Professional Photography Studio Equipments for Beginners
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Getting your own studio for photography is a dream for every passionate professional photographer but a beginner. It often becomes a nightmare to balance finding the right photography studio equipment and budget.
Photography studio essentials are expensive but set up a photography studio, and there is no other option than to purchase them.
A better professional photo doesn’t require only a creative eye or a camera, and it also requires a studio with the necessary photography studio equipment in it. So are you going to purchase your photography studio essentials right away?
I would suggest you slow down and do some necessary mathematics before you buy your photography equipment because, as a beginner, you might think about your budget first.
In this editorial, I will talk about budget-friendly photography studio equipment for beginners. Stay with me, and you will get to know what photography studio essentials you will require to start up your own studio.
Must-Have Photography Studio Equipment List
First of all, let’s go through the photography equipment list that any photographer would require to set up a professional studio.
- Camera stands
- Lighting solutions
- Backdrops
- Cameras
- Computers and Furniture
- Image Post Processing
You may think that I missed many things, but I assure you these are the major photography studio equipment for beginners to start within a respected budget.
Complete Guide of Photography Studio Equipments
Here I am writing only about the pieces of equipment that any photographer must-have in their studio.
Camera Stands: if you want to capture the best photos, then using a camera stand has no alternatives. You can shoot holding your camera in your hand, but the final image will come blurry.
Manfrotto tripods, unrivaled in their durability and flexibility, are recognized by photographers worldwide for the top class service they offer.
Don’t go for the cheapest one in the market; try to buy an expensive one but if you cannot accept an expensive one, go for a mid-range tripod. Though I am telling you about the photography equipment for a studio, when you are purchasing a camera stand, try to buy a tripod that you can use indoors and outdoors.
Tripods are different sizes and offer additional features. You can become overwhelmed by the various categories of tripods and the segments they offer. So before buying a camera stand to understand your requirements first and match your needs with the equipment.
Lighting Solutions: Photography studios are incomplete without professional photography lighting set up. Without professional lighting, you will never be able to capture professional photos.
But as a beginner, buying a premium and expensive lighting setup will not be a wise decision. First, you need to understand what type of photography you do and then, based on that, purchase your lighting equipment.
Photography lighting is different types such as:
- Softbox
- Umbrella Lighting
If you are shooting small or medium-sized products, buying a softbox would be the best decision as lightboxes come with in-built lighting. You can DIY lightbox using simple instruments also where you may find some of them in your home.
Apart from that, you can also use umbrella photography lighting for your product photography. It isn’t the best budget-friendly photography lighting setup, but it isn’t costly either if you can set it up with proper planning.
Umbrella lighting setup is also two types:
- Shoot through umbrella lighting
- Reflective umbrella lighting
Photography Background: The background you are using for your photography can help you to capture one of the masterpieces of your life, but it can also show you the nightmare you might not see. So the background you are using must compliment your image.
If you are a product photographer, then a solid white background is a piece of must-have equipment for your product photography setup
But chances are better, and keeping your possible photo shooting scenarios, choose your background wisely. You can use muslin, canvas, or seamless paper and create different backgrounds for the various shoots.
You can use an external backdrop if you don’t want to use a permanent want like painting on a wall. You need to use backdrop stands or backdrop support systems.
Cameras: To become a professional commercial photographer using expensive cameras and lenses isn’t necessary if you know how to work with an average camera and lenses. Camera brands don’t matter, and you can use any brand you want, but using the correct camera settings does matter a lot.
If you want my suggestion, then I will prefer these three models of DSLR camera for professional studio photography:
- Canon EOS Rebel T7
- Nikon D3500
- Sony a6100/a6400
If you search, you will get uncountable DSLR models, and more are coming every month or year because of the technology advancement, but you can’t buy a new camera and lenses every year. The models I mentioned are great for professional photography within the budget. If you can afford an expensive one, you should go for it to get more advanced features there.
Computer and Furniture: Yes, you heard it right. Furniture is also a significant photography studio essential. You should purchase tables, chairs, and tools and set them up in the studio. Tools and chairs will help you to make different poses for your photography.
Other than tools and chairs, if you are into newborn photography, you can purchase newborn photography pillows and beds.
You must have computers in your studio to transfer the image files and sort them out for post-processing. Transferring, storing, sorting, and editing the large-sized RAW image files require a powerful computer, or most of your time will get wasted by doing these.
You have to use a powerful CPU, SSD with HDD to process your files faster, and a high-resolution display to see the images in their accurate color. Try to purchase the best SSD for photoshop to get top-notch seamless processing.
Below I have listed some of the top-performing SSD that photographers use, and you should use them also.
- Samsung 860 EVO 500GB
- WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB
- Crucial MX500 500GB
- SanDisk SSD PLUS 480GB
Image Post Processing: Photo editing is the last but an important photography studio equipment for beginners. To make sure that your image performs better than your competitors, editing them is as important as capturing them in the first place.
You can edit your images by yourself if the amount is small, but if you have a bulk amount of images, you shouldn’t do it independently. Image editing is a tiresome and time-consuming task, so if you want to edit your bulk image, you might not get enough time for your photography, which is your strongest point.
Based on your image categories, you will require different kinds of image editing services such as background removal using clipping path, creating shadows on the image, image retouching and polishing to make it presentable, etc.
You can hire an expert, but it would cost you a lot, so I would suggest you do what you do best and outsource the rest.
I am repeating again that the photography studio equipments I mentioned in this editorial are not the only thing you would require to set up a photography studio, but these would be enough to start a studio.
Frequently Asked Questions
To start a photography business there is no other option than setting up a studio. To set up a professional photography studio a photographer will require below equipments
- A good camera
- Tripod
- Lighting
- Lenses
- Backdrops
- Props
- Studio space
You can rent photography equipment but this would cost you a lot. So what you can do is to rent an entire studio and do your photoshop shooting. The range of the rent can be as low as $100 to more than $500 per hour based on the space and features they offer.
For product photography you don’t need to buy any special or different equipment. But yes product photography does require some specific equipment like solid white backdrop, light box, rotatable surface etc.
Emma Rivett
Author
“Emma Rivett is a brand photographer and copywriter who has a strong tendency to prepare, change and teach. Her photographic works were published in Uppercase, Travel + Leisure, Gayot Guide, Paula Deen Cooking, Design Guide, the NHOME Magazine, Urban Home, etc. Helping creative businesspeople create an online brand and PS”
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