Mikey + Olivia ( DIY Home Studio Portraits)

My first photoshoot of 2020 was in January with my little sister and her friend Olivia. Since it was still winter and the weather was still gloomy here in the PNW, shooting outside was out of the question. I don’t have a studio or big fancy lights and I’m not ready to invest in expensive backdrops just yet so I opted for creating my own “at-home studio” using my living room (which has the best natural light source in my whole apartment), and this $10 bulletin board paper from Hobby Lobby as a backdrop. I thought that the bright blue color would complement the 90’s fashion and whimsical vision I had in mind.

Olivia is an avid thrifter and brought over the cutest selection of clothes to pick from. I already had the butterflies (which I believe I purchased from Joann Fabrics a while back) so we played around with hair and makeup and ended up with the looks below. I loved working with two models and trying new techniques like applying petroleum jelly to my lens to get a hazy effect in my pictures! Photography doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby, I enjoyed the challenge of creating my DIY studio which ended up costing only $10!