Want to seriously improve your photography? Get a studio.

Securing studio space helps get your photography better quicker. And in unexpected ways too.

Like so many things in life (household tasks, hobbies, nocturnal activities), you get better the more often you do it.

That’s only part of the equation, though. Frequency is a great accelerator, but so is cultivating your resources and improving the tools that you’re working with in the first place.

The “tools” bit isn’t just the physical stuff that you need to take a photograph. Obviously, a better camera, lighting gear, backgrounds, and other random equipment you may need for your shots are handy, but the environment you’re actually shooting within also matters.

To most, that may mean setting aside a dedicated area at home for photography. A spare bedroom, perhaps.

Under Paper Dragons, my girlfriend Emma and I went one stage further. We secured studio space outside of our home.

Dedicated Digs

For a four-month period, Emma and I rented a retail space in Swansea. A 2,000-square-foot storefront spread across two floors. Upstairs, Emma had the storeroom and a large, flashy front space to sell her art.

The main space of our first studio.

A large back room with high ceilings became the largest space for PD’s stand-up portraits. PD also gained the basement, which didn’t have high ceilings but did have tons of space, walls for backgrounds to go everywhere, and changing room spaces.

Why go down this route? The intention for PD was to focus the photography work. We rented a space, so we had better make use of it.

We weren’t entirely nuts, as we had actually secured it under a pop-up shop scheme, so we weren’t paying as much out for it compared to full retail rates. However, since we were going month-to-month with a very short notice period, there was always time pressure.

Mayhem of Models

While we did offer up portraits to the public, we also figured that we should make the best use of the potentially limited time by securing some model shoots. This move enabled us to boost our portfolio considerably, as well as giving us some much-needed practice.

We soon learned that having an actual photo studio space in a retail location was extremely helpful.

Initially, models rejected us, but it was because they thought that we were people who wanted to use their back bedroom as a studio and… well… you can figure out the rest.

The models were top-notch to work with. If only we had more time at that space…

Since we weren’t doing that, we had to work to earn the trust of the models. We did that by setting up dedicated pages on the website showing everything from the studio space itself to the front of the shop, and even a PDF of a modelling agreement.

That work, as well as assurances from Emma and myself, helped models trust us enough to come to the studio for sessions.

Being able to demonstrate everything was all above board was just as important as having changing facilities and a flexible and extensive space to play with for shoots.

Shutdown and Start Up

After we left the store (due to the aforementioned risks of very short term rental), Emma and I decided to get somewhere a bit more permanent. Without that headache of suddenly needing to leave a retail space.

We eventually managed to find a storefront on Mansel Street in Swansea that was reasonably priced in rent that we could feasibly use it for multiple things.

The ground floor is a coffee shop and art store, continuing Emma’s business while also introducing a new revenue stream that we had both wanted to try years ago.

The basement has two rooms. One has been turned into a photo studio for Paper Dragons.

The new Mansel St studio is quite small, but still entirely workable!

It’s not an ideal room, as it’s very small and doable for seated portraits and product photography, but it’s outs and it’s usable.

If we need to use a bigger space, we have all the equipment to haul to a rented hall somewhere in Swansea to set up a temporary studio, or to go to a purpose-made version.

There’s also the whole of Swansea’s outdoor spaces to use as ad-hoc backgrounds as well. Either way, we’ve got ways to get working on projects.

Stress, but Worth It

Having to deal with multiple store moves, the fear of being chucked out by a landlord, the setting up and tearing down, and the financial sides of setting up an outside-the-home studio is a daunting prospect in general.

There’s simply a lot to do and manage, all on top of arranging and performing shoots.

But, having a dedicated physical space that isn’t at home is beneficial in many ways.

Just by having a specific place to create work in, one which you’re also paying for, helps sharpen your focus so you can get the most out of what you’re renting. You’re less inclined to doomscroll on whatever social networks you use if you want to maximise and not waste your time, especially when money’s involved.

Aside from focusing your work when you’re there, it also lends some gravitas to proceedings. You’re not kidding yourself when you’re going into the bedroom and declaring you’re “going to the studio,” since you really are.

That, and you can say to people you ran a photo studio that was open to the public, which makes you sound a lot more impressive,

Even as a temporary effort, it also gives you enough experience that, if you are ever dragged onto a proper big-boy shoot with hefty budgets in play and a lot more bodies than just you and a model, you’re not going to be intimidated.

You’d have done it before, so you’d have a clue about what’s going on.

That first step into setting up a studio space was hard. Getting your head around the amount of work and resources required for it is a big ask for many keen photographers wanting to move to the next level.

But, in the end, it’s so worth it.