Studio Setup, Should the walls and roof be white

[kitt2121]

I am trying to make my gross basement look nicer to start bringing clients to my basement home studio.

There is NO natural/outdoor light. The only lighting are two flourescents on a ceiling that is 8 feet high. On the ceiling now are dark wood rafters, but I have stapled a white sheet to the roof in one part.

Beside one backdrop I have hung a white sheet as well. Is that a good idea, or is it too close and would cause too much reflection. Behind the sheet is grey cement.

We plan on doing some renovations, and what do you recommend for the walls and ceiling. We were thinking of using white wallboard all around, is that too much white.
Or does it not matter at all?

I have enclosed two pictures of the basement. Yes, it's gross and messy for now.
Aaron www.picturecreations.ca

[JCPhoto1]

We plan on doing some renovations, and what do you recommend for the walls and ceiling. We were thinking of using white wallboard all around, is that too much white.
Or does it not matter at all?

I just read an article that said the first thing you should do is make sure you don't have a color that could reflect back on your subject and color or contaminate the shot. They said white is a good choice and 18% grey is the best neutral color with no chance of color cast contamination. They also said the reason white is a good choice too is the bounce possibilities it offers. It will reflect your light back which may be good in some cases or bad in others if you want total control. I hope my confusion hasn't added to yours. It looks like you have a nice start on a workable home studio. Good luck.

[JCPhoto1]

By the way you have my sympathy with the 8 foot ceilings. I couldn't set up a home studio and had to rent studio space because we have low ceilings too. It was too hard to get any height on a hair light or softbox with the low ceilings. Necessity is the mother of invention though.

[Asylum Steve]

...white is certainly not a bad choice.

Studio lighting is all about adding AND subtracting light; adding it where you want it and subtracting it from where you don't want it. With that in mind, there is no perfect wall color that will be just right for EVERY lighting setup...

Most folks with home studios have the problem of being slightly (or greatly) underpowered when it comes to light, so white walls will definitely help kick in a bit of reflected brightness, especially if you plan on shooting more traditional, front lit subjects and want a fairly soft contrast and brightness range.

On the other hand, if you have white walls, and then find you want to create more dramatic, directional lighting, you may have to cover some of the surfaces with black material to absorb this stray light so it ISN'T reflected back onto the subject.

Personally, my studio walls were always painted white. I found it much easier to subtract light and reflections from areas of shots using black panels than it would have been to add brightness if my walls were dark or neutral.

BTW, I wouldn't apologize too much about the "look" of your studio space. If you only knew how many beautiful shots have come out of "ratty" looking shooting spaces...