Creating a studio at home

It is pretty easy to create an at-home studio for small objects using white/black poster boards, but this week we decided to try and create an at-home studio to photograph a toddler (Aiden).  The goal this week was to create this studio without spending any money.  Ideally we could use the photography stands, clamps, and paper rolls for the backdrop, but on the budget, that wasn't part of the plan.  The closest thing to the paper roll that was already in the house was a black and white sheet.  In order to attach this to the wall, we used small hooks.  The sheet could not be hung at the ceiling because we needed Aiden to be able to sit on the forward part of it.  The sheet was attached about half way up the wall so there was still some material to drape on the floor.  The problem with sheets is that they wrinkle and attract lint.  The other problem we were facing was studio space.  In the spare home space we used, it was not possible to get very far from the backdrop.  The farther from the backdrop you can photograph, the less destracting any wrinkles or lint will be.   I used a shallower depth of field but, because Aiden was so close to the backdrop, it was negligible.


My original intent was to bounce the flash, while attached to the camera,  off a white form board and angle the board to light Aiden.  This method would allow us to use the foam board as a light source without direct light.  This method would help to avoid shadows and give a diffused light feel.  A challenge we ran into is that toddlers, even well behaved toddlers like Aiden, don't like to sit still long enough to pin point the location the light needed to be bounced and directed.  I think that method would work really well for an adult portrait, but not an active toddler.  I quickly abandoned the indirect flash idea and moved onto direct flash.  I added a flash bracket to try and direct the shadows downward and help avoid red-eye.  The direct flash was too harsh.  I used a -2 to -3 flash compensation in addition to a diffuser, and was able to make the lighting less flash-like.  This method worked well enough to create usable light.


I am attaching some of my favorite photographs from the day.

Today's take-aways:

                                                                                                                              
1) The black sheet showed the wrinkles less, but was worse with the lint.


2) Toddlers need more than one sheet since they will one hundred percent run out of your backdrop.


3) If I had my choice, I would pick something other than a sheet to use as a backdrop.


4) I would pick a room with more depth so I can move the backdrop farther from the subject.


5) With kids, the more toys and props you have, the better.


6) It's probably important to learn more lyrics to wheels on the bus, I think Aiden could tell I was totally winging it.


7) With a little patience and ingenuity you can take studio style photographs without spending a lot of money on supplies.        
                                                                                                                               

Happy Photographing!