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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

OPTIMIZING YOUR STUDIO SPACE!

When I moved two years ago I set my studio up very quickly but just recently have made some great improvements and I wanted to share them with you!
I read very often how many photographers wished they had a bigger space as a studio. I live in a condo and have designated one of my bedrooms as a studio. It's about 12 by 13 feet. It's not as large as I would like but it is quite efficient. I love that I can make a coffee in my kitchen then walk over to my studio in seconds, LOL!
One of the improvements was where to hide all my backdrops. Some of them are quite large and when your working with objects as your main photography focus it can be overwhelming to find space for everything!
One of the ideas I came up with was to hide all my wooden backdrops behind my drop down paper(black and white)roll backdrops that are suspended on a pulley system. Their hidden very well there and still very easy to get to when needed.
As you can see when the paper backdrops are down all is hidden. You would be surprised what you can hide behind there, LOL! Those pulley systems for the paper backdrops are terrific and very efficient also. I have one for three paper rolls. I have two for the moment but can't decide what my 3rd color will be yet.
I try to use a lot of natural light when shooting but when needed I have 2 Elinchrom D-Lite-it 4 2 Flash kit with softboxes. So far this is perfect for the size of my studio...maybe it could change but for now it's works great!
 
Another change I made very recently was to improve more space for props. I have been shooting on a large folding table for the last 5 years and realized that there was a lot of valuable space not being utilized  under the table so last weekend I purchased two large bureaus at IKEA.
Each bureau has 6 drawers and then were put back to back. We also decided to add wheels on each bureau so they would be moveable in the room. OMG, that gave me 12 drawers of extra space!!
My loving son (Christopher) bless his soul had the daunting task and the patience to assemble them last weekend for me! My brother Peter also lend a helping hand in the assembling and all went well. I now have so much more space.
One thing I could not do before was to put heavy objects on top of the table but now it's not a problem. That is not a child's chair that you see but a full size adult Adirondack sun chair so my table surface is quite large now.
One thing I've learned is when your studio space is not large it better be efficient. You also get much more positive productivity when you know where everything is!  Hope this helps anyone trying to organizing your studio!
Your ideas can flow much more clearly when there is less clutter in the studio as well as on the brain, LOL!

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14 comments:

  1. Luba V Nel26 July 2011 at 15:01

    this is lovely! thank you so much for sharing!

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  2. Sandralise27 July 2011 at 23:24

    Thanks Luba!:)

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  3. Anonymous29 July 2011 at 11:33

    Looks fantastic, Sandra! What kind of light output do you get from your studio lights, in terms of watts? Tamara.

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  4. Sandralise30 July 2011 at 10:01

    Thanks Tamara!
    Between 400 and 800 total...hope that answers your question. :)

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  5. Andre van der Veen2 August 2011 at 03:37

    Sandra, I just found your blog now via Shoots.co.za (I'm @ndré on shoots.co.za) and I'm so glad I did!

    Loved this post and I'll be spending more time here soon :) Your images are truly inspirational.

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  6. Sandralise2 August 2011 at 07:19

    Hi Andre,

    I'm so glad you found the articles useful and thanks for the positive feedback!
    I really appreciate it.

    Thank you,
    Sandra

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  7. Anonymous24 August 2011 at 14:37

    Where can you order your prints?

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  8. Sandralise24 August 2011 at 15:11

    You can purchase my images via: http://sandra-cunningham.artistwebsites.com

    I'm always adding new images to my portfolio there!

    Thanks for the interest! :)

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  9. Luis Santos25 October 2011 at 01:33

    very cool place, mine is a mess all the time but one day will try to clean it and post as well! thanks for sharing, have a great day :)

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  10. Sandra Cunningham25 October 2011 at 10:22

    Thanks Luis! I know how hard it is to keep it clean. It's always a battle...right now mine is full of Christmas props, LOL! :)

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  11. Marishka10 November 2011 at 17:09

    Dear Sandra, what will be your advice to the newbie photographer as me who has no experience with soft boxes, lighting and studio photography, but full of big wish to create a little studio like yours at home? your photos are so lightful, high quality, warm and full of energy. i can't stop watching them. thanks in advance, and sorry my poor English.

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  12. Sandralise30 December 2011 at 09:56

    Hi Marishka,
    I try to use a lot of natural light when shooting but when needed I have 2 Elinchrom D-Lite-it 4 2 Flash kit with softboxes. So far this is perfect for the size of my studio...maybe it could change but for now it's works great! Here is a link to show you:
    http://www.lozeau.com/en-CA/catalog/lighting-studio/flash-heads/elinchrom-d-lite-it-4-2-flash-kit/
    Hope this answers your question and good luck! :)

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  13. Anonymous3 June 2012 at 19:13

    Hi Sandra, I wonder where you get all your props? Do you return them to the store like I do?

    Bea H.

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  14. Sandralise12 February 2013 at 09:39

    Hello Bea,
    I like to keep the props I purchase for future uses and then keep them in my "prop' room!
    Hope this answers your question. :)

    ReplyDelete

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