My Portrait Photography Studio Tour | Come & See Behind The Scenes
Welcome to my Photography Studio here in Bend, Oregon!
It has always been a dream of mine to open a photography studio, & after years of renting spaces & putting together little home studio hacks & setups, I was finally able to make it happen. I am so proud of this space & it has been truly amazing to see it come to life! Keep reading to see photos of my portrait photography studio here in beautiful Bend, Oregon, learn more about how I organized the space, watch a video of my entire photoshoot process, & more…
WATCH A PHOTOSHOOT
First things first: Come behind the scenes & experience what it’s like to have a photoshoot with me! Watch the above video to see me shoot an on-location session outdoors at Smith Rock State Park, tour my new photography studio here in Central Oregon, get a glimpse of my creative process, & learn a little about how I plan photoshoots for my clients. But wait, there’s more… keep scrolling to see more photos of the studio & to learn about my design process!
Front Window Sign
Makeup & Storage Area
Editing Desk
Portrait Area
So How Do You Design A Photography Studio?
With a lot of creativity & a lot of patience, that’s how! When I first moved into this space, I honestly had no idea how I was going to design & organize it. I started off by making a list of my goals so that I could try & come up with a way to make room for all of the following:
A Hair & Makeup Styling Area
A Full-Length Mirror & Clothing Rack
A Gallery Wall to display framed prints, etc.
An Admin/Editing Space with a desk
Storage for Gear, Backdrops, etc.
An area where I could hold my in-person & video client consultations
A Product Showcase area
& of course, last but not least, the ability to actually shoot portraits in the space!
Making this list of goals really helped me to plan out which areas would be dedicated to which functionalities, & to make sure that there would be room for everything! As a bonus, the space already had beautiful hardwood floors, diffused natural light (thanks to the big windows & that already had some privacy film installed), & great storage. The walls were a medium brown, & I knew I wanted everything to be white - so a couple of coats of paint was my first task. After that, I started searching for all of the little odds & ends that I needed to complete the studio.
As I started moving things in, I was amazed by how much random photo gear I actually own… I managed to fill up the storage pretty quickly! With the help of lots of cabinet & drawer organizers, I was able to get all my gear in one place.
Before Painting
After Painting
What Do you Need For A Portrait Photography Studio?
The studio went through several different stages as I moved things around (many, many times) and tried to decide where I wanted everything to be. Since the space is small, I really had to work to make things as efficient as possible. Much of my furniture came second-hand from Craigslist or Facebook marketplace, or were things that I already owned. I DIY’ed quite a lot in this space! I found a perfect little clothing rack, a slim white desk to go against the wall, a light velvet couch, etc., & slowly but surely things began to come together. There are so many secondhand stores where you can buy high-quality items that are lightly used or even new, & I really lucked out with a lot of my finds!
Every photographer is different when it comes to the props they like, the gear they prefer, their workflows & editing process, etc. I really value simplicity, hence my choice to keep my colors as neutral as possible for the space. It’s so important to keep things as adaptable as possible in a studio - depending on my project, I often need to move a lot of things around in order to have space to create. I kept my furniture as light and minimal as possible and put everything on foam pads so that everything is easy to move & won’t scratch the floor. If I had to list my top 5 must-have essentials for a portrait studio, they would be:
At least one large, well-lit mirror - it’s really important for clients to be able to see how they look after their hair & makeup are finished!
A tall styling chair (a director’s or specific makeup/salon chair) so that your stylists can work on your client at a proper height
A clothing rack - you need a place to hang outfits so they don’t wrinkle.
Gear storage - obviously, this one is a given!
Comfortable seating - for yourself, for clients, crew in between shoots, etc.
Some of the smaller items in my studio I brought from home - my camera lens mug (every photographer must have one!), little decor items like plants & candles, hair & makeup products that I’ve never used, etc. If you’re planning to open your own photography studio, you might be surprised by what you already own!
What’s next for the studio?
Anyone who owns their own studio or creative space knows that it is an ever-evolving project… there are always new ideas to be had and little refinements to be made. In my personal opinion, less is more - & it’s the tiny, simple details that make a space truly special. It definitely took an enormous amount of time & energy to create this little space, but I loved (almost) every moment of it!
After weeks of many, many trips to the hardware store, re-organizing, daily searching for the perfect piece of furniture, re-organizing again, obsessing over gallery wall design, etc. my perfectionist self was finally very happy with the way this little space looks. It has been so much fun to shoot & work in here & to have everything be easily accessible for shoots & consults. Plus, clients love being able to walk in and see the space along with all of the products, prints, backdrops, etc. before their photoshoots! Someday, I’d like to have a space that’s big enough to have sets & backdrops that I can leave up, a special room for consultations, etc. - but for now, this space is perfect & I couldn’t be happier.
If you have any questions about my studio space, please don’t hesitate to drop them in the comments below - I’d love to hear from you! Visit my Booking page for information about setting up your own photoshoot, & hit the button below to find out what types of products I am currently offering here at the studio. Also, be sure to check out my Instagram for more photos & videos of the studio! Until next time… MK
Want to learn more about the photoshoot process?
Click the button below to read all of the Client Guides & Tutorials that I’ve created for you!
You can learn how to use your galleries, tour my studio, take a peek at the products I offer, & more:
Meet miranda
Hello! I’m a Portrait, Headshot, & Personal Branding Photographer based in Bend, Oregon.