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.
Written by lighting experts from four continents
The guide is being written by four broncolor lighting experts based in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Over the years, they have advised companies, studios and photographers of all sizes on choosing equipment, developing lighting setups and improving everyday workflows. They have seen what works, what creates unnecessary complexity and which decisions make the greatest difference in practice. Each expert contributes from their own field of experience:
Europe – consistent product photography and repeatable, automated workflows
North America – efficient high-volume production and studio organisation
Asia – showing materials, textures and colours as they really are
Australia – flexible lighting that works in the studio and on location
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.
