Pop-Up Photo Studio
Today I made my own pop-up photography studio! This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but until now I haven’t had everything I needed to be able to do it.
So what is a pop-up photography studio?
Well, this can sometimes be called a ‘mobile’ or ‘on-location studio’. It’s basically when you take the elements that make a photography studio a photography studio, think backdrop, lighting etc, shove them in a car and drive them to some other place. Then build a studio there!
I can’t take the credit for this idea either. A pair of my original mentors are responsible for this. Adrian & Carla, to be precise. (Link: https://adriancarlacreative.com).
Why on earth would you want to do this?
That’s a good question when there are a variety of brilliant and affordable studios you can rent around the country. Without having to buy a load of extra gear, mess about packing and unpacking it, or even setting it up. Near where I live is the fantastic Spire Photography Studio, which currently charges £25.00 per hour of use. At current price levels, this is very affordable for studio hire, including use of the equipment, changing rooms and wardrobe.
Yes, for a lot of people, this makes a great deal more sense. I’d also recommend it to beginners as the starting point. It’s so much more convenient and less hassle. Unless you do a lot of shooting, it also works out cheaper.
For me, it’s about challenging myself. My next book is all about my journey to become a portrait photographer. Overcoming my own anxiety, self-doubt and fear of doing it. The act of building my own studio and shooting there is part of this broader journey.
I wanted to be fully independent. No studio owner to fall back on. Just me and a setup that I have to manually build. Then working with a model to bring a concept to life. Evidence to myself that I can do it. That I can make studio images with good lighting that I’ve done myself. Not stolen from someone else.
The purpose of today’s outing was to test if I had everything I needed and that I could get it all to work in the studio space. I had some key questions to answer:
How long does it take me to set everything up?
How long does it take me to pack up?
Is the space large enough to build the studio within?
Could I fit my largest backdrop width in there?
Is the layout of the space convenient when it comes to power and plug sockets?
Are there appropriate facilities for myself and models?
Is there a changing area or possible changing room for models?
Could I get a simple lighting setup dialled in quickly?
Today was a cooler day in a summer heatwave that had swept the nation. Needless to say though, it was still hot. Hovering around the mid-20s outside. I say this as it may have slowed me down slightly. With that said though, I found it took me about an hour in total to set everything up and then pack it away. Not bad for a first try, right?
Now, I will say that I didn’t get any photos from this shoot. I was just messing around trying things. Heck, I didn’t even have a real background. I was just using a patch of canvas material I managed to get hold of to make a custom background that may be a future project that will end up on here!
The location worked incredibly well as a studio and was very affordable. This is actually one of the main advantages of this style of shooting. I think two hours cost around £17.00. It’s worth mentioning though that this doesn’t include the cost of all the gear I had with me.
In conclusion then, it was a successful outing.
The choice of village hall was perfect for a studio and I’m confident it would comfortably work for a real shoot. With that in mind, I’m now going to plan who and what that will involve.
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