Having a Garage Photography Studio
It’s a fact that business owners need quality photography for their businesses. I know so many creative ladies out there who have a passion to shoot either for their own small businesses or for others while they are home. When I started, I had a one year old and needed to find a creative way to shoot my products for my ETSY shop, and I didn’t know where to turn. Now that I have discovered my love for shooting for others, it is now my business.
Over the years, I have graduated from shooting on my porch, in bedrooms…now I utilize my garage space as my studio. There are many benefits I have found! Not only is there great light, but it is a convenient place to store my props, organize my thoughts and make plans for shoots as they come.
Over these years I have gained and discarded many styling tools and props that I wanted, and then realized didn’t fit my needs. For this post, I wanted to encourage y’all out there who are interested in trying to set up a shooting space in your garage, to do it!
You may be asking:
What about the AZ heat?
What about your cars?
What does your husband think of that?
Well, I’ll be sure to answer all of those things!
You may freak out with the amount of boards I have, but have no fear, it really isn’t THAT many, considering I shoot for a lot of different brands and small businesses ;) I think they are easy to store because they are flat, and variety is an important thing.
When I first started, I hoarded anything I could that might work one day for a shoot, but now I am very selective and only buy things that would work for my style. For instance, notice I have zero RED props? :)
As for the heat, I am currently considering getting a space cooler if I am shooting in the hot months. Otherwise, I have no problem shooting in the early morning, or later evening hours.
I don’t leave any valuable camera/photo equipment in my garage, so that is not a worry. The only things really stored there are my work area(table) and props.
When I had moved into my house, I knew I would be creating in there, and planned to get the floor epoxied. It is most likely my favorite part of my garage- other than the shelves my husband built for me.
I sectioned the back third of the garage off with hanging curtains so that my husband could have his “man space”, shelving to hold our Christmas decorations and also hide the kids’ bikes.
Overall, we don’t have a lot of extra stuff to store, so having a garage space is a possibility for me.
If needed, I can easily move the table over, take down the curtains and park cars, no issue, but this is a minor sacrifice we make currently.
What about managing the light?
A garage door is a wonderful thing! You can lower or raise it, I occasionally magnetize sheer curtains to it if needed.
Personally, I like to set up my large diffuser, and shoot alongside the right wall and on the ground for flat lays. My biggest job is managing strong light, because AZ definitely has strong sun.
I hope this look at my shooting space in my garage helps give you some ideas about setting up a creative space in your own garage! Where do you like to shoot when you are home?
Don’t underestimate any space!
