5 Lighting Setups for Your Home Studio

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Putting together a photography studio in your home or office is one of the best ways to get started in shooting with artificial light. You might not exactly have pro conditions, but most people can build a decent setup in their homes for $200-$300. That will be the starting point for acquiring the right skills to become a professional at studio photography. You can also view another post about home photography ideas on our website PhotographyTalk.com.

Now this is a game of trial and error and you will have a lot of both. Investing massive amounts of cash is unnecessary in the beginning. A standard studio kit for amateurs, with two or three strobes is enough. What you will need though are some modifiers for your studio flashes. Umbrellas are the way to start. They're easy to work with and easy to learn on.

Lighting can be as dramatic and spectacular as you want it to be and you can do amazing things with a two light setup. In fact, even one flash is enough to get amazing results if you experiment for long enough.

(Success Tip:Master photography with a simple deck of cards here)

There are a few basic must-know setups in studio photography, and there are custom setups for each specific situation. The ones any studio photographer has to know are relatively simple to use, but they do require a bit of practice. I recommend most photographers start with a reflection umbrella, positioned at 45 degrees to one side of the model, and slightly above. Opposite to the umbrella, there should be a reflector, something white that light can bounce off and fill the shadows cast by the flash. From then on, start experimenting with two flashes, but for the first time, set the second flash to be a fill flash, not a main one. After you get the hang of these two setups, use both flashes as main lights and figure out where you need to place a reflector to kill off any shadows.

Here's a useful video tutorial from The Slanted Lens that will teach you five setups to get you started with your home studio shooting sessions. Enjoy!

Learn more about studio photography from these recommended books: