I started out photographing exclusively outdoors with natural light. I still shoot outside during the warmer months. Here in Missouri, the seasons can be varied and intense. I’m lucky to live in an area that has plenty of beautiful parks and scenery, but those places are only ideal for photographing during certain times of the year, and the weather can change quickly, so it makes outdoor photoshoots really limiting. The first few times I set up indoors was for a boudoir and I used mostly natural light from windows and then added constant lighting when I started losing light. After moving to O’Fallon, we hadn’t set up our home with a space to shoot in. I was an overwhelmed college student in my last semester needed to graduate, with honors, when we moved. After I graduated I had time to try out some temp jobs and play more with my photography. It was one of those cold times when I decided to move furniture around to have access to the best window to shoot in front of. I had to move a giant sectional couch to have access to it. The more I photographed there, the more I learned how to use the space, and the more I loved it! So every time I wanted to practice photography, I had to move this sectional couch and other furniture to make way, and then I had to set up a backdrop and bring out any equipment. I was exhausted! My equipment was stored downstairs, so I also had to hustle up and down the stairs while turning my living room into a temporary studio. When I started using artificial light more as well, I still had to rearrange my living room because it was the only room with high enough ceilings for my lighting equipment. Then I was carrying even more equipment up and down those stairs!
So the conversation with my husband began and the home-to-home studio process ensued. Those of you who have visited my home studio in the last couple of years have seen my space in some transitional phase. It has been constantly morphing, my husband would say I’m just taking over more and more of the house. No comment.
Today, my space is set up for creativity and to best serve my clients. My little home studio isn’t super fancy, it’s still inside of my family home, but I am really happy with how I have it set up now. This space has beautiful lighting and plenty of overhead space to make changing my lighting on set easy. All of my tools are easily accessible and since I always keep them in the same space, it’s one less thing I have to think about when I am working with a client. I am able to devote %100 of my attention to my client and my space is set up full-time, to support that intention. It’s incredible the energy boost you get when you have a highly functional space to do what you love.
Usually, before my clients are in my space for their photography session, they are there for a late morning coffee and coffee cake consultation at the bar. I keep this space set up to entertain my clients. I like to meet my clients before they knock on the door. Since it is my home, it doesn’t look that different than all the other homes on my street. I don’t want my clients to have to wonder if they are about to knock on the door of the wrong place. We’ll talk about which images I’ve taken that they love the most and how they can definitely pull off that look. We’ll then look through my studio wardrobe to see what pieces I already have to bring their desires to life. We’ll also talk about who they want to be photographed with and that it might be perfect to have her come by herself first and have some pampering done and plan 2 or 3 looks by herself and then have family come later to join her. We’ll talk about how she usually wears her hair and make-up, when she goes out and how she needs to prepare for the make-up artist to get the look she wants. I have wall art and product samples available for her to get a feel of what excites her. We’ll also talk about what she loves about herself and maybe what she isn’t confident about and how she feels about being photographed. I’ll let her know that I’ve got her. She’ll leave with a plan of what styling pieces she needs to put together, and how to prepare so that she is looking and feeling her best when she arrives at her photography session.
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