How much space for a studio?

[artisticexpressions]

we are thinking of opening a studio near our home - a building has become available with 10,000 sq ft which the owner said he would divide. Was hoping someone could give me an idea of what the minimum space requirements would be for a photography studio, with room for an office (or two) and seating/reception/display area? Also, how important is ceiling height? Is it important to have 2 areas for taking photos or will one suffice? We have only been doing professional work for about 2 years and always on location, so we dont have a client base (yet!) that would warrant two studios, but the location is on a main road in the heart of town and i suspect we will get quite a bit of business relatively quickly. There probably will not be alot of natural light available, so lighting will be required. i like the idea of digital backgrounds, but also would like to have props available to use as well.

Thanks for ANY help/information you can give me!

[PhotosGuy]

1/ You just can't have too much room?

2/ Studio to shoot WHAT?

[cdifoto]

Get as much space as you can afford.

[artisticexpressions]

We do portrait photography as well as weddings. We are tyring to shift our main focus to high school seniors as there is a big market for it in our area. I'm trying to keep our operating costs at a minimum since we will probably continue to do quite a bit of on-location work. The studio will mainly be used during the winter to increase our off-season business, or when weather doesnt permit outdoor photo shoots.

[98photo]

I have a small area in my loft that is about 30' x 15' and it works well for portraits.
I worked with a photographer in Hawaii that had an entire warehouse for his studio. It was divided into 4 areas, one for the office, one permenantly for the "faerie" set, one for the "normal" canvas backdrops and the last for the made back grounds like the barn doors and book shelf thing. It worked for him, but then he had Tons of money for all the equipment too.
I agree with cdi-ink.com to get as much as you can!

[Vegas Poboy]

As much as you can afford I turned my dining room into a studio and it's only good for headshots and couples. That space is 12x15, hopefully the next spot will be at least 20w by 40l and that will be at least shooting space.

Congrats and goodluck

[elTwitcho]

I would say in my experience that ceiling height is ABSOLUTELY critical since using a softbox and a boom you often times will have to have the softbox very close to your subject to get butterfly/rembrandt lighting if your ceiling is of average height (9-10 feet). Alot of other things can be worked around, but low ceilings are just about impossible to deal with using some lighting techniques if your subject isn't sitting down.

[Moments]

My studio is 3000 sq feet with 12 foot ceilings. it is really a little bit too big. My shooting space is a little of an odd shape but it is approx. 26 x 32 which does enable me to set up a full lenght set and also a 3/4 set. it also has a dressing room. In addition to the shooting space, I have a commom area in which I meet with clients, a production room, storage room, my wife's office and my own office. It is quite big, and I know I could loose up to 1000 sq feet and it would not really affect me. Here are a few images I shot a while ago.

I would really have to say, that you should figure out what you really need and take it from there. For me, this space was a great find. It is not a store front, so I'm not paying a priemium price. I was sharing the space with a video guy. and he went out of buisness a few years ago. He was working out of his home for a few years and thought that expanding into a studio space with me would increase his work load, but it was his downfall. I have been able to keep it on my own which is great. The cost of the space and what it costs to run it, is a nice monthly income for most people.

[MikeMcL]

in my opinion, you should get roughly 50 feet by 20 feet, depending on the layout. keep in mind that you may add a bit of a reception area, or an office. but if you get 50x20 to dhoot in, you can always partition it off into 2 spaces, about 20x25... or 2 spaces 20x20 with a 10 foot void in the middle (dressing area once partitioned) it all depends on how the building is layed out and how the customer entrance comes into the space.

10 foot cielings are pretty much adequate, although 12 would be nice... you will struggle in some situations with a less than 9 foot cieling.

just my take on it.