Studio

Portrait photography requires studio strobes, softboxes, along with grip equipment like light stands, and C-stands, not to mention lots of money to acquire all the required equipment. Without this equipment, your images are going to look like your local police department’s Saturday night mugshots. Do you really need to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get good portrait shots?

The past several years we’ve seen an amazing amount of new and portable lighting options in the photographic industry with breakout performers like Godox taking on the giants of the lighting world like Broncolor and Profoto. One of the biggest names in North America for lighting has been ominously silent but Paul C. Buff has finally responded and just released a new mid-tier performer that is sure to make many of Buff’s lighting fans excited for what’s coming next.

When you are working your way up the professional ranks of photography, you might start wondering if you should move into your own studio at some point. This great video examines the idea of whether you really need a studio or if you can continue to work on location.

In this video, Mark Wallace explains how to take high-contrast images. He also explains some key terms that you should think about when you shoot this type of portraits.

A white backdrop is an incredibly versatile piece of equipment, and a must have for any studio photographer. But if you want to mix things up a bit, and you don't want to fork out for another background — like one of these beautiful hand-painted ones — or you just want to have some creative fun, making a gobo is a fantastically adaptable alternative.

I love going through Pinterest and looking at all of the beautiful photography studios. Broncolor lights, clean lines, tripods that could support a small car, but in this video I go through the realities of making your own studio space.

Continuous LED lighting has come a long way in recent years, and while there are pros and cons to shooting with strobes or continuous lights, LED technology has definitely shifted the balance a little. How useful is continuous lighting for a studio portrait shoot? This video aims to find out.

Elinchrom is well known for its superb range of softboxes. The Swiss flash manufacturer just announced today the introduction of grids for their Rotalux line.

Traditionally, studio photographers tend to shoot with narrower apertures, though there are certainly situations in which it might be a better choice to shoot at a wider aperture. This informative video examines when different apertures are optimal in studio as well as some of the issues associated with using artificial lights at wider apertures.

For most studio owners, outbuildings end up full of all sorts of junk, but there will be those key bits of kit that are just used day in and day out, and it's probably where you really want to invest your money.

V-flats are one of the most useful lighting items a studio photographer can have. In fact, they can allow you to create much more complex lighting setups just by shaping a single light. This great video will show you how you can create three different lighting setups using just a single strobe and some v-flats.

I just finished shooting my first video for Levi’s and it was a learning curve of note.

The Masters of Photography courses are aimed at offering instruction from those who have mastered their genre, to those who are entering it. The Albert Watson course covers his whole career, working in portraiture and commercial advertising as well as shooting landscapes and personal projects. Here’s what I thought after giving it a go.

Today, Westcott announced their new FJ400 battery-powered strobe. I've had an early review unit for a few days now, and Westcott seems to have done the impossible: they've overtaken the Godox AD400 Pro in its segment.

You don’t need a fancy studio to take fancy photographs. Sometimes, all you need is a garage.

As a photographer, I am not someone with extensive experience in using artificial continuous light. What better way to push yourself forward than to find something you aren’t familiar with and dive in head first? Self-growth for the win!

Halloween is just around the corner, folks, so it's time to start getting those creepy, creative ideas out of that weird head of yours and into your camera. What better place to start than in the comfort of your own home?

Robert Ascroft is known worldwide for his celebrity, sports, and fashion photographs. His client list includes Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Showtime, A&E, Puma, Vanity Fair, and Rolex. So, basically his client list includes some of the biggest names in his industries of focus! Not bad, right? Go big or go home I guess!

Today, I’ll take you for an in-depth look at a new extensive project I shot with the Fujifilm GFX 100. It will be a longer essay meant to give you a hands on experience to help decide if the camera is right for you.

If you have a good understanding of how light works, you may find that an expensive studio stuffed full of high-end strobes and funky diffusers is far from important when it comes to creating striking images. In this short video, photographer Irene Rudnyk shows you how to produce something remarkable using little more than a shed.

Every now and then a video seems to explode over YouTube. More recently this has been the food styling hacks tutorials. Here are some myth busting facts.

We would all love to have large, sprawling studios in which we can have the freedom to experiment and tackle any sort of job with ease, but the reality is that that simply is not the case for most of us. This helpful video will show you how to set up a working, versatile studio in a small space without spending a lot of money in the process.

As a photographer, personal projects are important to always keep trying out new things and practicing one’s craft while helping to maintain the passion in the art.

Not everyone has access to a pool to do portrait shoots in the water, or maybe there are times when the weather isn't ideal or warm enough to do those types of shoots in an outdoor pool. If you do not have a big enough tub, a kiddie pool could work.

Added colored gels to your lighting can have a bigger change than you first expected. It's not quite the same as shooting with white lights, as there are a few additional factors you have to consider to get the optimal color you are looking for.

