BUILD A PHOTO STUDIO

Need somewhere to photograph subjects without leaving the house? Adam Waring converts a spare room into a home studio…

- Adam Waring

2 HOURS We may be seeing light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but months of enforced lockdown, for long periods of which going outside was against the rules, has presented photographers lots of challenges. Confined between our own four walls, just what do we shoot, and how?

It’s forced us to think creatively, and while many photographers have dabbled with using flash to light their images, we went one step further and set up our own home studio in a spare room – after all, we weren’t going to be receiving overnight guests for quite some time…

There’s a little more to it than moving the bedroom furniture out and lighting kit in, though. For full control over your light levels you need to make the room as dark as possible, so that the only illumination comes from your studio lights, so you might need to install some blackout blinds.

As well as a pair of home studio lights (available from around £200/$200), you’ll need a backdrop or two. These come as rolls of hardwearing paper or vinyl, and not only do they give you a clean surface to shoot against, hiding light switches and wallpaper, but they can have a big impact on the look and mood of photos.

A white or pure black backdrop is ideal, but you can try a range of colours for something a bit more vibrant. Textured backdrops can add extra interest, while printed scenes can depict everything from forest glades to grimy city backstreets – all without you leaving the comfort of your own home.