I am so happy to finally show some photos of my home studio! I have used it for sessions in the past, but never really shared what the space looks like. It is not fancy, but I am able to get beautiful natural light portraits in the space. Lucky for me, the original builders of our house put on an addition that included this small bonus room with a walkout to the backyard in the lower level. There are four outlets halfway up the wall, so I can only assume it used to be a workshop of some sort. All those outlets work great for my lights and other equipment! When we first moved in to our house, the room was darker with paint the color of peanut butter on the walls. I brightened it up with fresh white paint, changed out all the almond switches and outlets for white, and installed a curtain rod and backdrop mount for my seamless paper. Someday I would love to replace the cheap laminate with nicer flooring, but for now my packages of vinyl planks work well on top of the backdrops. A white ceiling would also be great for bouncing flash! I don’t ask for much…
The studio today:
And for fun, the space before:
The 9 foot seamless paper roll is an absolute dream for portraits, I’m so glad I took the time to mount it to the wall using a handy little kit from Fotodiox. No more wrestling with my backdrop stand in this narrow room!
I had a thrift store coat hook rail that I painted white and stained the pegs a nice espresso. It works well for holding buntings, wraps, and other props.
The gray felt backdrop hides a nice big closet that holds other camera equipment and backdrops.
And here are some test shots with my own little guy. He wasn’t really interested in sitting still, but it was still great to test the light!
Wouldn’t you know that a photographer finds it impossible to take pictures of her own child without the iPhone being involved! At least it matches his shirt…
* Sara Hilton is a creative Eagan MN family photographer who specializes in family, children, maternity, and couples photography. Sara is known for beautiful and dramatic outdoor photography, but also offers fine art studio portraits. Sara currently lives in Eagan with her family: a husband who cleans much more and much better than she ever could, and a two year old son who is recently obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. Sara is currently booking Family, Senior, Maternity, Couple and Children Sessions in Eagan, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Burnsville, and all of the surrounding areas of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. *
Contact Sara here to book your boutique studio session.
OonaIt looks great! Those photos of Ashford turned out beautifully. I am so excited for you!
Sara HiltonThank you so much! Haven’t heard from you in awhile!