The photographs on the right portray an advertising studio. The photographer is in the middle of a shoot, working with a model on a skiing shot.
In the images you will see five different lights. The two with umbrellas are lighting the background, washing it out to a bright white.
Two more lights are working in conjunction with props that are on a stand in front of the lights. The props throw a shadow onto the set to emulate the skier passing trees. The main light is a broad soft box overhead and in front of the photographer. Finally, you will see the photographer's assistant on the ladder with a bag of styrofoam peanuts to drop at command.

The photographer is using a large format 4 x 5 view camera on a studio tripod. Two power pack batteries are serving as a light source, each supplying different wattage levels to the strobes. The background is created with seamless paper. It hangs from a set of poles and produces a flawless, smooth background to shoot against. Building this backdrop is described in the lesson "Building a Backdrop and Table."

Whether you are using a small or large format camera, setting up a photo studio will be the same procedure. You can either buy these items listed below or you can follow the lessons in this section and make your own.

Most photographers end up making some things in their studio so this will be a good place to start.

The building projects that follow are easy to do and require very few tools. A drill of some sort may be the only expensive tool you will need for building. Making these projects will save you a lot of money and get you started right away.

Depending on the kind of room you have, you may need to be more creative with your studio design.

The following is a list of things you will want in your studio:

1. Table Top or Drafting Table
2. Workhorses
3. Backdrops ~ Seamless paper, cloth materials, painted backdrops.
4. Stands and Tripods
5. Light Table, loop, croppers, hot glue, puddy, reflectors
6. Lights ~ strobes or tungsten

In this section, Building a Studio, you will receive information to help you build your own studio.