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beginning photography tips photography
March 8, 2014

how to set up a DIY photo studio in your home {part 2}

collage of photos of children taken at home

When I was a kid my mom collected coupons from all the neighbors for the $7 portrait sessions at JC Penny. We hated going there – the photographer always made us say “I like boys” in an attempt to get us to smile – but how else was my mom supposed to get nice portraits of 6 kids every year on a budget? Luckily, times have changed, and these days we can get great photos of our kids at home. In yesterday’s post I explained how easy it is to set up a DIY home photography studio. I shared 5 different easy setups for photos, and today I’m sharing five more – giving you 10 different photo backdrop/background options for taking great pictures of your kids. Click here for part 1 of this post, which covers DIY photo studio setups #1-#5.

(As I mentioned in part 1, all the setups in these posts involve IKEA products, but feel free to substitute other items you already own!)

DIY photo studio setup #6: plain painted wall and laminate “floor”

If you have a plain wall in your house that gets good light, you already have the easiest photo backdrop ever. Pair the wall with a wood or laminate floor, and you have a very popular home studio setup, where you can get photos like these:

A little girl posing for a picture in front of a brown wall standing on a wood floor

A girl sitting on a wood floor in front of a brown wall

But say the wall you want to use is in a carpeted room – what then? This is when a single box of laminate flooring comes in handy. You can snap together five floor planks in two minutes, slide them up against the baseboard, and you’re set. I used the Tundra laminated flooring in the antique color finish, but I think darker finishes look even nicer. One box is about $30 and contains 9 planks – you’ll only need 4 or 5 of them for this setup.

laminate flooring placed over carpet up against a bedroom wall

DIY photo studio setup #7: faux sheepskin rug

Rugs can make great backdrops when the person you are photographing is lying down and you’re standing on a chair so you can shoot from directly above. It’s perfect for photographing babies who don’t sit up yet:

A baby girl laying on a white fur rug smiling at the camera A baby girl on a soft white rug

And works well for older kids too:

A young boy laying on a white faux fur rug with his hands behind his head

I used the Tejn faux sheepskin, which is only $10 (my kids are in love with how soft this thing is). When your subject is on the ground, the side of his face that is furthest from the light source (window) will be a little dark, so use a piece of white poster board or foam core board to reflect a little extra light onto the dark side of his face.

little boy laying on a rug, with white reflector board next to him, and chair for photographer to stand on

DIY photo studio setup #8: barn wood fabric used outside

A home photo studio setup really should include areas in your yard, where you can get great lighting, especially on cloudy days or near sunrise or sunset. My yard, however, doesn’t offer much in terms of nice background for photos, so I used to go searching for cool textured walls. No more! I took these fun barn wood photos right outside my house:

cool easy DIY barn wood backdrop for photos - it's fabric!

 

The secret is IKEA’s new Lisel wood-effect fabric, $14 for 2 yards. I just clamped the top of the fabric to our fence, and tucked the bottom of the fabric underneath some dry leaves from my yard. Instant rustic photo backdrop! Note: this fabric comes in two varieties – normal and plastic coated – DO NOT get the plastic coated or it may appear shiny in photos. For more info on getting good light outside, check out this post.

A little boy standing in front of fabric that looks like a wood wall

DIY photo studio setup #9: wicker chair on grass

One thing I do have in my yard is grass, and plain old grass can make a beautiful photography backdrop, even when it’s not terribly green:

A little boy sitting in a wicker chair on the grass

But when you’re photographing small kids, it’s almost impossible to convince them to stay still once you’re outside. This is where a cute kids’ chair can save the day! Plop the chair right where you want your child to be and there’s a good chance the kid who’s been ignoring your requests to sit still for a photo will hop right in. (Small chairs are helpful for indoor photos too!)

A small child sitting in a wicker chair on the grass

The key is using a child size chair – big people chairs aren’t nearly as enticing. I used the Agen children’s chair $20. It’s small and lightweight, looks good in a natural setting, and doesn’t distract from the photos.

DIY photo studio setup #10: folding chair used ANYWHERE

If you would like to extend your home photo studio setup to include some cool places in your neighborhood, a folding chair comes in really handy. It’s easier to get a relaxed, natural-looking pose from older kids when they are sitting rather than standing, and a folding chair means you can have your subject sit even if it’s wet or muddy out. Additionally, you can use a chair to change up your pose options a bit: have them sit front, to the side, or even straddling it backwards for variety.

