# Paint color for studio



## DreamPhotos (Feb 8, 2014)

Should I paint the walls flat white or gray? If gray I don't really understand the percentages I've been reading in reference to paint colors. I see some people online saying 12% gray. I think if I walk into Lowes and tell them I want 12% gray flat paint they will look at me like I'm nuts. Also, what about the ceiling color?


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## DSRay (Feb 8, 2014)

Bring a gray card for them to match.  I'd paint them black, myself.


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## tirediron (Feb 8, 2014)

I'd go with a black ceiling and two white and two medium gray walls.


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## xj0hnx (Feb 8, 2014)

tirediron said:


> I'd go with a black ceiling and two white and two medium gray walls.



This. No reason to do all the walls one color when you can have the best of all three.


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## Derrel (Feb 8, 2014)

I painted my entire garage a light gray. Ceiling and walls. Worked out well.


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## KmH (Feb 8, 2014)

I use a flat (not semi-gloss or gloss) white ceiling and flat neutral gray walls.


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## DreamPhotos (Feb 8, 2014)

Like so many things with photography it looks like different opinions across the board! Keep them coming!


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## remylebeau (Feb 8, 2014)

The size of the space matters too. A lot of studios paint white walls and ceilings to offer a "clean" look, but many have low ceilings or aren't wide enough, which makes controlling light harder especially if the place was small to begin with. If you have a really large space all white is fine, as distance increases bounce becomes less of an issue. If you have a smaller space I'd paint 1 large wall white and the rest grey to absorb some light.


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## DreamPhotos (Feb 22, 2014)

The two rooms are very small. One is 10x11 and the other 10x12.

There is also a sunroom that I will be using. Two walls are mostly sliding glass doors and then there is one short wall, maybe 6 ft long and another longer wall, around 10ft. This room is trickier because it is open to the rest of the house, so I feel like the paint color is there is going to have to flow with the rest of the house. I'm thinking of using the gray in there because there will be a lot of light with the sliders. Thoughts?


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## DreamPhotos (Feb 22, 2014)

I should also add that the two small bedrooms, mentioned above, have very little natural light. 1 small window in each room, with no direct light. I will be relying on studio light in those rooms.


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## Braineack (Feb 22, 2014)

I vote for gray only because I like gray and painted my entire house with gray paint.


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## DreamPhotos (Mar 3, 2014)

I'm going with the gray. Should I have baseboards, closets, and doors painted with the gray as well?


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## KmH (Mar 3, 2014)

That depends on what color the baseboards and doors are. Will you be shooting in the closet? If no, you don't need to paint the closet.


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## DreamPhotos (Mar 5, 2014)

I meant the closet doors. They almost take up one wall, so I figured best to paint the doors gray. The baseboards and doors are white right now.


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## Gavjenks (Mar 5, 2014)

I agree with 2 walls one color, 2 walls another.
People don't tend to take very many portraits with 180 degree fisheyes, so... you can easily avoid having 3 walls in one shot, and choose whatever is best for the situation.


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## gsgary (Mar 5, 2014)

DreamPhotos said:


> The two rooms are very small. One is 10x11 and the other 10x12.
> 
> There is also a sunroom that I will be using. Two walls are mostly sliding glass doors and then there is one short wall, maybe 6 ft long and another longer wall, around 10ft. This room is trickier because it is open to the rest of the house, so I feel like the paint color is there is going to have to flow with the rest of the house. I'm thinking of using the gray in there because there will be a lot of light with the sliders. Thoughts?



These rooms are no where big enough, if using a white background you want the model at least 6 feet from the background


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## table1349 (Mar 5, 2014)

For small rooms I suggest flat black.  In a small space light bounce is a problem with light colored walls.  Black absorbs light, problem solved.  Thing is, you really need a dedicated studio space to do this.  Most wives, husbands etc don't like black rooms for general use.


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## DreamPhotos (Mar 10, 2014)

It is a dedicated studio space, so black wouldn't be a problem.


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## Big Mike (Mar 11, 2014)

Firstly, you don't want any sort of color, because any light bouncing off of that wall will pick up that color.  (I know we've already moved past this part, but I'm just trying to lay it out).

Secondly, you should consider whether or not you want light bouncing off of the surfaces.  You can use a camera mounted flash and bounce it off of a wall to give you beautiful soft & directional light.  But a possible problem is that when you're shooting in a smaller space, the light will not only bounce off of one wall, it will bounce off the opposite wall as well, and light up your subject on the other side.  This can give you really soft looking light, which can be great....but if you want to shoot a more dramatic portrait, with a deeper ratio (darker shadows) then you have to start blocking light and getting creative.

Even if you aren't bouncing light directly off of a wall, in a small space, it will bounce off anyway, and affect the light on your subject.
For high key & bright field type shots, this isn't really a problem.  But for low key & dark field type shots, this can be a big problem.

So if you know which type of shooting you'll be doing, it can help make your decision.  

If you're not sure, grey is a nice compromise between white and black.  My own inclination would be to use a darker grey or even black, because I have enough lights to add more in if I need to, but blocking it can be tricky (but not impossible).


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