Photography equipment is expensive, I think everyone knows that. Basically with any bit of equipment you could usually buy a good point-and-shoot camera. And same goes with the studio gear. If you're planning to make a home studio with "official" gear you could easily end up spending several thousand dollars. But on the other hand, you can easily get started with far less expensive setup if you're willing to use gear that is not meant for photography.

This article gives you few examples what you could actually use as studio gear, how to use them, and if necessary, how to build them. I will share you my experiences on how different things have worked for me. These aren't only options, just some examples. With some creativity you can probably think of better gear for some specific jobsm than I have. Just remember one princible: there are no style points given for the setups. If it's outside the frame, it doesn't matter how DiY it looks as long as it gets the job done.

Also this article is from the point of view of portrait photography. Naturally these ideas can be applied to still life, for example, but I will describe here how you can actually build a studio that enables you to shoot full-length portraits. I will also show you some example photos of what I have managed to shoot with this gear.

I will not explain the lighting setups for different photos that thoroughly. If you're intersted in learning about different basic lighting setups for portraits, I will provide you with few links at the end of this article that you can check.

Lighting

Lighting is probably the most important part in portrait photograhy. It really can make or break a photo. In studio, it is even more important since you're in control of the lighting. At first, it might be a bit challenging but once you've learned to master it, it really gives you opportunities to build the lighting exactly like you want it.

Best option would usually be studio flashes. But they tend to be quite expensive. Personally though I ended up getting a setup of two basic studio flashes with softboxes that costed about 600 euros (Elinchrom D-lite 2 set). Since I'm doing studio shoots from time to time, I find them being worth investing.

Since not all can afford them or just might want to get started with smaller budget, there are other options too. One thing I quite often recommend in forums are construction site halogen lights. They're relatively inexpensive and you can get them also with stands. Since they're floodlights (constantly on), they also need to be powerful enough to provide enough light so you don't have to use long exposure times but can get sharp images.


This selfportrait was shot with one halogen light shot through white raincoat to soften it.

Biggest drawback with halogens is that they will generate a lot of heat. So at least you'll need to remember to open the window and shut down the lights when you don't need them. Also don't place anything too near to them since it might catch a fire or melt.

You should be able to get started with one light and a reflector (I'll cover that one later). But to get some more depth into your photos, I would recommend getting at least two lights (for example a separate hairlight really gives nice finishing touch for a portrait). And background lighting is also quite useful from time to time.

A strobist-approach for studio lighing should work quite well too since for most photos don't require that much power. In this scenario, you'll just get flashguns (old cheap manual ones will do fine) and use them as lightsources. More from Strobist Lighting 101: [link] But here's how it works shortly: have few flashguns and radio (etc) triggers for them. Them some stands or any way to keep them still, add few umbrellas and you have a basic lighting setup that is also light enough to take it with you.

In case you're using Nikon dSLR (anything better than entry class) you can also use Nikon own flashguns (SB-600 or SB-800) and control them with your cameras buid-in flash (as long as the camera has a build-in flash). This is called "Creative lighting system" by Nikon. Basically I can take my D300 (or D80), change the settings so that the build-in flash acts only as a commander and have it control the flashgun wirelessly. In this setting, the build-in flash sends the needed information for the flashgun by strobing but doesn't trigger during the exposure. You can also control several different sets of flashguns if you happen to own several of those. Here's more information: [link]


Left: Not a studio photo, but I used a SB-600 that I triggered with Nikon my D300. There was no need to meter the flash output power myself since the iTTL metered it. I had the bestman holding the flash and shot it through a white umbrella. I could also use my tripod and attach the flash and umbrella to it.
Right: Again, SB-600 on a tripod and shot with umbrella. I had the model to stand close to wall to get clear shadows. The umbrella was far enough so that it was smaller lightsource relative to the subject and gave those shadows.

Something to remember when getting the lights: select lightsources that are of same type. If you have different type lightsources they usually have different color temperatures. This means that when you have white balance set correctly for one light, the areas lit by other lights might be colored strangely. Usually it's best to use custom white balance that you meter from anything white. Refer to your cameras manual to learn how to do that. If you're not familiar with the concepts of color temperature or white balance, read this article: [link] And if you're shooting with flash, just use the preset flash WB.