A boy sitting on a red chair in front of a blue corrugated wall

A young boy in a green shirt

I used the Terje folding chair , which is $17. It folds completely flat, making it easy to transport, and comes in a couple different colors. It’s perfect for adults and teens, but works for younger kids too, as long as they are old enough to sit steadily on their own.

A little girl sitting on a red wood chair on the grass A little girl smiling at the camera

That’s it! Ten different easy setups for a DIY home photo studio. If you want even more ideas for photography backgrounds and backdrops, you can check out my DIY background board tutorial, or 20 DIY photography backgrounds. (Remember you can find home photo studio setups #1 – #5 here.)

how to set up a DIY home photography studio for great photos of your kids at home

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Home » photography » beginning photography tips » how to set up a DIY photo studio in your home {part 2}


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Comments

  1. Shirley says

    March 10, 2014 at 12:55 am

    That wood effect fabric is AWESOME!!! I wouldn’t ever be able to tell. I need it! 🙂

    Reply
    • autumn says

      March 10, 2014 at 3:26 pm

      Well, you know who you can borrow it from anytime you want 😉 Thanks for your help!

      Reply
  2. Deanna {sewmccool} says

    March 10, 2014 at 6:58 am

    Thanks for more great tips -pinning this again! That wood-grain fabric is pretty amazing!

    Reply
  3. Megan says

    April 29, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    Thanks for posting this! I bought some of the IKEA wood fabric and it is working out awesome as the background for my etsy stuff. Great ideas here!

    Reply
    • autumn says

      April 30, 2014 at 7:20 am

      Cool! I was amazed at how well that fabric worked.

      Reply
  4. Sadie says

    May 24, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    I use the wood fabric from Ikea too as a backdrop outside. It was a little too dark for my need, so I simply removed some of the dye with a product meant for doing just that. Now it´s a nice light brun colour.

    Reply
    • Sadie says

      May 24, 2014 at 1:42 pm

      Brun= danish word for brown. Sorry, I must be tired;-)

      Reply
    • autumn says

      May 27, 2014 at 7:21 am

      Great idea, Sadie! What product did you use to lighten it? I’ve used Rit dye remover on some projects but I find it’s hard to get things looking even – any tips?

      Reply
  5. Melinda bggs says

    November 5, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    What did you use to edit? These are GREAT!! With a new (and my FIRST!) grand baby, these ideas will come in very handy!

    Reply
    • autumn says

      November 8, 2014 at 8:38 pm

      Thanks, Melinda! I just use Photoshop Elements to edit. I often use the Vivid 2 action from Coffeshop Photography (free!)

      Reply
  6. Angela says

    March 4, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Wow…your ideas are great. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Sue says

    January 10, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    What kind of camera/ lens / settings do you use to get your close ups?

    Reply
  8. Connie says

    July 28, 2016 at 7:05 am

    These are great tips! They are very helpful.
    Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  9. Erica says

    December 31, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Wow you have no idea how helpful this is to me.! And the money I’ll save!! God Bless you for putting the time in to making these tutorials. May all that you have given come back to you.

    Reply
  10. Gill Finch says

    January 19, 2017 at 9:02 am

    Love your ideas definitely getting the lovely ikea throw for photos with my baby

    Reply
  11. floor fitter south east London says

    June 13, 2017 at 3:24 am

    It’s always autumn i read your post about how to set diy photo studio home and in part 2 i love one thing most and that is the child in this blog specially the blue dress girl look at her smile her face expressions she nailed it. My best wishes and love is for her.

    Reply
  12. alice ware says

    December 2, 2017 at 5:59 am

    i do photography and am getting a lot of great ideas i will try out. thank you for sharing

    Reply
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    September 13, 2019 at 9:57 am

    It is really a great and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us.
    Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  14. KC House Guy says

    April 19, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    I really needed to read this. I have tried several times to create a home studio and you have shone a light on what I was doing wrong. Thank you for teaching me how to set this up.

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. how to set up a simple DIY home photo studio says:
    March 10, 2014 at 5:47 am

    […] I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: taking photos of your kids at home is better in just about every way than relying on school portraits or  the “photo studio” attached to a large retailer, where the photographer often spends more time trying to upsell your portrait package than she did taking pictures in the first place. You can get professional-looking photos at home with a simple DIY home photo studio. I’ve talked before about how to get great photos at home, but in this post (and tomorrow’s post) I’m going to walk you through 10 different setups for a DIY home photo studio. Each setup uses a different backdrop or background, giving you lots of variety, but all of them are quick and easy to set up and use items you can store in a closet or your basement. (Part 2 is now available here!) […]

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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