First time setting up a studio

gbarry

hi,

I have a huge interest in photography, and i was asked to take some studio photos (family portraits, Band photos for Posters, Kids etc)

I have a Canon EOS 50D! Love it..

Now my only problem is I want to set up a studio in my house! I have the room its just that i hav'nt a clue on what type of equipment i need!!

Please Help!!!

(when i say i Hav'nt a clue, i really mean it!! i dont have a lot of money to invest here so please keep this in mind)

Thanks

pullandbang

gbarry wrote: »

Now my only problem is I want to set up a studio in my house! I have the room its just that i hav'nt a clue on what type of equipment i need!!

Not to dampen your enthusiasm or anything, but don't you think you should learn a little about lighting and photography in general before you start a studio?
If you take the time to study other peoples studio work and read some books, then you will get an idea of what you might need.

sineadw

I can only agree with pullandbang. Studio equipment is major money, or the decent stuff is anyway. Maybe it'd be a better idea to learn more about what you're doing and why. It might be that you go off studio stuff altogether!

gbarry

pullandbang wrote: »

Not to dampen your enthusiasm or anything, but don't you think you should learn a little about lighting and photography in general before you start a studio?
If you take the time to study other peoples studio work and read some books, then you will get an idea of what you might need.

Ok, I do know about photography in general! I get hired on a weekly basis by individuals to take photos for their parties.

I just dont know much about lighting, and to invest in lighting i need guidance and to get that guidance i said i might ask people that know more about it than I.

ThOnda

Well, if you don't know much about studio lighting, just copy this guy's studio setup and you'll be grand.

CabanSail

Sounds like you are one of those people who jump in too quickly.

Before investing in a Home Studio I would think it would be a good idea to hire some studio time and get used to setting up various lighting effects and backgrounds.

Are you fully conversant with your camera on Manual?

Do you think in F Stops to set various light levels?

gbarry

gbarry wrote: »

hi,

I have a huge interest in photography, and i was asked to take some studio photos (family portraits, Band photos for Posters, Kids etc)

Who is asking you to do all of that stuff?! That's an insane amount of completely different types of photography. The knowledge of posing and ability to deal with people alone would be immense.

I have a Canon EOS 50D! Love it..

What lens/es do you use, out of curiousity?

Now my only problem is I want to set up a studio in my house! I have the room its just that i hav'nt a clue on what type of equipment i need!!

Please Help!!!

(when i say i Hav'nt a clue, i really mean it!! i dont have a lot of money to invest here so please keep this in mind)

I don't want to sound crude or harsh, really I don't, but you're going nowhere fast. Just stop, and put the studio idea to rest for a while and really think about it.

First off, you give the impression that you really don't know all that much about photography, but that if you some studio gear, your photos will look like the pros and you'll be rolling in money. That's really not the case.


Secondly, let's pretend you have your studio gear. How much time are you allowing to practice and work your gear before you start taking on assignments and paid work from people? You can't start charging straight away. The minute you hand someone bad photos that they've paid you to take, your reputation would be shot to bits. Word of mouth is extremely important in the photography game in my experience.


Thirdly, on a budget, you'd be lucky to cater to one of the three areas you mentioned. A family, a child and a band all require different gear and certainly require a different look. You might get away with a plain white background, for example, with a few families or children, maybe even a band or two, but how long do you have before that becomes old and tired looking and people want a different look to their images?


Will you be planning on catering to people who want to do stuff outdoors too (again, requires even more gear).

Photography, if nothing else, is a money pit. But it's a money pit that requires a lot of learning and understanding of it all.



That said, this is entirely my own opinion, and it's genuinely up to yourself if you want to make a home studio or not, but I'd genuinely be thinking twice or three times before even considering it. A studio is something you should be working up to, not starting with.

gbarry

When in not trying to "crude or Harsh" you are doing a very bad job of it...

i have earned about €5000 in the last 7 months part time and included in that is a home made studio where i have 4 backgrounds and for lighting i use flood lights which i had my self and a couple of lamps, i have done 10 shoots with this.

Everytime i set it up i spend an hour at least with my kids getting the lighting right... I am not asking anybody to criticise me, I am just looking for someone to give me a name of equipment that is good!! but is not going to break me, i have 500 to invest!

challengemaster

500 might get you one light with no adapters if you want good stuff.

gbarry

http://www.backdropsource.co.uk/Productinfo.asp?id=714&pname=3000-watt-quartz-light-kit-with-2softboxes,barndoors-and-colour-filters

I take it that this would be no good so

oshead

I'm really surprised with all the answers you've been getting in this thread, not one has recommended a single product. Nothing but discouragement.

Now to answer your original question, what equipment do you need for a home studio setup. Simple..... Get an Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2/4 Umbrella kit from Barker Photographic. The link is here. I've got 2 of those kits and they work very well. Have fun....

DaireQuinlan

oshead wrote: »

I'm really surprised with all the answers you've been getting in this thread, not one has recommended a single produce. Nothing but discouragement.

Now to answer your original question, what equipment do you need for a home studio setup. Simple..... Get an Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2/4 Umbrella kit from Barker Photographic. The link is here. I've got 2 of those kits and they work very well. Have fun....

FYP : Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2/4 Umbrella kit from Barker Photographic

gbarry

thank you!

WheresMyCamera?

ThOnda wrote: »

Well, if you don't know much about studio lighting, just copy this guy's studio setup and you'll be grand.

