Check list: the 10 essential accessories for your photo studio

Are you a photographer and considering opening your own photo studio at home, to rent it out or to carry out your various professional missions? Beyond photo equipment, which we will detail here, it is necessary to equip yourself with different photo studio accessories, depending on the use of your studio. Discover our checklist!

Summary

The 10 essential photo studio accessories
Your other accessories
Determine your accessories list

The 10 essential accessories for a photo studio

Whatever type of photos you plan to take in your photo studio, it is essential that you have the following equipment!

Opaque curtains

The essence of the photo studio is to isolate itself from natural light in order to benefit from total control over the light. The goal ? Save time and stability.

With this objective, the first step is to completely block out daylight using shutters (exterior, electric) or opaque curtains. The cheapest alternative are blackout curtains.

Lights: torches and softboxes

Once natural light is obscured, it is necessary to generate an artificial light source. For this, you will need to invest in flashes or continuous light torches. Then choose your shapers, softboxes for diffused light and/or barndoors or other diffusers for more light.

💡Tip! Remember to equip yourself with spare bulbs in case one is damaged during the photo shoot (this happens more often than you might think!).

Photo fund support

In addition to blackout curtains and lighting, you will certainly need to hang a photo background holder on the wall. The latter can be more or less wide, everything will depend on the backgrounds you use, the type of photos taken and the space you have (wall width and setback). The standard width of paper photo backgrounds is 2.72m but it is possible to find narrower photo backgrounds (from 1.36m): adapt your support according to your needs!

Paper photo funds

Once your photo background support is attached, you will need to select photo backgrounds to hang on it. To get started, we recommend:

• The white background; paper or vinyl
• A gray background of the desired size, we offer a 1m36 background

If you practice photomontage, a green background may be essential for you!

Vinyl photo backdrops to lay flat

For your flat photos – for example product photos and food photos – vinyl backgrounds to lay flat are interesting to have alongside your paper backgrounds. Smaller than the latter, they have the particularity of being more resistant. They can easily be rinsed – practical if you do food photography in particular. Their patterns are also more varied than paper backgrounds (marble, concrete, etc.) in order to add texture to your photos.

To start, we recommend that you have a light vinyl background , white wood effect for example, and a rigid background, concrete effect, stone or wood effect.

Reflectors

If the reflectors are in no way lighting fixtures, they are almost just as important as the latter. They will allow you to reflect the light where you want it.

Our favorite? The 5 in 1 round reflector! Its gold side provides a warm complexion, its white side softens the shadows, its silver side cools the atmosphere and its black side amplifies the shadows or serves to block other light entry. Finally, the transparent screen alone can also be useful, to be placed in front of a light source to soften the incoming light.

Tripods

Tripods will accompany you in the photo studio. By holding your camera, they will make your life easier and allow you to take many shots without moving, especially during packshot sessions.

We distinguish two types of tripods that are interesting to have in your bag, make your choice according to your use:

• A tripod with an integrated horizontal handle: the integrated horizontal handle is interesting for your flatlays, while the tripod will allow you to stabilize all your photos. We like the Manfrotto brand, which is recognized, but you can also turn to the K&F concept brand, which is less expensive and has good feedback among professionals.
• A high C-stand tripod: for certain settings you will need to have a greater distance than what you can obtain with a traditional tripod. This is why opting for a C-stand tripod will be interesting. Once again, we recommend the Manfrotto brand.

Pliers

Whether to fix your background, hang a decorative element or even to stabilize your camera on your tripod, clamps are an essential in the photo studio. Discover our selection of pliers !

💡Tip: hang a clamp on your tripod to gain flexibility!

Mirrors

The mirror is not just a decorative tool. It will reflect the light, allow you to play with viewing angles and add depth to your photos. This is why having one or more mirrors in your photo studio is a must-have.

The mirrors also allow you to add a pop touch to your photos. Choose it round or in the shape of an arch to give another style to your photos!

Lensball

A lensball is a glass ball that reflects light and distorts images. It's an excellent tool in a photo studio to vary viewing angles and add originality to your photos!

💡Tip: opt for a lensball with a protective bag to avoid breaking it when you want to take it for your photo sessions outside your photo studio!

Photo studio accessories that depend on your activity

The stool for portraits

For portrait photos , the absolutely essential accessory is the stool . The best is to have several at different sizes so that you can photograph several people at the same time.

Product supports for the packshot

If you specialize in packshots or your photo studio is quite small and therefore particularly suited to product photos, choosing different supports to give volume and height to your photos is extremely interesting.

We are thinking in particular of the sets for packshot :

• Cubes
• Arches
• Stairs

For a launch, it is not essential to combine all of these products.

Tableware for the culinary world

If you specialize in food photography, have tableware elements will definitely help you out! It is not necessary to have a complete service in every color and every shape, but having enough to set a place setting and having a few dishes will be useful for your staging!

Flowers for everyone

Dried flowers are particularly trendy today. You can come across them for wedding, fashion, culinary or even product shoots. Compared to fresh flowers, they have the advantage of being more resistant over time and not requiring maintenance. Having one in your photo studio will save time for your future shoots!

To conclude: Determine your list of photo studio accessories

When selecting accessories for your photo studio, you will need to ask yourself these two questions:

• Are you going to use it alone?
• Or do you plan to share and rent it?

If you are the only one using it, only think about your needs and your way of practicing photography. If you're considering renting it, think more based on the size of the space and the potential needs of your fellow photographers.

If your premises are small, rental candidates will rather shoot small products and portraits: prepare specific equipment for these activities. On the other hand, if your premises are spacious, tenant photographers will do more maternity or editorial/fashion shoots. You will need to equip yourself accordingly!

💡Tip: If you are creating a photo studio to rent, don't buy everything right away! Wait to see the requests that are made for your photo studio and equip yourself gradually according to the needs of your tenants, particularly in terms of background colors!

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Are you a photographer and are you about to open a photo studio? Where are you based? Why did you decide to open a photo studio?

See you soon !

The Access Shooting team