Whether you’re just starting out or have been shooting for decades, as portrait photographers we all have to shoot in small spaces from time to time.

From working in small home studios, to shooting out of your clients home, to photographing sports celebrities in corridors, to working with corporate clients in their offices, shooting in small spaces is just a part of the job. With that in mind, here are some quick tips on making the most of those small spaces.

Creative Setups for Small Spaces

One area that people claim holds back their development and creativity back, is their space. I argue that this simply isn’t an excuse as with proper light control, any sized space can produce engaging and creative shots. Take a look at some of the lighting setups below that can be achieved in almost any space, even as small as a corridor!

1. Simplest and Most Effective One Light Setup I've Ever Used

It honestly deosn’t get any easier than this one. A single light and reflector is all you need and this gorgeous looking light can be achieved in spaces as small as a corridor if need be. If youre after a clean and beautiful looking light then definitely check this one out as this is no gimmick setup, it genuinely produces some flawless looking light!

2. Lighting Setup - Pastel Wrap

If you’re feeling bold, then upgrading your looks to include some colour can instantly give your shots an engaging edge. This Pastel Wrap setup again needs almost no space and although it requires 2 lights, they need to be close to the subject for best results so this is an ideal setup for smaller studio spaces.

3. Lighting Setup: Foreground Flare

Some times adding depth to a shot can go a long way to suggest a bigger space than you actually have. Sure, shooting with a wide aperture to throw your background out of focus is a great way to simulate depth, but what about your foreground? This simple setup relies on you ‘faking’ a foreground element in your shot and we can easily do this with a variety of household items being held in front of your lens. Plus, this setup also shows you how to convincingly fake a window light as your key-light.

Gear that is perfect for small spaces

One of the biggest benefits of owning your own studio, is having all of your gear setup and ready to go. With all of that studio space, you can have a multitude of backgrounds in place and even specialist modifiers assembled and on-hand to use. But in smaller spaces or even studios on the go, what are some tips on helping to stay creative?

4. DIY Backdrops for Home Shoots & Lighting Setup

One of the most boring aspects of shooting in a home studio, is the lack of variety when it comes to backgrounds. There is really only so many times you can photograph a white wall behind someone. So with that in mind, here are some tips on staying creative with backgrounds and saving money whilst you do it.

5. DIY Mottled Backdrop

How about taking those creative backgrounds one step further by actually making your own, and yes, it’s super easy and extremely affordable. In this technique I share how I made one of those mottled backgrounds that emulate a ‘hand-painted’ backdrop look. Those types of backgrounds are seeing a resurgence as they’ve come a long way from the tacky 1980’s-style family portrait.

6. Miniature Boom

That’s correct, you read that right, a miniature boom! When shooting portraits we are often after a symmetrical light as that is often the most beautiful. One of the easiest ways to achieve symmetrical light is to place your key-light directly in front of your subject. Sadly, when you do this, your light stand is now in the way of your camera so you have to shoot around it, which in turn results in you losing that symmetrical look.

In a big studio we’d simply use a boom-arm to swing a key light in front of the model, but sadly that’s not possible in smaller spaces, so here’s the next best thing.

This mini right-angle bracket (ordinarily used for holding umbrellas) can be placed on your light stand to allow you to mount your light at a right angle. This now enables us to shoot underneath the light without it getting in the way of our shot. This ‘Quick Tip’ image above was from my ‘Quick Tips’ page that has tons of other useful bite-size tips like this, so if you’ve not seen it, go check it out.

Using small spaces to your advantage

Believe it or not, there are actually some advantages to shooting in small spaces. Can we use the low ceilings or the boring white walls of smaller home studios to actually help us? Below I’ll share some setups that not only work despite the lack of space, bu they actually thrive on it.

7. Lighting Setup: The Corona

Don’t let the name of this setup that hasn’t aged well put you off! As this setup can create some gorgeous looking light that requires a small home studio or space to really shine. With this technique I’m actually bouncing the light off of the white walls behind the subject and above them to create this very effective edge light. Take a look as it not only require very little space, but very little equipment too.

8. Super-Soft Lighting in Small Home Studios

I’ll be honest, one of the hardest aspects of shooting in small spaces, is other their low ceilings. For many setups I like to get hair lights or even edge lights up nice and high to throw light down on the subject. Sadly, that’s not always possible and I’ll admit to getting more than one model to sit down on a chair in the past to ‘cheat’ the look due to a lack of ceiling height. But with this setup, I show you how to actually use those annoying low ceilings to your advantage as you can create some truly gorgeous soft-light with this setup.

9. Lighting Setup - My Favourite £1 Lighting Modifier

Granted the economic crisis may have hit this title particularly hard from when I first shared it, but this technique is still unbelievably cheap to pull off! This setup follows on from the previous one in that we’ll be using that low ceiling to our advantage once again, this time however we’ll be getting a little more creative with the results.

Questions and Answers

If youre currently struggling with working in small spaces, I assure you that you’re not alone, in fact, there are so many people just like you that we actually discussed this topic in detail during one of my recent livestreams. If you missed it, check it out as I answered a ton of questions surrounding this very common issue.

10. In-depth discussion on working in small spaces

I recently hosted a livestream where we discussed this topic of shooting from home studios at length. When is a good time to rent a larger space? Do you need a bigger space? Should you own your own larger studio? Tips on bringing clients to your home and a lot more too. If you missed it, check the VoD on YouTube here.

Closing thoughts

As I mentioned, this is a very common topic among photographers and it’s not just reserved for those who are just starting out and feel trapped by the cramped confines of their home studio. A lack of space affects all photographers at one time or another and learning to work with your surroundings is simply part of the job… even if that means you somehow taking portraits in a corridor!

As always, if you have any questions then please let me know. Plus, don’t forget that I also have a free PDF containing 5 home studio setups via my Studio Lighting Books page too. Go grab that as it covers other setups not shared here.

And if that’s still not enough and you really want to take your knowledge of small spaces even further, I actually run a hugely popular workshop called ‘BIG Studio Lighting in small Spaces’. Like I said, you are not alone in struggling with this and there is a ton to know and learn on the topic. You can learn more on what’s involved and include via my Online Workshops page.

Thank You

As always, thanks for checking out this article and spending a little bit of your day with me here. I hope you found it useful and if you left with a little more knowledge than when you arrived, it’s been worth it.

If you have any questions or comments, or if something doesn’t make sense, by all means, fire away in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again and I’ll see you in the next one.

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JHP Livestreams…

If you give this setup a go, I’d love to see how the shots turn out, so feel free to share them my way. One way to do that is via my Livestream. I Livestream every other Tuesday night via my FB Page and there I answer your questions, critique your shots, take community images into Photoshop to work on them and discuss all manner of lighting tips and techniques. I look forward to seeing you and your work there real soon. JHP Facebook Page

Missed the Livestreams? Check the VODS!

This year I’ve also been uploading my Facebook livestreams to my YouTube channel for those that missed them… or never want to touch Facebook again.

Watch my livestream VODs here: Jake Hicks Photography YouTube