If you'll end up getting studio flashes (or use flashguns without Nikon Creative Lighting System etc) you'll have a problem metering the needed light. There are naturally devices to do this (a flash meter) but they tend to be quite expensice. Especially with friends, you can just adjust the flashguns easily by shooting a photo, checking the results, adjusting and shooting again. Or just use this trick: [link] In general, with this approach, the histogram is your friend.

Soft, diffused light

For basic portraits, just having some light isn't enough. You also need soft light. Basically just a small lightsource will give you harsh shadows, strong contrasts and also bad looking skin (though you can use small lightsources for some special effects but that's not in scope of this article). Basics of lighting: for soft light, have as large lightsource as possible as close to the subject as possible (aka larger the lighsource relative to the subject the softer the light).

If you have a small light pointing towards the subject, the light in relation to subject is the lightsource. If you have a light pointing to the wall and bounce it to the subject from there, then the wall is the lightsource (in relation to the subject). So if you have a white wall available, that's a really easy way to soften the light. Though this doesn't give you too much control over the lighting in general.

Personally I've found that any white transcluent material, like shower curtain or raincoat (the self-portrait on previous part is example of this too), works really well for softening the light. So for soft portrait lighting, place the diffuser close to the subject (read more about the positioning the main light from the links at the end of this article) between the subject and the lightsource. If it's tall enough, you can tape it to the ceiling, for example, or use anything you can find from home as a stand (use your imagination). You could also attach some sticks etc to the top and bottom of the diffuser to keep it straight.

Reflector

A basic portrait requires some fill-light and easiest way to achieve this would be a reflector. The reflector can actually be any white material, it really doesn't matter (or colored, if you want some special effects). It can be a white wall that the subject is sitting near or it can be a white bedsheet that someone is holding near you. And if you need a bit more light, aluminium foil is quite handy.



Left: Here I had the mother of the girl being photograhped to hold a white bedsheet to be the reflector.
Right: I taped a roll of some white foam (that I just happened to have) to the ceiling so I easily had a tall reflector here.

One good way to attach the reflector would be using your tripod (in case you have one and don't need it for the shoot). Just attack something white to the tripod. You can also attach wooden sticks (etc) to the top and bottom of the reflector (especially useful with bedsheet) to make it keep its shape.

Snoot

Snoot is used to direct the light exactly to some location. Personally I use snoot ofter for hairlight. Actually there is really simple option with flash: I just have a black cardboard sheet that is rolled around the flash to direct the light. Naturally I can't have the modelling light on for long times since it would generate too much heat for the cardboard (and we don't want a fire loose in our newly build home studio... not to talk about our livingroom).

So basically anything that you can attach to front of the light to direct the light can act as a snoot. Perhaps you could try some metal can that also can stand some heat? Just cut the bottom off and you have a nice DiY snoot.

Backdrop

For studio portraits, a background is usually quite important. Outside or on location it's quite easy to find some suitable background that enchances the photo. Also it's easy for model to be far enough from the background so the background would be out of focus giving nice beautiful bokeh (personally I would shoot outside portraits with 200mm @ f2.8 if possible).

Inside, it's a bit different story. I've seen just far too many portraits where there wasn't any consideration for the background (just snap it in where you happen to be) or then using something like bathroom. Simplest option would be using just an ordinary one-color bedsheet. This will give you a nice starting point and quite often give nice results alont (also this really emphasizes the model and that's usually the idea with portraits).


Left: I had a white bedsheet hanging from the ceiling and one light behind it. Here you could also use some gels to color the background easily.
Right: For this self-portrait, I had a black bedsheet as background. Though I'm myself wearing too dark clothes for this setup. I also had a white raincoat taped on ceiling to act as large softbox (those tend to be quite expensive).

If you want something more, you can, for example, go to nearest curtain store and get some ready made good looking curtains to act as your backdrop. Or you can color them by yourself.

What I did is I bought white bedsheets (just remember to get large enough) and opened it, then crushed it together quite tightly and put a string around it to keep it together. I had some dye that is used to color textiles and used it. It's important that you don't move the bedsheet when it's in water. You actually want as uneven results as possible.

