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Setting up a home studio and (perhaps) starting to sell some photos.
George07748
Registered Users Posts: 30 Big grins
Hi! I'm an intermedieate amateur and I dabble in all types of photography. I started in college and then after a hiatus to work on career and kids, I restarted with digital a few years ago.
After thinking about trying it professionally, I realized I have no interest in making this my full-time profession, but I am thinking about maybe selling a few pictures (to microstock or stock sites, perhaps a family portrait or two, etc.) here and there mostly as a way to bring in new subject matter to try and perhaps offset some of the costs of the hobby.
I recently realized I might soon have the means to convert an adjacent (not attached, but shares a wall with the house) one-car garage into a little studio. Right now it's just cement, outer walls and studs. The overhead door is on the east wall and it has two standard windows facing north.
With a modest expense, I could finish the walls and ceiling (it has a pitched roof, but has a few tie-beams going across the upper portion) and end up with a nice 10x10 wall opposite the overhead door to hang backdrops and keep some (future) studio lights set up. At the other end of the space I could set up a small meeting/reception area, and perhaps remove the old overhead door and make a nicer entry. I think by doing a painted floor and perhaps shallow cabinetry, I could end up with a space that can be dedicated to photography for now, but could quickly be made back into a garage for very low cost (replacing the OH door) and still hold a car.
Has anyone done something like this? Any pros or cons you can think of?
What am I missing?
Thanks,
-George
After thinking about trying it professionally, I realized I have no interest in making this my full-time profession, but I am thinking about maybe selling a few pictures (to microstock or stock sites, perhaps a family portrait or two, etc.) here and there mostly as a way to bring in new subject matter to try and perhaps offset some of the costs of the hobby.
I recently realized I might soon have the means to convert an adjacent (not attached, but shares a wall with the house) one-car garage into a little studio. Right now it's just cement, outer walls and studs. The overhead door is on the east wall and it has two standard windows facing north.
With a modest expense, I could finish the walls and ceiling (it has a pitched roof, but has a few tie-beams going across the upper portion) and end up with a nice 10x10 wall opposite the overhead door to hang backdrops and keep some (future) studio lights set up. At the other end of the space I could set up a small meeting/reception area, and perhaps remove the old overhead door and make a nicer entry. I think by doing a painted floor and perhaps shallow cabinetry, I could end up with a space that can be dedicated to photography for now, but could quickly be made back into a garage for very low cost (replacing the OH door) and still hold a car.
Has anyone done something like this? Any pros or cons you can think of?
What am I missing?
Thanks,
-George
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Comments
A great idea for hanging backdrops without having to buy stands, go to Home Depot and pick up a couple lengths of PVC, I would use anything 1.5" or thicker and roll the back drops right onto them. If your using anything over ten feet wide for a drop, use 2" or bigger and for paper 3". Some backdrops have a 3" pocket sewn in the top to hang from (1.5" pipe is the biggest you will get through it!) You can buy a 10' length for 4 bucks! I picked up two with end caps, chains and hooks and it was under 15 bucks!
I don't want to come across the wrong way on this, but I'm not necessarily trying to do this on a budget. I definitely need to insulate the walls and get some sort of HVAC in there and at that point I'd rather make it a nice place to spend time, so drywall is a given.
Beyond that, I'd like to make it a nice and useful space that will encourage me to get creative. I was wondering if anyone has done something like this and would be willing to share their ideas.
Is there a book out there that's good on small studio design?
Thanks!
PVC is cheap but it will not hang well over a 9-12' span with out center support (experience here) I use 1 10ft 2"PVC on my portable backdrop holder and since it has no way to roll it (sprocket and chain system) it is a pain to roll a 20' long backdrop up by hand, so I highly recommend buying a roller system.......emt conduit is the way to go around $10 at home Depot and Lowes......most backdrops have a 1.5" pocket and 1.5" emt just barely slides in.......for multi backdrops evbay has quite a selection of roller systems rangling in price from $60 and up...some that are intriging to me are the 4-6 backdrop systems that will hang of a standard backdrop stands......they have the same systems for wall or ceiling hanging......I have less than $120 invested in my roller system - rollers were on sale on ebay for $49.99 +10 s/h + $40 for the 10' 1.5" alum emt .....EMT is a lot lighter than regular alum. conduit......I can hang and unhang my backdrop by my self......the roller system is made of PVC material and the chains are a poly material but it works well.......I recently started looking at the system to hang on background stands for portability, that way one set of backdrops will work in studio and also on the road if need be.
you might find some useful info here: http://tinyurl.com/47vg9ls
as far as books go I have not seen any in many years, used to find them all the time.........
One thing I would consider is making sure the north windows are not obstructed...northern light is a much sought after item.....so if the windows are relatively small enlarge them into one nice big window with a window seat so one can sit there with legs in the window also, old glamour portraits were done this way.........