Telling a story doesn’t stop at your subject in photography; everything in an image gives the viewer context clues to build a narrative around. One of my favorite ways to facilitate interest and story in photography is incorporating color effect gels into the scene, but what are the best ways to use them and why?

I’ve always loved the color red and the emotions it invokes. I suppose that's the fun thing about backgrounds, props, and general settings in that a color theme can evoke so many different thoughts and emotions. Needless to say the power of a model is critical but what you can create around the model can go a long way in conveying the feel you’re aiming for.

Understanding how to use light is one of the most important lessons a photographer needs to learn. Master this easy yet effective setup before your next shoot.

ACDSee recently asked to sponsor a video where I use their new Photo Studio Professional software. I thought it would be fun to do an entire portrait session from start to finish.

Want to spruce up your product photography skills or maybe get some inspiration for your next product shoot? Check out this video guide on how to light and produce great shots for your clients!

You might not be considering dropping the cash for this thing, but the target customer might.

Being a professional photographer in the UK pretty much means having a studio. We are not blessed with good weather, so I decided to set up a studio early on in my career.

One mistake that I've noticed many photographers make is not thinking about what type of music they have playing while on a shoot. You'd be surprised how changing the tracks up a little can dramatically affect the outcome of your images. Check out these free playlists before your next shoot.

While we all love it when a gig lands in our lap, sometimes the timetable doesn't work in our favor. Having a decent amount of time leading up to the shoot can be critical in getting the best results for you and your client.

Studio backgrounds can be either expensive, boring, or both. However, with small adjustments you can make them look far more cinematic and interesting.

There are several different ways to light your subject in portrait photography. You probably have heard the different terms or styles of lighting and have seen them before, but do you know the difference between broad light and short light?

Building a shooting space in your home can be difficult to say the least. For most photographers, a home studio is never large enough and every inch of space becomes a commodity. In this video we show you perhaps the easiest and cleanest way to hang seamless paper in your studio space.

I’m always on the lookout for new ideas for unique backgrounds, especially ones that work in small spaces. If the background is easy to set up and can be configured from material or gear I already have, well sign me up. So when I saw the title to Gavin Hoey’s latest video, I knew I had to watch it and if you are also looking for something small and easy, I suggest you watch this video.

When it comes to lighting your subject, there are many different ways to do so and many different tools to help create and shape the light. If you do not have a ton of modifiers for your strobe but you do have a V-Flat, here's one way you can use the V-Flat to create soft light in your shot.

Posing tables are one of those accessories you don't know you need until you get one, and then, you cannot live without it. The only problem: its cost. So, let's see how you can build a DIY version for under $60.

Music has a very strong connection to studio photography. I’d wager that the vast majority of people imagine studios with music driving the shoot. Think Blow-Up or more recently, Austin Powers. Music can help to energize your set. But, what happens when you’re just not as in touch with the poppiest of pop culture anymore?

Our new studio in Puerto Rico had so much echo that it was ruining the audio in all of our videos. I'm happy to say that we have finally figured things out, and we've learned a few things that might help you as well.

Knowing how to get a lot of different looks from one light is an integral skill to have as a photographer and this video from The Creative Contrast shows us all four simple setups to quickly get a bunch of different photos to build out a model's portfolio

With more than 70,000 followers on Instagram, Johnny Wu has carved something of a niche: photographing action figures in his home studio to the extent that they look like screengrabs from a movie. In this video, we get a behind-the-scenes look into how he creates his images.

If you’re putting together a list of gear for creating your perfect system for vlogging, check out this video from YouTuber and photography industry guru Ted Forbes.

Fashion photographer Christopher Cavanaugh was brought on for this photo project that took place in Los Angeles by creative director Terrel Mullen as a collaboration project to expand both their portfolios. It expanded their portfolios and expanded our appreciation of what can be accomplished from behind the camera.

In today's video we take you behind the scenes in our new Fstoppers studio and show you exactly how we built and designed our latest video set. We will show you all the microphones, cameras, and lighting gear as well as our thought process in tackling this empty canvas of a room.

As many of you know, Lee and I recently moved to Puerto Rico, and with that move, we are having to completely redesign our new studio space. In today's video, we tackle our in-home network and wireless Internet connection. Surely the limitations in Puerto Rico will prove to give us trouble... or will it?

Do you find yourself renting a studio and wondering if perhaps it's time to make the leap and invest in your own space? It's time to check out Nathan Elson's latest YouTube video.

When Per Florian Appelgren first got the brief from L'Officiel Indonesia, he was excited as shooting styled beauty is his strong suit and he absolutely loved doing it. Being able to work with a top-tier model such as Sara from GirlsClub Management Berlin was also a huge plus point.