When using any background, it would be worth noting that quite often you can get best results by lighting the background separately. For this, you need to be able to control the light and keep the model far enough from the background so it doesn't get too much light from the lighting setup. Then just place a separate light for the background.


Left: No special light for the backdrop and the mainlight lit it mostly. Quite dull and boring effect.
Right: For this self-portrait I had one mainlight and reflector for me and one separate light for the backdrop. So much better effect.

Also notice that the backdrop is same in both images and was made by me from white bedsheet.

Backdrop support

Backdrop alone isn't enough, you need some place to hang it from too (guess you wouldn't have thought of that yourselves, wouldn't you?). Easiest solution is naturally to tape it to the wall. This is also usually enough for good results. Another option would be taping it to the ceiling. But if you don't want to do that (or have some tapestry on walls etc), then you need to build something to support it.

One solution for normal height rooms would be using construction supports that you can tighten between ceiling and floor. Have two of these and the attach the backdrop with clamps (for example of this setup see the end of this article). This way you can also tighten it quite easily to get a wrinkle free background. Naturally you can use any stand you might find (well, 2 of them), attach a horizontal bar between them and attach the backdrop. Clamps are again a really good way to attach the backdrop.

Some other thoughts

First of all, I would like to repeat that there are no stylepoints given for the setups. If it remains outside the frame, it doesn't matter how horrible it looks as long as it gets the job done. Use your creativity. Also some goofy setups might actually help an inexperienced model to relax if she/he can laugh at them.


For this shot, I used a pizza box as a reflector that I coated with aluminium foil with some help from a stabler.

Also always have some duct tape handy. I think I always find that I have to attach something to somewhere and this is where duct tape comes in really handy. You can attach a backdrop to the wall or a snoot to the light, for example. Or you can use it to... *couch* ... "enhance" a female model a bit (sorry, that was just a bad joke, don't kill me for it).

If you need to prevent light entering somewhere (like coming through window), black plastic bags are quite useful. They don't let light to pass through so they're perfect for darkening a room (this would come in handy if you're shooting with continous lights, flashes usually can give enough output so the ambient light isn't a problem) or just using them to prevent the light getting to somewhere in your setup.

More reading

Like I said, I didn't go too deeply in the basics of portrait photography. So here are few links you might be interested if you need to learn the basics or perhaps even something more.

[link] Strobist is nice blog that concentrates on using flashguns for the lighting. Remember to read the Lighting 101 there.
[link] Basic portrait lighting setups
[link] Lots of different lighting setups that you can use reference and also apply these to your DiY setups.
[link] Really interesting video series about studio lighting (contains some other stuff too).

Finally...

Here's the basic gear you need to start practising studio photography. Naturally, if you'll do it a bit more often then just few times a year, you might want better gear. I found that studio flashes were something worth of purchasing, at least for me. Also I like the control soft boxes give me over the lighting.

Now you just need a model. Best idea would be start with friends and relatives who have patience, build your skills and portfolio and only after that use more experienced models or people you don't know. Naturally if you can have a bit more experienced model who is willing to help you to learn, it would valuable.

People are usually interested getting good photos so they can put them on internet. So it shouldn't be problem finding people who will work as models to get the photos. I'm having a photoshoot with a friend in near future and also her friend told that she wants to model too. Word gets around when you have learned enough and can make decent studio portraits.

And finally, here's a photo of my home studio (that's located in my livingroom, easy to build it when I need) that I'm currently using:


As you might see, I have the backdrop attached to those supports that I mentioned earlier A two studio light set (one as main light and one as hair light) and a reflector to provide fill light.

Only thing I'm missing here is the lighting for backdrop (since it's black and doesn't need any lighting) and I'm planning to try my flashgun with optical slave unit for that in near future. You also might notice that I got tired of those DiY snoots and bought a proper reflector with a grid to direct the hairlight.


And here's a photo that I took during the session seen above.




My previous articles:
[link] How to analyze and critique a photo
[link] Photography as a Hobby: How to start improving
[link] Guide to better sunset photos
[link] Photography learning resources on internet