I’ve started a series on building a do-it-yourself (DIY) some photography studio. The first article considers the concepts and introduces some of the terms I’ll be using through the anticipated 5-part series. There are several sites out there that tell you how to build this or that, and many of them have great information.

What they lack is philosophy. Why do you want to build a home studio? How do you know what you need? When can you DIY versus having to go out and buy the real stuff?

My approach is to educate readers about the fundamental aspects of a studio setup. I am not going in to wiring diagrams, optical theory, or even shooting aesthetics. What I am going to do is give folks a set of tools they can use to evaluate their own needs and capabilities. More than anything, this will guide the enthusiast to making good choices about lighting and scenery, and help them balance elements that sometimes conflict, like reflection and detail, or efficiency and cost.

You can check it out at CommunityMX. There is a form at the end of the article you can use to send feedback or questions.

Future installments will talk about equipment and improvisation, and will go into more detail about how to approach building a home studio out of real-world, but non-obvious items. Find out how a USB hub can handle some tricky lighting situations!