Single Light Studio in a Small Space

As a professional portrait photographer, I like to do the majority of my work in my studio. Studio portraiture has been a passion of mine from the beginning of my photography career. I was anxious to learn how to light my subjects through tutorials, online seminars, and workshops as a beginner photographer, but most demos were done in vast halls with high ceilings. I didn’t have access to a huge studio area, so one of my main obstacles would be lighting my models in the way I wanted.

My first studio was a little bedroom in my house that was only 160 square feet and had an 8-foot ceiling! For three years, I worked out of that bedroom. I transformed my garage into a studio for my photographic practice three years ago. I gained an extra foot of ceiling height and 500 square feet of the working area as a result of this change. While the extension now allows me to offer studio pictures to families, it is still rather small… especially when furniture, props, and equipment occupy some of the floor areas. I’ve learned to alter the lighting to accommodate my limited locations over the years, which has allowed me to produce wonderfully lit pictures and headshots for my customers.

In this piece, I’d want to show you three easy settings for portraits and headshots that may be utilized in tiny areas. You’ll just need one lamp and a few more items. I’ll also tell you about three of my favorite light modifiers that I never leave home without! Whether you’re working out of your house or a client’s, having a restricted amount of space doesn’t mean you have to limit the diversity and creativity you may give your clients.

Light That Bounces

I didn’t go out and acquire an arsenal of equipment when I first started my photographic profession. I began with only my camera and one light, gradually adding more as the need arose—and as I could afford it. If you have a dedicated shooting room with white walls, do so since one of the biggest benefits of working in tiny spaces is the ability to bounce light! If you just have one light source (strobe or steady light), you may utilize it as your subject’s primary light while bouncing light off a white wall or corner to serve as your fill light. Fill light is quite useful since it can fill a room in the shadows and add in the separation of your subject from the background If you’re renting and can’t paint your walls or working on location, there are still a few options for bouncing light back toward your subject, so be creative like I did!

My “redneck” V-flats are one of the most used pieces of gear in my studio. (You’ll see what I mean in the first image!) One of my DIY V-flats cost me less than $20. I put together 12 pieces of white foam core from the dollar shop using white duct tape. It’s something I use all the time! Because I have a black wall in my little studio that absorbs light, I just stretch out my redneck V-flat against the wall or stand it in a V shape against the direction of my main light when I need to bounce light back into my subject.