Creating Creative Studio Spaces on a Budget

In the process of creating good content for their clients, creative professionals often have to use their knowledge and experience to come up with solutions to problems on set. But what if you don't have a set? 

If you're starting out — or even if you consider yourself a seasoned pro — being a creative professional often means you will have to get around financial constraints in, well, creative ways. From fake wooden backdrops using vinyl, to creating catch-lights using a low-powered pop of flash or an LED, to using a blank cell phone screen to create a reflection; you need to be an expert in illusion. 

This video from Chrystopher Rhodes of YCImaging illustrates a number of ways in which you can create illusions for your story telling. While he is communicating his music video making process, photographers can also glean a ton of really useful tips that they can apply to their own projects. Most notable in this video, though, is the really simple way he transforms his living room into a studio set. To transport the viewer away from a beige and dull (for a music video) apartment, Rhodes just spends a few bucks on some newspapers and spreads the pages out to act as a backdrop.

Photographers might pine over sturdy but pricey C-stands and yearn for wonderful hand-painted canvas backdrops that can set you back $200, but gear envy will get you nowhere if you've bills to pay. Check out some of his other videos for more creative problem solving and quality music videos.

Do you have any creative problem solving tips of your own? Please let us know in the comments below.