How to Take Beautiful Portraits in Small Spaces

Photography Tips  •  Portrait Photography

After your have seen this video, you will no longer complain that you don’t have a professional studio. Miguel Quiles is a portrait and wedding photographer, and to demonstrate that you don’t need more than just a few feet of space to shoot gorgeous images, he sets up a session in a small area right in his living room:

“When I first started building my photography portfolio I would often shoot in spaces just like this.”

Equipment for Portraits in Small Spaces

1. Canon 5D Mark III
2. 85mm f/1.2L lens
3. Lee filter setup with a 3-stop ND filter
4. A collapsible backdrop made by Savage which comes with a stand
5. A small octodome made by PhotoFlex
6. A 400 Watt Flexflash by PhotoFlex
7. PocketWizard Plus III triggers
8. White foam board reflector for bouncing some of the strobe light back onto the subject’s face

Settings for a Small Space Portrait Shoot

Quiles set up the octodome on camera right with the model standing two feet away from it. The backdrop was a further two feet behind the subject, and there was a large window on camera left.

Quiles coached his model so that he gave a different expression each time the flash was fired. Quiles says, “This ensures that I end up with a bunch of different looks that I can choose from in the end.”

Here are a few images from the shoot:

For budding portrait photographers Quiles has a word of advice,

“In my first year as a studio photographer I did photo shoots just like this one with about 40 to 50 different models, and it really helped me refine my process. I encourage you to shoot often as it helps you improve your process.”