Creating the studio

I had begun lining up dates to shoot my subjects but where was I going to take the photos? I didn’t have a studio space in Atlanta and had disassembled and thrown out the outdoor studio I had built in New Mexico. I debated building another outdoor studio but, remembered how awful the weather could be in GA and didn’t want to put myself or my subjects consistently through that. By chance, I found this beautiful house for rent in Grant Park with an extra room/ office but, it needed some series help to work as a studio. Here is what the space looked like beforehand -

Yes, the floor was originally like this…I’m not really sure why or what the room was used for beforehand but, I had a studio space and that’s all that mattered! After drafting out a plan for the space, my roommate and I headed over to ace hardware to get some floor primer and paint. We first worked to coat the floor with a layer of white primer….

With the layers of primer down, it was time to add the final paint to the floor! We decided on a neutral gray color in order to avoid being able to see the scuffs and marks I was sure to make during shoots…

With the floor freshly painted, I put my time and energy into finding a backdrop system that worked best for the space. After some debate, I landed on a wall mounted drop system that could hold multiple rolls. I assembled and mounted the back drops onto the wall. After this, I started organizing where I would hang and store my studio equipment and fabrics…

I was nearing the finish line and WOW! I was happy with the progress and to have my own studio space! We finished moving in a desk and table to cut/ craft materials and the studio was finally ready for my first subject!

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