The One-Person
Portrait Studio
Plan, shoot, and deliver pro portraits — solo.
✓ Backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee — join with zero risk, cancel anytime.
Get this course plus 1,000+ others — new courses weekly — for $199/year. That's about 54¢ a day, and $40 less than paying monthly.
Anyone can take a snapshot.
You're about to make art.
About the Course
You don't need a crew to shoot portraits like a pro. Gilmar Smith shows you how to plan, pack, light, shoot, and deliver professional portrait sessions entirely on your own. Learn the pre-production questions that protect your time and your paycheck, the packing and gear systems that let one person do the work of a full team, and the on-set strategies she used to photograph 50 realtors in two days — solo. You'll leave knowing how to run a shoot where you're the photographer, the producer, and the client's favorite part of the day.
Why This Course Matters
Most portrait photographers work alone. Almost nobody teaches you how.
This course closes that gap with the systems that separate calm, profitable shoots from stressful ones — pricing for how your images will be used, the questions that determine success before you pick up a camera, and the small details working pros swear by. Gilmar built her career doing this work solo, and she hands you the entire playbook.
Who's Teaching You
Learn from a photographer who is her own crew
Gilmar Smith built her career planning, lighting, and shooting professional portrait sessions without a crew. Here she hands you the systems that make it all work.
Gilmar Smith is a self-taught photographer and Photoshop addict based in Orlando, Florida, specializing in creative portraiture and composites. Since picking up a camera in 2011, she has mastered lighting, posing, and Photoshop through self-portraiture — and built a career running professional shoots entirely on her own.
What You'll Learn
Skills you'll use every time you shoot
From the first client call to the final delivery — here's what you'll walk away knowing how to do.
Ask the questions that protect your paycheck
The purpose, the people, and where the images will live. Plus why commercial usage always belongs in your invoice.
Build creative briefs that win approval
Research the brand, gather references, and lock the vision with your client before the shoot, so there are no surprises after it.
Pack like a one-person crew
Shoot-specific gear lists, backups for your backups, and contingency plans for weather, locations, and gear failures.
Fix it on set, not in Photoshop
Fashion tape, bobby pins, a handheld steamer, and the other small tools that save hours of retouching.
Run high-volume shoots on schedule
Multi-station lighting setups, two cameras, and marked floor positions. How Gilmar photographed 50 realtors in 15-minute slots.
Deliver like a pro and get paid
On-set image reviews, clear timelines, and over-delivery tracking that protect your contract and your paycheck.
The Full Curriculum
7 lessons, start to finish
Tap any lesson to see what's covered.
Gilmar breaks down the client conversation that defines every shoot — the purpose, the people, where the images will live, and why commercial usage should always show up in your invoice.
Learn how Gilmar researches a brand, gathers references, and builds a creative brief that wins client approval before the shoot — so there are no surprises after it.
When you're the whole crew, one forgotten battery can sink the day. Gilmar shows you how to build shoot-specific gear lists, pack backups for your backups, and plan for anything.
Fashion tape, bobby pins, a handheld steamer, even sour candy — the inexpensive items in Gilmar's bag that fix wardrobe issues and calm nervous subjects on set instead of in post.
Your back is not a production assistant. Gilmar shares her rolling studio — wagons, wheeled stands, wireless strobes, and a mobile tether station — so you can move fast in any location.
Watch how Gilmar photographed 50 realtors in 15-minute slots using multi-station setups and two cameras — and why client experience matters more than any gear you own.
Review images with your client on set, set delivery timelines that prevent follow-up emails, and track over-delivery so your contract — and your paycheck — stay protected.
From the Course
What you'll learn to create
Loved by Members
You're in good company
Rated 4.8 out of 5 — "Excellent" — across 1,843 reviews on Trustpilot. Here's what members say.
KelbyOne is so inspiring, exhilarating, fascinating and downright exceptional. Every aspect of KelbyOne is like a good novel that you can't put down. Great technical and useful knowledge.
These courses don't treat you like you're an idiot, but still walk you through step by step. Other members really go the extra mile to help you understand and progress as a photographer.
I am soooo pleased that I found this program. I am learning and growing by crazy leaps and bounds in my photography skills. The teaching style makes everything stick.
The classes are well done and I always learn something new. I especially enjoy the no-nonsense approach to teaching. It keeps what could be a dry topic interesting.
