Specialized Photo Studios

Have you ever wanted to dress up in your favorite costume and pretend for a while to be someone else. Perhaps a character from a fantasy realm or a persona from a different or ancient culture.

No matter what it is that you want to pretend to be, having the knowledge that you can spend much less to dress up and be photographed instead of having to go and buy the necessary costumes and spend quiet a good amount of money.

At many theme parks you can most often find a photo studio that will set you up in the customary clothes of a certain period like westerns and take your picture.

What if you took this a step further and presented the client with a complete scene with all the trimmings like not only with the typical fashions worn during the famous western times and surround the models with a complete and realistic detailed looking western room?

Lets say for example that you are attracted to Asian or early Japanese culture and would like to be made to look like a Geisha or Japanese lord. If you not only have the appropriate costumes but can set up a room to resemble an early Japanese room then the scene is complete.

There are several photographic shops that do just this and steadily attract clientele. In Japan there is one such studio; Yamato Sakura, where you can be dressed in early Japanese maiko ( an apprentice geisha) apparel and the room is set up appropriately as well thus making the setting feel realistic enough to convince anyone looking at the photos that you are indeed a maiko.

Another creative way to enlist clientele is to facilitate photo fantasies like setting up an elaborate room and using appropriate costumes to resemble a fantasy realm le a room full or red balloons, red walls, red flowers, and red everything as well as the model's clothes being all red.

Or how about a room full of white furniture, white furniture and maybe a bunch of white rabbits.

In other words by using color thematics, each setting refers to a child's or adult's imaginary worlds.

If for example you use cut outs that resemble forest trees, use some real and fake bushes, flowers, plenty of leaves and with the right light you can make a child feel as if she or he is in the middle of a forest calmly reading his or her favorite book.

Throw some reading lamps and maybe a comfortable couch and the set up is almost complete with a surreal touch too.

"The Color Project is a series of very showy narrative settings created by Adrien Broom." Visit the site for a more complete look at what it takes to do this type of set up.

A thematic studio takes lost of work and money. You need appropriate themed props, decorations, furniture, practice with light to see what works best as well as the right make up and costumes but if set up nicely, you can start generating clientele quite quickly.

Many people who want to be photographed creatively might like this approach better than the traditional method and this is what will set you apart as well as create a niche for your work.

Try not to go overboard at first . There are many backdrop materials that can be used like fake brick walls and wooden backdrops and the good thing is that you can make your own on the cheap.

If you have even a small studio space, set at least three walls; one to look like bricks, the other to look like wood and a third to feature a paper or cloth backdrop.

Add some dry branches, some dry flowers, dry leaves, some old antique looking furniture, lamps, bottles and so on and you have the makings of a themed based studio. Add some LED lights and your horizon expands as these can be used to create many amazing, surreal effects.

Note that this is not simply dressing your models in costumes and adding a digital backdrop later. It is not the same and many people already do this.

For the effect to be complete and for your work to stand out you need to spend the time and the money to create a real live set.

If you want to dwell into this niche but do not want to start too big or have that much space, then concentrate on props that can be used by the model, like wigs, make up, head gear,contact lenses, hair coloring,fantasy ears and other accessories, then seek suitable outdoor locations and do the shoot there.