In-House Photo Studio: A Lighting Guide for Companies

Why more companies are building their own photo studio

Product images for the online shop, employee portraits for the website and LinkedIn, pictures of people and facilities for presentations and social media: photography has become part of everyday business communication. More and more companies are therefore producing these images themselves – faster, with more control over their visual language and at a lower cost per picture.

But an in-house photo studio is not simply an equipment purchase. It is a decision about how images will be made, repeated and maintained as teams and products change. A setup that does not match the job leads to inconsistent results, frustrated users and lights that end up in a cupboard.

That is why broncolor lighting experts from four continents are writing a free, practical guide for companies that want to set up a new in-house studio or extend their existing lighting equipment. It will be available in November 2026 – sign up below and we will send it to you as soon as it is published.

Start with the pictures, not the equipment

Before choosing lights, define what your studio will produce. A flattering employee portrait, a glossy metal component and a white-background catalogue image each call for a different approach to lighting. The guide therefore starts with five questions every company should answer first:

1. What will be photographed most often?
2. How many images must the team produce each month?
3. Do pictures need to match across months or years?
4. Will the equipment travel outside the studio?
5. Who will operate it, and how much experience do they have?

From there, our experts work backwards to the lighting, light shapers and workflow that make those pictures possible – whether you need product photography for e-commerce, consistent employee portraits or images for corporate communication.

Who the guide is for

The guide is written for companies rather than full-time professional photographers: marketing and communication teams, e-commerce and product content managers, in-house photographers and anyone responsible for planning or purchasing studio equipment. Whether you are setting up your first in-house photo studio or expanding an existing one, it helps you ask the right questions and make informed decisions based on your actual applications.

Get the free guide

What’s inside the guide

Plan the right setup

Part 1

Start with the pictures, not the equipment. Studio-only or on location? Monolights or a power pack system? How many lights do you really need – and why a third light is often the best insurance for important shoots.
Pictured: compact product setup with Picolite heads on a Scoro power pack. Credit: Nils Wilbert
Get consistent results

Part 2

Why control matters more than power, how to keep product images and employee portraits consistent across months and years, and how to show products as they really are.
Pictured: portrait setup with two Softboxes and two Octaboxes. Credit: Sandro Baebler
Light shapers and workflow

Part 3

A practical starter selection of light shapers, how to document setups so any team member can reproduce them, and when to choose flash or continuous light.
Invest with confidence

Part 4

Why a professional system pays off, what to know about maintenance, compatibility and rentals, how to plan the budget – plus a studio checklist to use before you buy.
Pictured: product shoot with Scoro and Pulso G. Credit: Manuel Mittelpunkt

Written by lighting experts from four continents

Four broncolor lighting experts from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia share what they have learned from years of advising companies, studios and photographers of all sizes.

Choosing equipment

Developing lighting setups

Improving everyday workflows

They know what works, what creates unnecessary complexity and which decisions make the greatest difference in practice. Each of them writes from their own field of experience – and shares a personal tip for your in-house studio.

Frank Harry Seidel

Europe · bron KOBOLD GmbH, Germany

Frank Harry trained as an industrial and advertising photographer and worked as a photographer and photo assistant in Düsseldorf and Cologne. He soon discovered his talent for sales and sold lighting equipment and technical cameras for a company in Hamburg – learning that the right brand is a guarantee of long-term success and customer loyalty. Switching to broncolor was the logical next step: he has represented the brand since 1998.

Frank Harry's tip: build for precise, repeatable capture

“Precise, repeatable image capture is becoming more and more important. In-house studios increasingly use automated systems, some of them supported by AI, and these work most efficiently with good source images. Good light shapers bring out the textures that matter for further processing. In my view, broncolor is the best system for these applications – so invest in a broncolor flash unit that can be controlled via the bron API.”

Blake Griffin

North America · MAC Group, USA

Blake has worked as a portrait photographer for almost two decades. The Georgia-based creative graduated from Montana State University in Filmmaking and Photography in 2010 and has served as a “photo-industry secret agent” ever since, holding positions across the entire creative industry – from capture to print and everywhere in between.

Blake's tip: stay organised

“High-volume studio photography can easily become overwhelming when you light small or unusually shaped products, or use advanced features like Freemask mode. Take the time to label your equipment – not only physically but digitally too, using the bronControl app or the built-in tag name on supported monolights such as Stelos.”

Scott Osborn

Australia · Kayell Australia

Scott has spent more than two decades in Australia's professional photography industry. He started at Baltronics – broncolor's Australian distributor since the late 1980s – in 2000 while assisting an advertising photographer, moved into showroom sales and later worked with broncolor in both sales and rental at Sun Studios Australia. In 2022 he joined Kayell Australia, which became the Australian distributor of broncolor in 2024 – bringing his career full circle. Today he helps photographers, cinematographers and content creators find the right lighting for their work.

Scott's tip: consistency saves time – and cables cost it

“Consistent exposure affects both your time in the studio and your time in post-production: fewer shots, fewer corrections – and time is money! Battery-powered lights like the broncolor Stelos are powerful enough for most sets, from room scenes to still life, and the same kit goes on location. In an in-house studio, no cables on the floor also means fewer hazards for people who aren't used to working around studio gear. And because broncolor is a complete system, your initial investment keeps its value over many years.”

Raymond Choy

Asia · Relight, Hong Kong

Raymond's profile and personal tip will follow soon.

Geschrieben von Lichtexperten aus vier Kontinenten

Vier broncolor Lichtexperten aus Europa, Nordamerika, Asien und Australien teilen ihre Erfahrung aus vielen Jahren Beratung von Unternehmen, Studios und Fotografen jeder Grösse.

Ausrüstung auswählen

Lichtsetups entwickeln

Workflows im Alltag verbessern

Sie wissen, was funktioniert, was unnötige Komplexität schafft und welche Entscheidungen in der Praxis den grössten Unterschied machen. Jeder schreibt aus seinem eigenen Erfahrungsfeld – und teilt einen persönlichen Tipp für Ihr Inhouse-Studio.