In this video, I'm going to be offering advice on how you can make the most of a
small studio space and how you can control your lighting from bouncing
around all over the place. I get lots of comments on this topic, many
photographers are working from home or a garage or simply don't have a large
studio and they often struggle to control their lighting. I also get the
usual naysayers claiming that I can only take these sort of pictures because I've
got a big studio and it's true some of the photos I take do require a bigger
space. For example, I couldn't shoot this this, this, or this, in a small space. But I
could shoot all of these in a small space in less than a few meters wide and
there are many shots that I shoot in rental studios or on location. So let's
discover with my six steps; how you can shoot great images in a small space.
Understanding the physics to make better photos. Photography is a beautiful
combination of science and art. I meet many photographers who consider
themselves 'artists' and don't pay enough attention to the physics and I can tell
you now that those photographers have to spend a lot more time scratching their
heads or fixing problems in Photoshop. I would also consider myself an artist; I
conceptualize ideas pre-visualize them, and have a strong vision for the
narrative of many of my images, but I also dedicate a tremendous amount of my
time to understanding the physics and even the biology of human vision to help
create my images. The great thing about physics and science is that you are
dealing with facts, things that are what they are and can't be broken. Light is
the most important one for us as photographers and when we understand its
limitations and how it works we can make working in a small studio space quite
straight forwards. The most common problem that photographers encounter in
a small space is light bouncing around their studio and adding light where they
don't want it. The inverse square law tells us that light is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance from the source. In simple terms
this means its exposure value changes less quickly over a greater distance.
What this means is that if you put your light too far from your subject then you
will have more bounce around your studio than you would if you placed your
softbox where it should be which is nice and close to your subject. Remember it's
also actually only soft light if the light source is big from the subject's
perspective. I've got lots of in-depth examples of this over on Karl Taylor
Education where I clearly show you the effect of lighting near and far and how
the inverse square law really affects your images. Controlling the light. Once
you understand the physics, photography becomes a whole lot easier. This can take
years if you're trying to learn yourself but it's something that I pride myself
on teaching other photographers and it helps them get ahead of the curve
quickly. One simple example of controlling the physics of light is
controlling your reflective surfaces. Often we do need to use lights from
further away which is going to create the opportunity for more bounce around a
small studio space but by simply painting the walls dark grey or black we
can eliminate most of that bounce. When I worked in much smaller studios in the
past, I didn't like spending all day in a black box so I used black curtains that
you could draw around the walls of the room and then black foam board panels
that you could velcro to the ceiling. Many photographers struggle with a low
white studio ceiling, but you can in fact use it as a great light bounce and it
can create excellent gradients which is why professional photographers use these.
Sometimes though, your low white ceiling can be a problem so simply velcroing
some black foam board to the ceiling can actually be all you need to do to help
you out of that situation. Daylight can be a great asset to any studio but it
can also be a nuisance so get blackout blinds that completely
eliminate it when you need to. Now I don't use grids on softboxes very often
because they make the light less soft and as I'm generally working in a big
space they're not necessary but in a small studio space they are a great
asset as they reduce the amount of light spill heading off where you don't want
it. Keep in mind though that you can also create your own black flags to reduce
light spill and control light and to deliberately add shade to portions of
your shots. You'll find lots of examples on Karl Taylor Education where I teach
you how to properly control light. Making space work for you.
Try to be organized, keep all of your equipment tidy and compartmentalized.
Things like tool trolleys can be great for keeping everything in its place or
an economical storage cupboard for keeping lighting, accessories and
equipment organized. You also don't need a huge workstation, a simple mobile desk
and a mobile stool can save room and allow you to reposition yourself around
your space. Think about things like sky hooks, wall hooks, and anything else that
you can use to get your stuff off of the ground and out of the way. Other
space-saving ideas for small studios are ceiling track systems. These allow you to
remove all of the cables and lighting stands which free up a huge amount of
space. Boom arms are another great way to get your lights into difficult places
and c-stands allow you to create temporary structures to hold panels and
things where you need them. They can also be folded away flat when not in use and
hung on a wall. Don't waste floor space with stands to
hold up backgrounds; get your backgrounds hung up on a wall, on a frame, or have a
smooth wall in your space that you can use as the actual background. Rental
studios. Keep in mind that many photographers don't even have a studio
anymore, they just rent them when they need them
and charge it to the customer. If you find yourself struggling for space for a
given project then there are lots of choices for photographers to rent from
low-cost half-day locations to full spec, huge studios for larger productions. But
if you're on a real budget you can also consider renting your local Town Hall or
community center space for a day at a much lower cost. You'll just need to
bring your own backgrounds and equipment with you. I did a car shoot once in a
shipping warehouse. Consider what you'll be shooting the most. I created a fully
equipped studio for a friend of mine who needed to shoot his own wine bottles for
his website and there was barely room to swing a cat but
painting the studio ceiling black allowed him to control the lighting
perfectly for the bottle shots and he was able to shoot thousands of bottles
of wine for his website. Having all this space is often a luxury, I only really
use it on the big stuff like cars and bikes or larger fashion sets but 70% of
my work is product photography that usually doesn't require more than a few
meters. So don't get too hung up on big spaces, you can rent a large space just
when you need to. Your choice of modifiers. Some modifiers can take up a
large amount of space but remember many of them are collapsible and can be
stored away although I will admit dismantling an Octabox every day could
be a bit tiresome, but if you understand the physics of light and what we were
talking about earlier you'll come to learn that you can get almost identical
results with a large white reflecting umbrella that packs away in seconds but
consider your modifiers carefully and your options for controlling light spill
if you're not willing to create blackouts for your studio space. Many
other modifiers like grids, fresnels and spot projections only put light in a
small patch, exactly where you want it so these are ideal for small studio spaces.
But most importantly you have to know what each type of modifier is for and
why and you can learn all of that over on Karl Taylor Education where I go into
great detail on the purpose of each modifier and the various ways to modify
light and when you need to. So that covers of many ways you can control
light in a small studio space and get yourself more organized. It is possible
to work in quite a small studio space. I've had five different studios since I
started in photography; the first one was very, very small and then gradually over
the years they increased in size but as I said you don't always need a big
studio space, you can often manage with a much smaller space and rent
larger studios or find a location that you can use when you need that larger
space. Hopefully you found these tips useful. Get my completely free
photography course with no signup required. You can also access our free 90
page eBook. Just click the link or go to KarlTaylorEducation.com