My Space.

Feeling a bit apprehensive about sharing this "behind the scenes" peek. And shy. And then frustrated at myself for caring so much. Finally I just had to give myself a big kick in the pants and remind myself that I am proud of my space. There are some truly gorgeous studios out there. And mine is ... in my garage :). Nothin' fancy. But it is still MY space and I'm thrilled to bits to call it my own. It's not quite finished ... we got a little burned out on painting and sewing and cleaning. Trim boards have been leaning against the wall for weeks now. We keep looking at the concrete floor, saying "hmmm ... what should we do with this?" ... and then just move on. Honestly? This is probably as good as it's gonna get. And I've decided ... that's okay with me. I don't need to pretend to be any more fancy schmancy than I am. Because I LIKE shooting in my garage. With my shoes off. And being silly.



Here's a little "before" of what we were workin' with:



And here's the after:



The walls and ceiling were finished and painted. Our personal belongings are now hidden behind some lovely gray fabric. One backdrop is hung from the wooden beam and most of my props are stored behind it. We also hung a long black curtain from the ceiling to separate the space from the rest of the garage. And do you LOVE my gorgeous new sofa and pillows (one of which has already snuck its way inside the house ...) as much as I do?



One of my favorite things about this space is that I can have several shooting areas set up at one time. I took these pics right after a senior shoot that I had last week. My kids have since adopted the "school" set for their own and have been having way too much fun with the desk and the chalkboard. I haven't had the heart to take it down and put it away yet!



As far as equipment goes, I have a huge 4'x6' Larson softbox, with a Photogenic 1250dr inside, powered by a radiopopper transmitter. I also have a smaller softbox to use with my flashes and a super silver reflector to help me bounce light around. And of course if I want even more light ... or to shoot natural light ... all I have to do is open up that garage door.




I've already put the space ... and the new lights ... to good use. While I definitely love shooting outdoors and on location ... there is certainly something to be said for being able to walk right out into my own garage on a cold rainy day and still be able to shoot to my heart's content!

Behind the Scenes

Since we're on the subject of what's in my house ... at least we were with {yesterday's} post ... time to finally answer a question from my recent Q&A. Actually, I had two requests {one pretty please with sugar on top} for the same thing ~ some pull-back shots and behind the scenes of my indoor studio. Of course I laughed, because at this point I am just making do with what I have, which is an open living room, a big window, and some speedlights and an umbrella. But I have big long-term plans. In fact, I just ordered the real deal: a huge 4x6 softbox, a big super silver reflector and some studio lights. Scary but fun. Next job is to clear out the garage to make room for all of it!

But for NOW, here's what it looks like the day of a studio shoot inside my home. This particular one was for a newborn shoot, so you can see all the extra things I pulled out to make it comfortable for the baby:

Here's a straight on shot of my shooting area ~ a portable backdrop stand, backdrop, and flooring. These were taken after the shoot, so everything is a bit messed up and thrown around:

A couple of more angles ... the biggest downside of setting up in my living room is cleaning it all up afterwards!

All of my props are stored in the garage right now, in the area that will eventually be the dedicated studio space. I'm so excited to start getting this space ready! I guess I better get going on it, now that the lights are on the way ...

Tomorrow the beautiful newborn that caused me to pull out ALL this stuff will be on the blog!