Want to have your photography studio in UAE? In Dubai, its pretty simple in these days as prices of the apartment are dropping and mainly all apartments on the market are around 1,300sqft or 120,774sqm for 2 bedroom apartment. So that said here are 5 things you need to get started building your home photography studio…
1. Finding Right Apartment
The first thing you need to do is to look for a 2 bedroom apartment. Why 2 bedroom is because later on you will not want to have a photography studio and the bed in the same room. The price range for 2 BDR apartment will depend on the location of your apartment in Dubai, if is located in the centre of the city get ready to pay a bit more. Good thing is that if you have a photography studio in the centre, you will be probably more busy as the client have easy access to your home.
I found my apartment 15min drive out of Dubai Marina or 30min from Down Town in the area called Dubai Sports City. You have many more similar areas like (Jumeirah Village Circle, Al Barsha South, Motor City, etc..) with very good prices and relative big apartments. In total, my apartment has 1,400sqft / 130sqm and this is a good size for playing around with rooms. Below few links to get you some idea about prices on the market.
2. Prepare Space for Work
When you find your sweet home, choose one of the rooms for a studio another for sleep. In my case, I dedicate a small room for a photo studio and master room for sleeping. The reason why I choose a small room is because of the layout of the apartment. In a small room, I have 2 meters corridor that leads into the room and it is perfect for me to stand there and take some portraits as I have a bigger distance from the subject.
So how big does your room need to be? That depends on what you will photography. If you want to capture a full-body shot with hair light, you will need a much bigger room. A small room like mine I need to retouch on a final full-body shot right and left wall and the ceiling from the image. I’m shooting mainly small things like product and food so in that case, I put in my room office table and shelves to store the equipment and still have enough space to play around.
3. Add Light Sources
You’ll need to purchases some artificial lights for your photography studio. I’m using Profoto B1 monolights as lots of work I have on the location so I need battery-powered lights, but you can go away much cheaper with some other brands. You will need as well the stands for each light (I recommend at least one C stand) and some V flat foam boards to shape the light.
4. Buying Backdrops
Depending on your photography style you pick up the materials for backdrops. Can be fabric and cloth or paper. In any case, the first thing you need to do is to mount a curtain rod or manual background system on the ceiling or high up on a wall (higher better).
If you renting an apartment like me, you will need to call building handyman with a working permit to install this up for you, as land lord usually doesn’t allow you to drill holes in the wall by yourself.
Personally, I buy only white, black and grey paper colour and then with colour gels on my strobes I’m changing the look of the background
5. Get some props
After using your studio a few times, you will realise that every session becoming to look very similar. So get some props. Again depending on what you shooting you will pick up the props. Most of the things I found around the house and lots of time when I’m shooting the product, I’m using black and whiteboards and for food napkins and different plating or ingredients itself.
Im using water as part of the props and here you can find some examples of my work that I create at home.
Photography Studio Tips
- Make use of light modifiers, especially reflects and v flats. It’s crazy how these small things change the look of your portraits or still life.
- Choose the right lens. For sure you will not use zoom lens, the best are some prime lenses like 50mm or 85mm they will do a great job. If you don’t have enough space from the subject 35mm will do as well.
- Make sure you are able to have natural light as well to cover the windows to have completely dark room.
You can find some of my studio work on this projects links:
For those who would like to read more about Building photography studio I recommend to check out on Pixpa.com
Bellow I’m putting together some images that I was able to create in my small studio for your imagination what you can do.
SERVICE
STUDIO AND PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY – SERVICE
Photographing products requires sharp expertise and control of the lighting. Jure approach can provide with many options in lighting styles such as, those that are very pleasing and natural, or slick and surreal. Although the final image may look quite simply, the process and illuminating set can be very complex. More than any other type of photography, shooting product images is problem-solving that take time. He strives to give each deadline top priority and work around the clock if needed. His cozy photography studio is located right in his home for easy access.
If you are looking for a professional product photographer in United Arab Emirates, contact Jure Ursic Photography today to discuss your next project.