The Best Atlanta Portrait Studios

Below is a list of my favorite Atlanta portrait studios. But what good is a portrait studio when you can simply shoot outside? A portrait session takes a lot of planning. Aligning schedules, picking clothes, discussing concepts, acquiring permits, and figuring out travel logistics takes multiple emails and phone calls.

It’s a lot; that’s why it sucks when the universe decides to interfere with all that planning and effort. That’s why portrait studios are amazing. So, let’s take a look at some of the best photography studios in Atlanta.

Atlanta Portrait Studios for Rent: Quick Comparison

Recommendations for Atlanta Portrait Studios

The Abbey Studio

Located in Grant Park, this studio offers 1,200 sq ft of space, including a changing area, hair and makeup station, and 12-foot ceilings. Based in an old church, most of the walls are brick, which creates gorgeous textures when combined with large windows that provide natural light. The Abbey Studio also has varied backdrops for a traditional studio experience. It’s co-owned by several photographers, including myself, with options to rent between one and eight hours. Contact info: theabbeyatl@gmail.com

White Wall Woodstock

White Wall Woodstock is a natural light studio that’s 100% white with moveable desk, bed, and chair pieces plus a small kitchen and bathroom/changing room. They offer one-hour (weekdays only), two-hour, half-day, and full-day rental options. Contact info: hello@whitewallwoodstock.com

Park Studios

Park Studios is a 1,000-square-foot, natural light studio in Buckhead that’s 100% white with west-facing windows and white hardwood floors throughout. The space includes a client lounge, vanity area, small kitchenette, and extra seating. Two-hour, half-day, and full-day rentals available. Contact info: hello@parkstudios.co

Arlo Studios Pro Suite

Arlo Studios Pro Suite is a 1,000-square-foot commercial studio in Buckhead’s Armor-Ottley neighborhood, built specifically for professional photo and video work. The space includes a 12x12x12 cyclorama, floor-to-ceiling windows, 7+ distinct shooting scenes, high-end furnishings, a dedicated makeup vanity, and Aputure lighting included in the rental. Seamless paper backdrops and strobe add-ons are available. Instant-book pricing starts at $99/hour, or $250 for a two-hour block. Contact via the booking page at arlostudios.com.

Weldon Bond Studios

Weldon Bond Studios offers four white-walled studios, each with hair and makeup stations, lounge areas, and equipment rentals. Simple, clean, and just what you need. Two-hour to full-day rentals available, starting at $35/hour with a two-hour minimum. Contact info: mgt@weldonbondstudios.com

Mike Glatzer Photography

Mike Glatzer Photography — I run a small home studio well suited for headshots and 3/4-length portraits. Amenities include free WiFi, makeup and changing areas, and multiple background options: black, white, blue, gray, green, neon colors, and scenic backdrops including a bookshelf wall, industrial space, painterly room, and gothic mansion. Images can be reviewed immediately on a large 4K monitor after shooting. No additional studio charge for my clients, which also applies to sessions at The Abbey Studio.

Atlanta Daylight Studio

Atlanta Daylight Studio is a 3,600-square-foot restored 1920s industrial space on Atlanta’s historic westside, originally a Shell Oil facility. Heavy steel beams, 10 to 25-foot ceilings, a cyc wall, and a private outdoor deck with skyline views make it one of the more distinctive options in the city. Electric blackout blinds let you go from full natural light to complete studio blackout in under a minute. Full kitchen, two bathrooms, and a spacious seating area included. Pricing starts at $175/hour with a four-hour minimum.

Ambient + Studio

Ambient + Studio is Atlanta’s largest daylight studio at over 25,000 square feet, located in the Wells streat / south-Atlanta area. The raw industrial space features large windows, high ceilings, gear rental, and complete vendor flexibility. Best suited for larger productions, brand campaigns, and shoots that need room to breathe. Half-day rates start around $600 for still photography, which includes their 25% photo discount. Contact via ambientplusstudio.com.

Studio Space Atlanta

Studio Space Atlanta offers up to 8,000 square feet of climate-controlled studio space with multiple cyc wall options including white, black, and green chromakey. All studios include a client lounge, full kitchen, hair and makeup room, production offices, and equipment rental. Rental options start at two hours and go up to full-day. Contact info: info@StudioSpaceATL.com

Studio 270

Studio 270 is a community-focused creative space with 20-foot ceilings and multiple distinct shooting environments within one building, including a baby grand piano, custom bed, black soaker tub, large backdrop wall, and various prop collections. A strong option for conceptual and editorial portrait work where variety matters. Located in Austell, in a 1930s thread mill. Rentals run $100 for two hours or $600 for a full day, with monthly memberships available. Contact via rentmyphotostudio.com.

Why Photographers Choose Studios Over Location

Tell me if this sounds familiar — you finally have a free weekend coming up; you check the forecast, and the weather looks fantastic. You call some of your buddies and organize an afternoon outdoors, enjoying drinks on the patio, walking the outdoor farmer’s market, or lounging at the pool.

Travel, snacks, timing; it’s all been planned and worked out. At last, a weekend away from errands and work. It’s just a time to have fun.

Finally, it’s the morning of your epic weekend. You roll over in bed and check the weather app on your phone.

Oh, no….

90% chance of rain. All. Day. Long.

You hop up and go to the window only to have your mood shift to match the dark and stormy clouds floating overhead.

