Home Studio Setup - Colored Walls
Published by hexfire on December 31, 2007
I’ve been asked a bunch of questions concerning home studio setups over the last few years, but one question in particular keeps coming up over and over. Should I paint my studio walls white or black? Seems like a simple question until you really start thinking about it.
Each color has its own unique problems and affects the way you work in your home studio. Specific shots will obviously require a certain color backdrop to effectively create the look you are attempting to achieve, but colors can always be done with cheap studio backdrops. The base wall layer in my humble opinion needs to be either white or black.
If you decide to paint your home studio walls black, you can do some unique effects. A black wall will allow you to drown out shadows more effectively then a white wall would, but there are still occasions where a pesky shadow will show in a photo, even on a deep black base coat. Be sure to paint the wall with a heavy coating of non reflective paint, the more coats the better. This will ensure less light bounce and an easier control of shadow. Obviously a wall painted a deep color will provoke a much more moody and somber type of photograph initially, but also works well for fun portraits with a closed in focus on the subject.
Painting your home studio wall white allows you to achieve various techniques that aren’t available with a black wall. Turning up the strobes a bit will enable you to drown out any shadows and completely white out the wall to make that magazine look and feel for portraits. Conversely, a white wall on the home studio will allow you to play with shadow tremendously. Working a home studio with a large window and white sunbathed walls and subject is a without a doubt one of the best photographer setups. White walls also bounce light tremendously and act as bounce reflectors for any strobe or light source, so take care in creating your setup as you need to account for all bounced light.
In the end the choice is yours, but I highly suggest thinking about what type of shots you will be taking most in your home studio. I would tend to lean towards the white walled home studio, as I think it has more potential uses, but the black walls can come in handy if you do not feel like dealing with hanging backdrops constantly. Please comment below on your own personal home studio setup and vote in the poll!
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