I'm interested in any imput of Photographers, and how they have their studios set up,  right now I'm hit and miss as I do mostly outdoor shoots  so any Input or shots you have of your studio would be appreciated.  I know its a rough question but ANY help would be GREAT.

Thx

Mac Wolff

If you are accustomed to outdoor shooting then access to natural light would make the transition simpler.  South and West exposures are more practical for shooting if you have the chance to orient your windows prior to construction.  As others have mentioned in other posts, ceiling height is an important consideration.  Eight feet is usually not enough.

It would be helpful to consider the width of the background you intend to use.  Keep that measurement in mind and add a few feet to either side for lighting.  Secondly decide what lenses you plan on using and calculate some step-back distances to acheive full-length.  Don't forget to add distance for model to step away from background.

Hard floor surfaces rather than carpeting is useful if you plan on using seamless paper backgrounds.  It can save a lot of time and materials to make sure you have at least an 8 ft' wide section of clear wall space to use as a background--start with white and paint it if you need some colors.

Thanks Dan thats a good start I would have never thought that 8ft is not enough, what is your opinion on room shape exactly square or should I go longer in my north south approach,  I have a 25ftX40ft slab in place, ony drawback is the gentleman that had the property before me did not run plumbing out there other than electric.

Thx agn
Mac

I'm in the proccess of building my first studio as well, so this information sure helps. I don't have much room at all, so I have to be extra carefull when planning.

How about studio colors?  David, have you decided yet?

I just rented a new studio and all the walls are pale grey.

Window exposure on all sides so that isn't a problem, but I get sick of white.

There is a wall running the length of the studio where I can hang backgrounds, etc., and I could paint each side a different color.

Any suggestions?

I do agree with Dan. Space is very important. But you have to consider a few other things.
One is set up for the type of photos you want to do. I found that if you have enough space to pull your car inside and shoot completly around it with out climbing over everything is is the minimum you want.
Its room to pull in props and move thing around move lights here and there.
The other thing is you have to have a space for people to change in.
The look of light through a sky light is great. But make them with slides to close off light when you don't want it.(easy to build and cheap)
If you want some ideas look at spaces for rent.

High ceilings, hard floors, and windows that have excellent blinds to block any unwanted light. Paint the wall as dark as possible, or at least dark enough to absort stray light. Your studio can never be large enough.....

This is Great Info, Damn its good to have great people to give you the help you need  thanks everyone

I don't know your plans or budget, but I have considered building a studio from ground up and I always planned to include a garage door that has a favorable angle to let light in.  With unlimited funds, I would make that door glass or translucent to provide a light source and access for large props and scenery.  I don't know the comparitive cost between a basic garage door vs. wall framing, but the utility would go a long way toward paying for the difference.  Depending on your location or climate a controlled outside shooting area might also be useful.

I built a pulley system with clip-on lengths of steel pipe (conduit, basically) so I could roll my backgrounds up and then haul them up to the ceiling out of the way when I didn't want them. I had the whole apparatus up in the ceiling (it had a drop acoustic ceiling) so it was invisible from my normal shooting angle.

A buddy of mine built an in-wall seamless sweep out of plywood into/along one wall of his studio. That was super cool; he repainted it with gym floor white gloss paint every year and it was awesome to be able to just shoot without having to break out paper and stands and whatever.

The place where I currently shoot has a 4 story 50 foot by 50 foot space, and I have a shooting platform about 2 stories up that I can scramble up to if I ever want to shoot downward onto a scene. OK, that's a bit extreme, as far as use of space goes but if you have a tall tall space consider making a shooting balcony.

My old studio in Maryland was underground in a basement so I had the walls laid out so that light couldn't curve around the stairs and get into the studio. It was 100% light-tight with the lights off, which meant that when I was using my strobes (always!) "what you see is exactly what you get" in terms of the lighting. That was incredibly valuable.

The rear wall of my old studio had a 4 foot x 4 foot (weighed a ton!) mirror mounted on the wall. The models loved it because they could see what I saw. But I didn't like it because I had a lot of shots of models looking over their shoulders.

mjr.

The space I have is pitifull compared to what most have, however I don't plan on using the studio for anything but headshots and upper torso shots, so the space won't be a limiting factor.

I'm going to find a grey paint I can use to just paint the walls. For other colors, I may look around at places like Fanny's Fabrics etc., they always have fabrics in the clearance section that make good backdrops. I'm also going to visit a hardware place to get a solid surface for models to stand on, as it's hard to pose right on a carpet.

I have a window that can let in some light, but not a whole lot. I would need some reflectors to make it noticeable. It might be worth my time to have a mirror or something on the inside to aid with light.

I don't yet own studio strobes etc., but a friend has a portable one I can borrow. But I have invested money in flashes that I can mount anywhere and connect up using sync cords. As a side question, does anyone know a cable or device to hook up multiple sync cords so all flashes fire at once? That's what I really want.

Track lighting systems are dirt cheap so I may fit a few flashes to them and install them for added light control.

I'm doing this on a tight budget so I'm going to become Red Green in my studio. ;-)

Great Information, Im using this all to my advantage, I wish I had money enough to do everything but, it a few bucks here and a few there.

Thanks everyone

Mac Wolff