So, after a sudden realiseation, I have swapped my much neglected games room to a photo work room and mini studio.
How mini?
Maximum depth unless I stand outside the room (possible) is 3200mm* or 10’6” and my maximum width is 2600mm or 8”, although this is actually 2400mm of actual floor space and 240mm of book shelf up to 900mm/3’. If I shoot towards the book case, I get the extra 10” as background breathing.
This may seem to be a lot of effort for little gain, but looking at a lot of single person portrait setups, often the bulk of the surrounding space is not used, but if space is needed, I will do an environmental shoot, using the techniques I have picked up here. Mods are softer closer and using the average portrait lens (50-90mm on a full frame) means that 2-3m is plenty, especially if mod distance means getting in tighter. Groups and full body shots are different, but I have no other option.
Ignore the pile of books, they are soon to go.
As of now, painted in a pleasant but entirely useless colour for a studio and shot with a “real estate” lens :). The right hand image shows the very maximum distance, about 4m if I stand in the hall! I can see the light being replaced after I break it (!) by a pair of down lights or maybe something even more useful.
Looking at a lot of videos and blogs on portraiture over the last year or two, close working distances are not at all uncommon. Felix Kunze in one example was only 3’ from his subject and she was only 2’ from the V-flat used as a background. With a 17mm (35mm FF eq) I can get a whole standing person with room around, a 25mm is ideal for a seated person or thigh to head and my 45mm gives me a tight upper body. I can even use my 75mm for a dramatic head shot.
I want to be able to do a brilliant white, with equally brilliant gelled colours, a moody to neutral grey with equally moody gel colours and pure black, so a white and grey background are a given, the black comes from light placement.
My options for backdrops are;
Paper or vinyl rolls including a white window blind, I can take a 2.7m Spectrum roll,
Cloth on curtain rails mounted on the wall or on light stands,
Hard panels of thin wood or hard foam with texture paint on them (which allows me to stuff up plenty until I get it right), These could also be “V-flats” for flagging and bounce, probably made out of my many fails. I really like textured “Oliphant” style backdrops, but realise they are hard to nail. I also like the multi panel look some photogs use for forming layers or corners as well as the wrinkle free finish of hard panels. I do have tons of storage space, just a small studio.
Canvas for the same as above but portable, probably only after I get my technique down.
Painted walls, which is risky for textures but fine for solids.
The window can be diffused with a white sheer fabric.
So what colour to paint it?
My immediate reflex was to go white, probably ceiling white as that guarantees a neutral, forgiving, real matt white, which is otherwise hard to guarantee. Note; Un-tinted paint is as neutral as you will get, but true matt is hard to find, so ceiling white works.
This brings up the reality though, that my room is small, giving my about 1m of modifier space, 1-2m from subject to back-drop and 1-2m to me from the subject (3m overall). If I need to control light in a small white “box”, I will be hanging flagging cloth or V-flats all over the place. Claustrophobic much?
If I on the other hand go dark (neutral grey, green or blue, but not black, that’s too much), then I arrest the bulk of the spill, but shrink and force a mood on the room. It would make the room look longer, but also create a gloomy space and bounce would again rely on mods, stealing more space.
The longest shooting distance is towards a window, so I will backdrop that, maybe a simple vinyl blind as the white, then a grey roll (and a Green screen?).
If I go dark, the actual colour will not matter much, but If I go lighter, colour neutrality will be important.
On reflection (see what I did there?), I have decided to do the right hand wall ceiling white (or matt blue for people as I have a white backdrop planned for the long end?), as this is the wall that will get morning sun and soft afternoon light and the rest a deep matt green.
The white wall also gives a more open feeling on entry. The actual green will be a tough one. Darker and moodier, with a warm twist like a deep lime appeals. The left side wall will only be able to do some upper body shots and may need a plinth even, but I want these to be distinctive and my book/camera shelves are dark cedar, which will look nice.
This will give me a pretty controlled environment, with a white wall for near full length or a darker wall for tight upper body shots on the short sides, and these can be a reflective wall for book lighting, a darker wall for negative fill and I can still flag the white or place a reflector in front of the green if desired, I just don’t have to do both at once.
The ceiling will remain white, again for bounce, but I also feel that is the most easily controlled as most mods point downwards.
My floor is black carpet. I am looking into a soft fake wood floor mat a decent rug or some clip together flooring. I do have several 2” square vinyl slate tiles that may be useful as well and I have a couple of long fabric backdrops that can come down to floor level. Shooting low will increase the feeling of room size and intimacy as well as giving me more room for mods.
For props, I have a decent start with an antique wooden chest, a small antique table, two tall modern white metal stools and a hand made Curule chair, gifted to me by my talented father in law. I feel that sitting is better than standing for casual portraits. People seem more relaxed, individual and have more options for their hands when sitting, where everyone tends to stand the same way.
A small lung I have is to remove the custom computer desk* giving me 2’/500mm more room length and another wall to use (textured or blue?), which is on the cards as I do not use the desk top much and it is getting on a bit. I would also like to move the long narrow bookshelf unit running down one wall, but I need it for my cameras etc. Again, something to keep on the back burner.
*
*My intention was to have my printer and comp on the narrow desk, but the huge printer (Canon Pixma 10s) looked really cramped, so being wifi, I moved it to another room. If I shift entirely to laptop operation, the desk can go or become a fold-up.