Finding an indoor space for a photo shoot in Colorado Springs has historically been a challenge! Whether you need it for boudoir, branding, family, newborn, or more, there haven’t always been a lot of options available. Sure, you can shoot inside your home or your client’s home, but it’s often not photo-ready and lighting can be tough if there aren’t a lot of windows.

As a brand photographer myself, this was the whole reason I opened my rentable, natural light studio: KINDLE! While I will share a few more options of places to go below, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t partial to this one 😉

KINDLE Photo Studio & Event Space

While I use it often with my own clients too, the main purpose of KINDLE is to rent it out to other photographers and really try to help them feel like the studio is THEIRS when hosting their clients.

Split across the 1400 sq ft, there are two main rooms, a kitchenette, a private restroom, and a small storage room. While you are welcome to rearrange anything you’d like to, the larger room typically houses a large leather couch and a few other seating options (including a full-size and a kid-size egg chair). There are tons of live plants, including a 7′ tall fiddle leaf fig tree, white curtains on two inner walls, and white blinds that block visibility from the street but still let light through for sensitive sessions like boudoir. I don’t shoot boudoir but I have several amazing contacts to send you to if you’re looking for that type of session! There is a double-sided rolling wall that changes colors roughly quarterly and is extremely easy to maneuver around the room to create unique scenes.

The smaller room at KINDLE is typically used for our sets that rotate about quarterly as well. They are thoughtfully crafted around holidays and seasons to keep the space feeling fresh and unique. While each new set is usually only available for a couple of weeks, the Christmas set will always occur for all of November and December to give photographers plenty of time to shoot their holiday mini sessions and edit + send in time for their clients to order their holiday cards.

During the times where there isn’t a set, our seamless paper backdrops occupy the smaller room, but they can always be set up in front of the set if needed as well.

KINDLE has hourly rental options as well as a membership with different tiers. Membership gets photographers almost half of the hourly rate for the 4, 6, or 10-hour per month options with a 6-month agreement. We also allow 2 rollover hours per month to allow for the best flexibility.

The best part of KINDLE is how versatile the space is. While we have plenty of furniture and prop options to make any photo session a success, we try to keep it decently minimal so you can really bring whatever your vision is to life! It’s large enough to accommodate extended family sessions when the weather surprises you, but intimate enough to be comfortable for a small branding or boudoir session too. It’s even located on the ground floor barely north of the downtown strip. The space is all handicap accessible and centrally located (511 N Tejon), but just far enough away from the shopping area to be quiet and private.

The Lofthouse

The Lofthouse is an Air BnB on bottom and photo/video production space on top in Black Forest, Colorado. Both are amazing to photograph in and around and provide an incredible and private experience to clients!

I do brand mini sessions about quarterly and I try to do one of the events here each year since it’s an all-time favorite and so perfect for so many brands (especially realtors/mortgage brokers!). Be sure to jump on the waitlist for brand minis if you want to be the first to know about upcoming events.

Kinship Landing

Kinship is a new boutique hotel on S Nevada. It has the most gorgeous interior with a fireplace area and a greenhouse with plants and lots of light. Just be sure to be respectful by double-checking at the front desk when you arrive to make sure they don’t mind if you take some photos (they typically just don’t want flash setups to be used and for you to be respectful of guests in the space). Their exterior is fantastic as well!

SCP Hotel

SCP Hotel is a very community-oriented hotel and co-working space located on S Circle Drive. They have a cool bar area and some seating with brick, plants, and decor and have never minded me taking photos in the common area as long as I ask upon arrival and am respectful of guests!

Coffee Shops

For brand photography, I find myself utilizing the coffee shops in the area quite frequently. My favorites for photos are Switchback (the Hillside location tends to be a little quieter with fewer people to work around in the background). You can actually rent out the whole coffee shop (either location) after hours too if you want the place to yourself!

Loyal Coffee (S Nevada location) also has lots of light and is very aesthetically pleasing, although it can get pretty busy during certain times.

Cultivate Studios

Cultivate is the other main photo studio in town and they have two locations! I haven’t actually had the pleasure of shooting there yet, but they are great for boudoir and smaller sessions like individual portraits or branding.

Embassy Suites Hotel

You might be sensing a theme here with hotels. It’s because they tend to be much more spacious than anywhere else and they happen to be already decorated beautifully! This one is a bit surprising, because it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but they have a very open common space just past the front desk that is very well lit by skylights! Additional lighting may be helpful to fill in shadows under eyes since all the light is coming from above, but you could get away without it in a pinch.

The Mining Exchange

You have to have a permit for this one so be sure to stop by the front desk ahead of time, but it’s free and allowed as long as they don’t have a big event or something taking up space in the common area. It definitely has less of a modern vibe, but is fun for something different! They also have a small outdoor courtyard that can be utilized as well.

Know of another great indoor photo location in Colorado Springs that I didn’t mention here? Shoot me a note at hello@kirawhitney.com, I would love if you’re willing to share!