Home / Photography

Photographer Turns Storage Shed into Ideal Studio for Beautifully Lit Photo Shoots

By Sara Barnes on August 14, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Photographer Irene Rudnyk proves that you don’t need an elaborate or expensive setup to shoot dreamy portraits. The Calgary-based creative recently produced a series of ethereal images using a storage shed in her backyard. Drenched in natural light with a dewy feel, they look like they were shot at an in-studio session. Unless you knew otherwise, you'd never realize that these photographs were taken in the same place that Rudnyk stores her bike.

Surprisingly, Rudnyk has used a shed as a studio before. “It started when I was a broke student out of necessity,” she tells My Modern Met, “and now I continue to do so to keep myself inspired.” The setup for her latest series was simple. She hung a fabric backdrop within the shed and had her model (her sister Orysia Rudnyk) stand far enough from the entrance that the white reflector illuminated her face and shoulders.

The minimalist photo studio can be replicated by any photographer on a budget. Best of all, it allows for a lot of customization and can even be recreated in a garage or in the front doorway of your home. So, if you're interested in trying this for yourself, be sure to approach it with an open mind. “[It is] trial and error,” Rudnyk advises. “Bring a friend over and experiment with different lighting scenarios and make it a challenge for yourself to use the space available to you.”