Home Studio Portraits
Calgary, Canada (2025)

When I came to Canada from Ukraine, I started working in the oil industry in the North–two weeks on, one week off. Since I had free time between my shifts and wanted to keep shooting, I decided to focus on natural light portraits. It was a practical move: I could practice photography, and directing models forced me to speak and learn English.

Renting a commercial studio was too expensive for the amount of practice I wanted. Instead, I convinced my roommate to let me build a simple setup in our living room every two weeks, using just fabric backdrops and reflectors. Getting models was hard at first. But by starting with friends and building a portfolio, I earned people's trust. In that first apartment alone, I did over 50 sessions.

Later, I moved to a new apartment to live alone. Without worrying about bothering a roommate, I set a new goal: to shoot exactly 50 more photos. For about a month, I basically lived in a studio. Every day, new models came over, and at night, my place turned into a post-production room where I edited photos until late.

By the end of it, I had photographed over 100 people. Through this project, I clearly leveled up my skills as a photographer, got a lot of real English speaking practice, and made great friends along the way.