PocketWizard is a reliable brand. While purchasing a remote flash trigger will likely require another few hundred dollars, I think it's worth it to minimize the number of cords lying around during a shoot. This is particularly true if you plan to photograph young children, who may run around and trip over cords. While kids tend to be very resilient and bounce right back, the light they knock over might not fare so well.

Backdrops

A unique feature of my home studio is that I installed -- or more accurately, I hired a handyman to install -- two hooks into the ceiling. I use a length of chain and S-hooks to suspend a cross-bar with a 9-foot long roll of white, seamless background paper from the hooks. It's fairly unobtrusive when it's rolled up, and people don't usually notice it unless I point it out.

I also have background stands that I use for cloth backdrops and location shoots. Of course, background stands can cost up to a few hundred dollars. But if you get creative, you can find other ways to hang up sheets or lengths of fabric. Even a plain wall can do the job.