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A checklist for your first portrait session in a rental studio

You booked a studio for portraits: for yourself, your team or a client, with your own photographer or a camera on a tripod. The hour goes fast. This checklist covers what to settle before the day, what to bring and how to spend the booked time on photos, not on setup.

1. Before you book

Who shoots? Your own photographer, a friend, or you with a tripod and a remote. If someone else shoots and you only book the room, tick Someone else is shooting — I am booking the studio for them.

How many looks? One outfit on one backdrop fits in 1 hour (€100). Two outfits and a change from white to a colour need 2 hours (€150). Setup and cleanup count as booked time, so do not plan to the minute.

What are the photos for? A LinkedIn photo, a website About page and a press kit each need different crops. Write the list down: square headshot, vertical half-body, horizontal with space for text. One look at the list on the day saves a second booking.

Which backdrop? The studio has 10 paper colours. White, grey and beige are safe for a business profile; pink, aqua, red and orange are for a bolder personal brand. Pick one main colour and one spare.

2. What to wear

• Plain fabrics in solid colours. Fine stripes and small checks flicker on camera.
• A colour that is not the backdrop colour. White shirt on white paper disappears; a dark jacket on white or a light top on grey works.
• Clothes that fit at the shoulders and the collar: the headshot crop shows only that.
• Bring a second top on a hanger, ironed. There is a clothes rail in the make-up corner.
• Glasses: bring them if you wear them every day. Anti-glare lenses help; the light can be moved to keep reflections off.

3. What to bring

• The outfits, on hangers.
• Make-up, a comb, hair ties, powder for shine. The make-up corner has a lit mirror. To get ready calmly, book the make-up room for 1 hour before your time (€40).
• The camera, a charged spare battery and empty cards, if you shoot yourself. Strobes, modifiers, stands and backdrops are already in the room.
• Your shot list, on paper or on the phone.

4. On the day

The studio is at 13 Av. Gaston Diderich: ring LUX PHOTO PRO, 5th floor, the lift is on the right. Parking is on the street around the building, so leave a few minutes for it.

At the start we help you set up the light and the backdrop, free. A simple portrait setup: the 120 cm octabox as the main light at 45°, a reflector or the second light low on the other side, the backdrop 1.5–2 m behind the person so no shadow lands on it.

Shoot the headshot first, while everyone is fresh. Look at the frames on the monitor or the 65″ screen after the first ten shots: hair, collar and glasses are easier to fix now than in editing. Change the backdrop only once, halfway through.

Leave the last 10 minutes for packing and putting the room back. Keep food, confetti and glitter off the set: if the room needs real cleaning afterwards, it costs €60.

5. If you would rather be directed

Most people do not know what to do with their hands, their chin or their shoulders in front of a camera, and a first studio hour often goes on finding that out. A photographer who directs every pose and picks the frames with you on the screen takes that off you.

If that is what you need, book a personal branding portrait session with Lux Photo Pro: the same studio, with a photographer who directs you.