New studio with windows

I searched but could not find the answer I was looking for.
We recently moved to a new home with a large great room I am going to use as
a studio, it has 20ft vaulted ceilings with lots of windows and lots of ambient light.
Should I cover my windows when shooting? How dark should a studio be?

Thanks!

Fyerfytr wrote in post #6249653
I searched but could not find the answer I was looking for.
We recently moved to a new home with a large great room I am going to use as
a studio, it has 20ft vaulted ceilings with lots of windows and lots of ambient light.
Should I cover my windows when shooting? How dark should a studio be?

Thanks!

What type of shooting will you be doing?

If you're doing portraiture, heck, embrace the natural light and use it to your advantage.

If you're doing table top, product, commercial type shooting, you'll probably want less natural light so you aren't fighting reflections and such coming from the windows.

Can you come up with a workable solution so you can have the room lit either way? Blackout shades? Black fabric panels that fit the windows?

If your great room is anything like the ones I've seen in new model homes out here in AZ, I envy you...

Direct sunlight will be bright enough to appear in most studio shots (assuming you're at around f/8, 1/125, ISO100). You'll need to cover the windows unless you want the sunlight entering your shots and messing with your WB.

There is no one answer to "how dark should a studio be" It needs to be bright enough for you to work safely and for your camera to autofocus, beyond that it is down to personal preference - most artificial light sources aren't anywhere near as bright as direct sunlight, and so should not affect your shots if you are syncing at a reasonably fast shutter speed.

Hermes wrote in post #6249715
Direct sunlight will be bright enough to appear in most studio shots (assuming you're at around f/8, 1/125, ISO100). You'll need to cover the windows unless you want the sunlight entering your shots and messing with your WB.

There is no one answer to "how dark should a studio be" It needs to be bright enough for you to work safely and for your camera to autofocus, beyond that it is down to personal preference - most artificial light sources aren't anywhere near as bright as direct sunlight, and so should not affect your shots if you are syncing at a reasonably fast shutter speed.

I will be doing mostly portrait work in there. And yes the white balance is really what I was concerned about. It is not sunlight just daylight so I might be ok.
It is an large room with tall ceilings and Hardwood floors, and lots of natural light, we will see how it goes, I have a shoot tomorrow.

I will post some from it.

thanks!