Guides · Tips and techniques
Lighting setups in a rented studio
How to plan lighting when you hire a studio: what you bring, what is included, and which questions to ask about power and rigging.
Last updated: 7 November 2026
First see what the studio already has
In a hired studio you do not start from an ideal diagram, but with the space you have hired. Does the room have daylight, a pre-lit green screen or bare walls? Filter for lighting included and read the source page. Studio Big Time includes three RGB ceiling panels; Green Screen Studio Utrecht a full lighting kit; other studios say lights are extra or not provided.
Classic setups, adapted to the hire
A portrait often needs a key, fill and a little hair light; a pack shot more wrapping, even light; an interview two or three continuous sources that do not flicker on camera. In a daylight studio the window is your key and you fill with a bounce or one extra lamp. For green-screen work, light the background separately and evenly so it can be replaced cleanly in post-production. See hiring a green screen.
Power, truss and time
Before you book, ask what power there is (wall sockets, 16A, 32A, three-phase) and whether you may hang from a truss or rail. Studio Big Time lists three-phase 16A and a truss; Westerpark Studio electronically controlled trusses. Build and wrap usually count inside the hire, so include both in your lighting schedule. More questions: what you ask the landlord.