Home studio

I think this is the right place for this. As of right now I go to clients houses to do my sessions. I would love to just have one place. wouldn't worry about transporting gear, if clients have big enough space, etc. How big of a room do I need? As of right now I am doing pets, small children. Mostly using a 5X7 backdrops. I do have a few seamless paper rolls that are 53 inches wide. I do my own dogs in my living room but I don't think that would be ideal for clients. I would much prefer empty room where I can keep my gear set up and stored. I have 2 extra bedrooms. What is minimum space I can get away with? I would love to rent a space but that is not an option at the moment. I don't plan on doing adults until I have large enough space. So right now that isn't an issue.

Are going to do only pets?
I don't like the idea of bringing strangers into my house.

Pets and small children. My husband doesn't like the idea of bringing people over while he is at work. But I have no other options. I am not getting much work with what I am doing now because I have to do my schedule around his working schedule. Which basically just leaves me Saturday and Sunday.

I have had a home studio for years, my old one was a spare bedroom that was 14x11 though it had a sloped ceiling on one side which really made it effectively about an 11'x11'. Shooting kids and pets in a studio that size was not an issue, my biggest issue was for adults you could not get a full length portrait without shooting very wide and dealing with the distortion and getting the ceiling in the shot.

If your spare bedrooms are the typical 10x10 or so in size you could certainly have a small home studio but its not going to be ideal. If one of them is empty you should really just do a test setup to get an idea of what your working with and either get a pet or a prop to test with so you understand your limitations.

Have you thought about the other issues home studio's bring such as nearby changing rooms etc... ?

I have been lucky in that I have a 3/4" bath right next to my studio so I don't have to worry about people wandering through my house while doing wardrobe changes etc... If your bathroom is on a different floor or a significant distance from the bedroom you plan to use you should think about how comfortable you are with strangers wandering through your house unaccompanied assuming you can get your husband on board with the idea.

I didn't do any measurements so this is not exact. But husband thinks bedroom is 14'X14' The bedroom has a bathroom right next to it so no strangers wondering the house. I have a bigger spare bedroom but it isn't close to any bathroom so I am more comfortable doing the smaller. I think it will work for what I am doing. Pets and kids. I am clearing out the spare bedroom tonight and hopefully by tomorrow sometime I can set up my equipment and see what I have to work with. I will be painting the walls white since it is pink. This way I can use the walls to bounce flash.

14x14 should be a decent space, it will still be hard to do full length adult portraits but for kids and pets you should be good.

Depending on if the bedroom has windows and what direction they face you might want to think about using window light on occasion with a reflector . You should also get some blackout curtains for times when you don't want ambient light affecting your exposure.

It is 10x10 I measured it tonight. I have everything set up and used my dogs and husband as test subjects. It worked out fine. It will do until my sessions start paying well enough to rent a space. Thank you (: I am using a standard 18-55mm lens. I also have a 85mmlens F/1.8 but I wont be able to use that except for head shots. what other lens should I get for portraits?

In that size space, I'd think the 18-55mm focal range you have would be fine along with your 85. Maybe consider a 17-55, 50L, or 50mm Art?

This is another home studio question, so I hope that the OP doesn't mind that I toss it in here, but what do you guys do for ceilings? What height is ideal and do you paint it or put up a black sheet so that it doesn't bounce light everywhere? Thanks.

I have a Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 that I use in my studio. Noticeably sharper than my old kit lens and the f2.8 gives me some flexibility with DOF. I think you can pick it up for around $300 or so used for the non-IS variant.

As for ceilings mine are 8ft and I left white I woudl rather have the bounce honestly as I don't really have the space to do a hair light. If I am doing some low key work I use a snoot or a softbox that I have covered to limit light output to a narrow band and then I hang a black backdrop out of frame on the opposite side of the light to minimize fill light from bouncing off the wall.

This is a photo from the studio. don't mind the wrinkled backdrop. I have yet to get the wrinkles out from being stored. I am used to close ups...I am having a heck of a time keeping the eyes in focus while gettign the scene of the backdrop/props. Any advice? Of course I am only working with one speed light. I am getting a strobe this week. But will that even help with focusing?

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And here are what the majority of my photos looked like...sigh..this photo is completely unedited except for sizing.

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I sharpened the eyes a bit..

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For getting everything in focus just remember wider focal length means greater DOF as the same aperture. If your not sure what your DOF is you can always use an online depth of field calculator such as this one: http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html

I am about 3 ft away from the dog think I was zoomed in about 35mm. and F/8 I am not sure what settings I would need to keep everything in focus. Think I need to play around with my settings a bit and see what works.