More Than One Course
This course is just the beginning
The One-Person Portrait Studio comes with your KelbyOne membership — and so does everything below. Tap any benefit to see what's included.
The full KelbyOne library covers photography, Lightroom, and Photoshop from first principles to professional technique — portraits, landscape, travel, studio and flash, wedding, sports, street, food, fashion, business, and more. Every course is taught by a working pro, broken into focused lessons you can watch in any order, and available to stream whenever you want. Start a class on your lunch break, finish it that night, and come back to it any time you need a refresher.
KelbyOne releases a new course every single week, so your membership is worth more the longer you hold it. New techniques, new gear, new software releases, and new instructors are added continuously — meaning the latest in photography and post-processing is always waiting for you, and you'll never pay extra for it.
Not sure what to watch next? Curated learning tracks sequence the right courses in the right order so you build skills step by step instead of jumping around. The Photographer's Fast Track is designed to save you years of trial and error, and your progress is tracked along the way so you always know what you've finished and what's next.
Your membership includes a growing toolkit of free Lightroom presets, Photoshop brushes, and other downloadable resources you can put to work right away. Many courses also include downloadable practice files so you can follow along with the exact images the instructor is using — learning by doing, not just watching.
Stream on your computer, phone, tablet, or Apple TV and pick up right where you left off on any device. The KelbyOne app also lets you download classes for offline viewing, so you can keep learning on a plane, a road trip, or anywhere without a connection. Your account works anytime, anywhere.
Learning is easier with people in your corner. KelbyOne members are a welcoming, genuinely helpful community — the kind who go out of their way to answer questions and help you progress. When a technique doesn't click, there's a place to ask, and real photographers at every level who are happy to help.
If you're unhappy for any reason, contact us within the first 30 days of an annual membership (or the first 7 days of a monthly membership) and we'll gladly cancel and issue a full refund. You also get access the moment you join, and you can cancel anytime from your account page. There's nothing to lose by trying it.
Membership
One membership. Everything unlocked.
The One-Person Portrait Studio and the entire library of courses come with a KelbyOne membership. Go annual and you'll pay about 54¢ a day — and save $40 over paying monthly.
Everything included
- This course — The One-Person Portrait Studio, all 7 lessons
- Full access to all 1,000+ courses
- A new course every week, at no extra cost
- Guided learning tracks & the Photographer's Fast Track
- Free presets, brushes & downloadable practice files
- Watch on desktop, mobile, tablet & Apple TV — even offline
- Friendly, helpful member community
Still on the fence?
Start monthly at $19.99/mo and switch to annual anytime. Heads up: paying month-to-month works out to $239.88 a year — $40 more than going annual.
Backed by a 100% Money-Back Guarantee
Not happy for any reason? Contact us within the first 30 days of an annual membership (or the first 7 days of a monthly membership) and we'll gladly cancel and issue a full refund. You get access the moment you join.
Questions? Answered.
Everything you need to know
Right away. The moment you join, you can sign in and start watching The One-Person Portrait Studio — and every other course in the library — immediately, on any device.
Absolutely. KelbyOne has courses for every skill level, taught in plain language, step by step. This course meets you where you are, and the rest of the library grows with you as you improve.
No. Gilmar works on location and in small spaces with a kit one person can carry, and shows you how to scale up with intention — from a single wireless strobe to a multi-station headshot setup on wheels. You'll learn to work with what you have and know exactly what to add next.
Annual is the best value by a wide margin: $199 for a full year works out to about 54¢ a day and saves you $40 compared to paying month-to-month ($239.88/year). Monthly is there if you'd rather start small — and you can switch to annual anytime.
Yes. Cancel whenever you like from your account page and you'll keep access until your membership period ends. You're also covered by our money-back guarantee — 30 days on annual, 7 days on monthly — so there's no risk in trying it.
Yes. Stream on desktop, mobile, tablet, and Apple TV, and pick up right where you left off on any device. The KelbyOne app also lets you download classes to watch offline — on a plane, a road trip, anywhere.
Of course — KelbyOne has members all over the world. All prices are listed in US dollars (USD), so just keep your local exchange rate in mind at checkout and renewal.
Your best solo shoot
starts here.
Join KelbyOne today and stream The One-Person Portrait Studio — plus 1,000+ more courses from the world's best photographers — with a single membership.
Join KelbyOne & Start WatchingFrom about 54¢ a day · New courses weekly · Money-back guarantee