I really can't believe I didn't hear the phrase "This is where the magic happens...." on that video. Total MTV Cribs.

julie351

I'm glad to see someone took the time to answer this man's question. I'm thinking of taking up photography as a hobby only as I have always been interested. I was going to ask if anyone had advice but I can see it's not the place to ask questions. Just seems most here are only interested in making newbies look foolish while trying to make themselves look good. I'm disappointed

gbarry

gbarry wrote: »

i have earned about €5000 in the last 7 months part time and included in that is a home made studio

gbarry wrote: »

(when i say i Hav'nt a clue, i really mean it!!

ValueInIreland

gbarry wrote: »

http://www.backdropsource.co.uk/Productinfo.asp?id=714&pname=3000-watt-quartz-light-kit-with-2softboxes,barndoors-and-colour-filters

I take it that this would be no good so

The "problem" with this kit would be a huge amount of heat with 3000 Watts. They would be fine in a high roofed studio environment, but not in a domestic situation. I would avoid "Continuous" lights in general - unless you will be doing video - in which case I would use Daylight balanced heads like the Interfit Cool-Lites. The Elinchrom D-Lites would appear to be the job (slightly outside the budget). However, if you are doing event work, give serious consideration to their "Big Brothers" the BX500Ri heads which are designed for Pro work all day long. Enjoy!

pullandbang

julie351 wrote: »

I'm glad to see someone took the time to answer this man's question. I'm thinking of taking up photography as a hobby only as I have always been interested. I was going to ask if anyone had advice but I can see it's not the place to ask questions. Just seems most here are only interested in making newbies look foolish while trying to make themselves look good. I'm disappointed

Ask away and you will be answered.
Nobody here tries to make anyone look foolish but some people (who should know better) do ask foolish questions!

hoganpoly

On the subject of studio, whats the ideal size including height, and whats peoples preferred portable option, have been tinkering with the idea of the hi-key lastolite ..

oshead

hoganpoly wrote: »

On the subject of studio, whats the ideal size including height, and whats peoples preferred portable option, have been tinkering with the idea of the hi-key lastolite ..

The Hi-lite largest size is 8x7 feet. For most needs that will do. If you buy paper on a roll you'll get sizes of about 9 feet wide. The Hi-lite excels in smaller spaces. The distance needed from front to back is greatly reduced so it can be used in a lot of places that a roll of white paper can't if you want hi-key.

stcstc

i used one of the hilites yesterday to shoot school portraits, it rocked

i have a pair of heads in the hilite and a 1.8m softbox & 60" brolley on my quadras

it works flawlesly and reasonablly easy to do

thefizz

Give Paddy Barker a call and explain what you want to do. He will give you some good advice.

www.barkerphotographic.ie

oshead

thefizz wrote: »

Give Paddy Barker a call and explain what you want to do. He will give you some good advice.

www.barkerphotographic.ie

Should you not read the thread before commenting.

jpb1974

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Barker Photographic -

http://www.barkerphotographic.ie/

hoganpoly

oshead wrote: »

The Hi-lite largest size is 8x7 feet. For most needs that will do. If you buy paper on a roll you'll get sizes of about 9 feet wide. The Hi-lite excels in smaller spaces. The distance needed from front to back is greatly reduced so it can be used in a lot of places that a roll of white paper can't if you want hi-key.

Thanks Dave, I remember a thread from yourself re studio etc and found it most helpful,think I will invest in the hi-lite as most people wanting portraits etc want you to call to them in the comfort of their own home,I found setting up stands with cloth backdrop too cumbersome and i was knackered by the time i got shooting:), will a 3 light system work for groups using the hi-lite as i have 3 d-lites studio lights thx

oshead

Yeah, three lights will do fine. I used two for ages and a little help from lightroom in PP.

thefizz

oshead wrote: »

Should you not read the thread before commenting.

Yes I did, whats your point.

oshead

thefizz wrote: »

Yes I did, whats your point.

My point? You might have noticed that your mate Paddy has already chimed in to this thread and reiterated some of the advise given while adding more....

thefizz

Oh silly me, ValueInIreland is so obviously barker photographic :rolleyes:
You'd expect me to know that seeing as he is supposedly my mate

oshead

lol... Silly me too... For not thinking you would automatically associate Paddy & Barker Photographic with ValueInIreland. Though I did mention to him previously on another thread that he should be more transparent about his identity while giving out advise and recommending products. Much the same way Steve (stcstc) does at 360-dpi.com.

WheresMyCamera?

Back on point.

I use a mobile studio set up for about 15-25 shoots a week all in different locations. I never know what kind of space I'll have to work with until I get there.

I use a 6ft wide white Vinyl backdrop that can roll out about 15ft. I use a two light set up. Two Bowens GM500's, one with the High Performance Reflector and the other with a Wafer 140 Softbox.

I put the softbox about waist height in front of the backdrop to light the subjects and then the second light with the high performance reflector behind me, head height and angled towards the roof and bounce the light off there to light the backdrop.

While this works for me I know it's a compromise aimed at working in as many different places as possible.

If I was setting up somewhere myself and had the room for it I'd go with a 3 light set up. More than likely two 250w lights for the backdrop and a 400/500w light with a large softbox to light the subjects. I'd also use a 9ft wide white backdrop. As to vinyl vs seamless, totally depends on how often I use it. If it was mainly with kids/families I'd go with vinyl as it'll last longer and less prone to tearing during a shoot.

I really like the idea of the lastolite Hi-lite, the only thing that worries me is getting the vinyl train lit as well as the hi-lite it's self to where it looks seamless. (Both oshead and Borderfox would be able to give you more info on dealing with this) But it I was mostly doing headshots to 3/4 lenght shots I definitely get that instead.

Hope this has been of some help.