How to Set Up A Home Glamour Studio

A glamour studio is essentially a portraiture featuring a mesmerising frolic of shadows and lights, shadows being the most important constituent because of their ability to impart a sharp and intriguing appeal to the entire setup. The lighting is generally flat so as to conceal the skin blemishes and wrinkles of models. The contrast between darkness and light causes 2-dimensional portraits to appear 3-dimensional.

Though most artists consider glamour studios as entirely professional stuff, it is not difficult to set one up at home. The fundamental requirements are studio space, lighting, a camera and a portrait lens, followed by a wardrobe, makeup accessories, hair styling items and a model.

Let’s have a look at some of these requirements in detail:

Camera :  

For a glamour studio, it is important to buy a camera that can sync the shutter with external off-camera strobes utilised for highlighting the subject. There are only two types of cameras that can be used for this purpose - pro-sumers and DSLRs. Pro-sumer options are generally the ones that make use of hot-shoe flash units and have manual mode as well. DSLRs are, however, better for the job because they can synchronise easily with external off-camera flashes.

Portrait Lens :

Portrait lenses used for photography in glamour studios generally have long focal lengths. Many photographers utilise 200, 300 or 500 millimetre lenses for shooting at subject distances more than 15 feet. Although it is generally better to avoid lenses of focal lengths less than 50 millimetres, special cases may necessitate their usage for achieving creative portraiture.

Makeup and Hair Styling :

This can include all types of professional makeup and hair styling accessories set up neatly in acrylic cosmetic displays. All application pads and brushes must be soaked in rubbing alcohol (no one should be allowed to smoke, because rubbing alcohol is flammable) and then dried between models to avoid spread of any infections. Oil absorbing tissues, sterile soft brushes and neutral face powder must be mandatorily present in the makeup repertoire. They would help in eliminating the shine of oily skin.

Wardrobe :

Wardrobe may range from high fashion and most convenient clothing to costumes, or simply nothing. It would depend entirely upon the kind of photography being done, age of the model and their figure type. Discussing the wardrobe requirements with the model is also a very good idea.

Besides the above mentioned components, there are several others things needed for setting up a glamour studio, such as zoom lenses, studio strobes, strobe power, umbrellas, light stands, etc.