“We should have planned something indoors….”

This story is my ultimate fear as a photographer. I LOVE shooting on location — it’s hard to beat, but there are some downsides, like being in control of the weather or finding available parking in midtown Atlanta. You can only plan so much before the rest is truly up to variables outside of your control.

And that’s when the advantages of shooting in a studio come to mind.

What Can Go Wrong On Location

• The weather doesn’t cooperate that day.
• The weather from the previous day affects your session (wet chairs & ground, anyone?).
• An event is happening at the location you picked.
• An accident on the road makes changing sites awful.
• The session is timed for the early morning or late evening when the lighting changes quickly and dramatically.
• Someone decided at the last minute to block off or restrict access to your location(s).
• The adjacent area has a construction that changes the killer view of the Atlanta skyline.

It’s a long list of could-go-wrongs. From a photographer’s perspective, shooting on location is difficult for the above reasons and the added worries of carrying & transporting gear, random objects or people as background elements, and locating the bathroom for pit stops and outfit changes.

How do we get around all of these variables? Shoot in a controlled environment dedicated to photography, AKA a portrait studio.

What Makes a Good Portrait Studio

A good studio is worth its weight in gold for a photographer who cannot leave anything up to chance and needs complete and total control of a session. Depending on the images you have in mind, a studio might be the best option.

I always ask my clients if they would prefer on-location vs. a portrait studio for their sessions. If we can achieve their concept in a studio, I’ll make a strong case based on one significant reason: we control the space.

Consistent, Controllable Conditions

With portrait studios, there are no worries about the weather, nearby events, construction, or access. Also, we can control the heat or A/C. Wanna wear a sweater in peak summer? Consider a studio. There’s no need to reschedule because conditions aren’t perfect.

No Wind, No Weather, No Surprises

Make-up artists and hairstylists, rejoice! A random gust of wind or two won’t ruin all your hard work. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I’ve had to stop shooting and wait for the wind to stop blowing. And as we all know, Atlanta is the queen of unpredictable weather.

The inverse is true as well! “Oh, this shot would look amazing with a windswept look!” Obviously, there’s no wind in the studio, either, but you can plug in a fan!

Bathrooms and Changing Areas

Instead of having to buy a random drink from the local Starbucks so they’ll let us use the bathroom, you’ve got unlimited access to one at all times. Got lots of outfit changes planned for your session? Think about how nice it is to have a dry, clean, and private space to hang up clothes and change. No more wrinkled clothing because it’s been smashed into a bag for most of the photoshoot!

Privacy

Another benefit of renting a portrait studio is that you don’t have to worry about photobombers or the peanut gallery. Are you super shy and worried about onlookers during your session? Use a studio to control who is in the room with us. On the flip side, it’s easier to have a full creative team on-site during the session to observe and provide real-time feedback.

Working in a studio also allows your photographer to shoot tethered, AKA display images they take instantaneously on a large screen. Now, you can immediately point to what you like, don’t like, or need to tweak in real-time, which saves money and time later in the form of additional editing or (worst case) a reshoot.

How to Choose the Right Type of Studio

Natural Light vs. Blackout Studios

Some studios have windows, and some do not. Those with windows typically employ large ones to help illuminate the space and create a very lovely, natural look. Your photographer can still bring out a flash, but I’ve found that natural light looks too good in these kinds of studios. Of course, studios without windows typically expect the use of a flash.

The benefit of no windows is you have more control of the light in the space, which makes flash photography easier and more consistent. So, depending on the look you’re going for, natural vs. flashed & commercial, you may want to consider a natural light studio vs. a black-box studio.

Backdrops vs. Painted Walls

Traditionally, studios have one or two painted walls with the possibility of adding a backdrop. Bigger commercial studios may employ a CYC wall. It means that where the wall meets the floor, there is a curve instead of a corner. This provides a seamless, infinite look to the pictures. Otherwise, you’ll most likely get a studio with the traditional floor-to-wall corner intersection.

Alternatively, a backdrop is a colored material (normally paper or cloth) draped from a horizontal rod. Painted walls (or CYC walls) are easier than a traditional backdrop as they are more robust, less likely to get damaged (heels will ruin some backdrop materials), don’t wrinkle, and can be bigger than most backdrops. Backdrops have the advantage that you can change them at will. Don’t like white? Just throw on a blue one! Or polka-dotted! Go crazy!

Props and Furniture: What to Expect

Normally, when shooting in a studio, you need to bring everything you want to use. Some studios will have various elements of furniture, clothing, and other items available to use for your session, but make sure you ask ahead of time. I always tell my clients to assume they will need to bring everything they want in their images.

Three advantages of bringing your props to a studio are that they’ll stay clean, you don’t have to carry them around, and you have full control to arrange them as you want. There’s no worry about the ground in front of your gorgeous background being uneven or gross.

The Downside of a Studio

You gotta pay for it. Air conditioning, electricity, property fees, and maintenance cost money. Shooting on location is mostly free (unless you need a permit), and that’s the trade-off. You’re paying for control and perfect conditions. 

Which Studio Is Right for You?

If you’re not sold on shooting in a studio, check out this article about the benefits of shooting photos on location. I’ve also provided a direct comparison between shooting on location vs in a studio.

Do you have other questions about a portrait studio in Atlanta, GA, for your next session? You can get more information via my contact page.