How can i setup a home studio for photography with less expense..Please tell me what all i require???

Question

All I have is a 3.2 MP camera..and enthusiasm :-)

Answer 1

Unfortunately it takes more than that to have a sucessful studio.

First thing is demographics. Is there a need for your business in the area? Do people need a photographer? Another Photographer? If you can answer that you need to figure out why people should go to you if there are other photographers in the area.

The next thing you have to figure out is what kinda photography are you going to do. Will you specialize to weddings... children.... seniors.... or just do general portraiture?

Once that's out the way you need to figure out pricing, printing costs, etc. How much are you worth? If you've had no formal training, then yer not worth much at all. (Sad but true).

If clients are willing to pay for your services. you need to be dedicated enough to provide them with a professional service with some type of training behind you (even if you buy some books).

Depending on the type of photography you choose will change the type of studio you have. A regular home room won't work because the ceilings are usually too low (unless you have 12' ceilings). A great small setup would be a background, a background light (one that sits halfway between the subject and the background), a hair light (a light on a boom that is above the subject and adds highlights to the top shadows), an accent light (a light that sits about 30 degrees between you and the subject), a main light (a light that sits about 45 degress between the subject and you) and a fill light (a light with an umbrella about an arm's length away from the camera).

A few backgrounds (whites, greys, browns, blues, tans) and some props are a great start.

Also you should invest into local and national organizations
PPA (ppa.com) - Professional Photographers of America
WPPI (wppionline.com) - Wedding & Portrait Photographers International

Software is another concern you are going to have to deal with. To save on lab prices, Photoshop CS2 is a must along with a handful of filters (Nik ColorFX is a great one!!). Photoshop is expencive running almost $600.

What I would suggest is before you get into your own business. Take up an apprenticeship with a local photographer whose style you truly enjoy. Ask them to carry their equipment, clean their studio, travel with them on locations, even volunteer your time. There is so much you CAN NOT learn on your own and it's unfair of you to expect your clients to pay for services you didn't learn in any type of educational background. Organizations such as PPA offer many different training workshops that would also be a good start for you.

If you have any questions, ask me ([e-mail]) I've been a professional for 10 years now and I'm one of the only Certified Professional Photographers in my area (being a CPP really, really jumps your status).

Be sure to get lots of books. Below is a list of books that will really help you out.

Answer 2

Photography Home Studio Setup

Answer 3

The classic studio lighting setup is 3 strobes. The main key light from one side, a fill-light from the other, and a background highlight. Typically the main light is brighter than the fill-light to provide softer shadows, but it is all experimentation. Then of course, you will need diffusers or light boxes for the strobes. The light-stage will want to be at least 7x7, which means the room containing it will need to be larger. And have you thought about light meters, backgrounds, triggers, deflectors, and the many hundreds of things you also need. Fact is, if you make the wrong equipment purchases, you'll spend a million dollars unnecessarily. You should really try to apprentice with a studio photographer for awhile, then you will get a better idea of how it's done. Offer to work for free as their go'fer for 6 months, then see what happens.

Answer 4

DJK, you said, you don't want to pay a lot of money, so, let me give you some advice:
1º you need a manual camera, a digital or a film one, but MANUAL.
2º I suggest you to use a flash studio system, so, I hope your camera has SIMPLE SYNCHRONIZATION flash (if not, buy any canon powershot, like a A-730, or a Kodak Z-7590 (this camera has a PC terminal connection, for flash)
3º Get backgrounds, there are paper rolls backgrouns, for les than 20 bucks each.
4º Get a studio flash system, you don't need a big one, a home studio kit will be enough. It will come with light stands, umbrellas, barn doors, snoot and may be a light box (soft box)
5º Small cameras don't have small apertures, so, these small studio kits will be good. (you can find a lot of stuff here: www.bhphotovideo.com)
6º Have fun!

Answer 5

Is your camera a digital SLR? To do good photography, you really need to have an SLR- or single lense reflex camera. Digital ones are quite expensive, but an traditional SLR, good one, can usually be had for between $150 & $500. I highly recommend the Minolta Maxxum 4 & 5 or the Cannon Rebel- any edition. I personally use a Minolta Maxxum 5. Was able to upgrade from a Maxxum 4 by getting this one off of ebay, refurbished (means it has been sent back to the factory, cleaned & tested & worn parts replaced, so it's pretty much the next best thing to new) for $120.

When I went to photography school & started to learn about studio lighting, I purchased the Victor-Smith Home Studio Lighting Kit. It's a 3 light set up & it costs around $150-$250, depending on where you buy it. You will need to change out your bulbs to get cooler, blue bulbs & invest in some bouncers (those things that look like umbrellas LOL) & mount kits to attatch them to your lights. The additional investment into bouncers & mounts is about another $200, however, it is well worth it. If you price other home studio lighting kits that come complete w/bouncers, etc, it's well over a grand.

This is the best, cheap alternative for budding photograhers.

Also, locate your nearest local, Ritz or Wolf Camera. Usually they offer photography lessons for cheep to free, at every location. I was able to take a boat load of classes for zip when I bought all my equipment from them :)

Another thing you don't want to skip over is getting a good book that teaches a thing or two about photography. I really don't have any that I feel good about recommending. I had to learn a lot of what I know on my own & in a classroom. Some ppl swear by Photography for Dummies, but I've never checked it out.

When you finally get your kit & you're starting to practice taking pictures, until you have mastered studio lighting (I have to tell you, you are in for a good one, it's a b*tch to master & takes quite a bit of time & technique to fully get it down, well) the best way to go to use for practice film w/o having to spend loads of money on rolls of professional print film is to go around to your local camera/photography stores & buy their expired, professional portrait film. I got 100's of rolls of expired portrait film for dirt cheap, between .49 cents & $1.99 a roll. Very cheap considering that professional film costs any where from $8-$15 a roll, depending on where you buy it & what brand & what type.
Kodak Portra NC & VC film are really the best. If you run across expired rolls of that to practice with, grab 'em.

Best of luck to ya!

Answer 6

Well if youre serious about it, youre gonna have to ditch the bargain digital camera and pick up an SLR. The second thing you have to do is buy photoshop, the full version. I think its around $400. Learn it inside and out (its not an easy program to learn.)

Then after that I guess it depends on what you want to do. If you want to photograph people then you need to do some work. Id recommend contacting the local chapter of the SBA. If you just want to photograph clipart to be published on the web then get out there and start clicking!

If you want to do pornography that is trickier and easier. You definitely want to get a business lisence and make sure that you comply with every law in your state or you could find yourself under arrest. But if you have all that then just pay a girl (or girls, or guys and girls, or guys) to come do it and just photograph the results. Resist the temptation to join in.

Answer 7

Try Trick Photography Special Effects - http://tinyurl.com/dpArMjM85a

Answer 8

You need Adobe Photoshop 8 installed in a P4 PC, with a good printer ( photoprinter), kodak paper to print...