Indoor "Studio" question

[Ross]

Hello everyone. I need some studio lighting guidance, please...

OK, i have decided that i cannot go on without indoor studio lighting/setup (a lot of time the only time i have to shoot is at night, and don't always want to do night-scene photo). I have a couple spaces in which to do this: a SMALL room like 8x10 room or a slightly larger/wider one... first off, is this enough space?

A bit about what i want to shoot -- still life things like fruit and that kind of non-animate... food photography (just to try to hand for fun). But MAINLY i want to be able to take portraits. I have heard that i do not need to spend lots of money on backdrops and kind of stuff -- but do I use strobes or tungsten, continuous lighting? I'm just really confused by the whole thing. Seems like i could even use like a 550EX flash and an umbrella for a studio with a white sheet backdrop.

So, if you couldn't figure it out -- i want to stay under 500 dollars and preferably under like 300, i just don't have enough money right now. I just bought a computer, well and heck, i just bought my 20D! :)

Anyone that knows of a "on-the-cheap" setup that would still be quality and the most versatile for portrait and for still life, please let me know specifics!

Thank you all,
Ross

PS -- i heard of the alien bee setup for beginners, is that a good deal/what i need?

[RubenZamora]

Multiflash setup is a good way to start but in the long run it may be even more expensive than just going with a Alien Bee's setup.


I have a 580EX and 420EX and I love the combo so far. I'm sure with 1 more 420ex it would really be a kick butt setup and its really portable too..


Here is a sample of the lighting I get with the multiflash setup on a person and still object.

[Ross]

Hi Ruben,

Thanks for the reply. I see what you're saying. Do you think its possible to get good results from just the 1 alien bee 800 + umbrella or perhaps shoot through the umbrella for softer feel... but is that going to be sufficient to get good quality, lots of light, shots... or will it really need 2 or 3 strobes for this?

anyone else that knows anything about a startup light kit -- let me know, too!

-Ross

[brad]

I bought a cheap (< $400) light set on eBay.. the light set is some no name Chinese vendor, and I surely don't expect it to last me for years to come like I would a Bees (or comprable) set, but it has helped me learn how to place lights and helped me decide if portrait photography is what I really want to do. (And it is, based on what I've done so far.)

My set has 3 tripods, two strobes, one hairlight, 2 softboxes, 1 silver umbrella, and various cords and such... oh, and carrying bags. I'm *very* happy with it for the price.

[kumori]

I am by no means an expert, but I have been using my AB-800 strobe and reflector to get some decent results. It's just a one-light setup, but I made a couple reflectors out of foam board from Office depot. I also glued aluminum foil to another foam board to give it a little different effect.



In addition to that mahi mahi, there are a couple others at Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barron/sets/197207/

The mahi mahi, asian ribs, and orange honey chicken were done using the lighting setup. I also bought a small brolly box from AB, but don't use it that often. I haven't done any portraiture yet, but I do remember a thread at dpreview that asked specifically about single light setups and there were lots of examples.

FYI, I bought the Beginner Bee set at AB.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by brad

I bought a cheap (< $400) light set on eBay.. the light set is some no name Chinese vendor, and I surely don't expect it to last me for years to come like I would a Bees (or comprable) set, but it has helped me learn how to place lights and helped me decide if portrait photography is what I really want to do. (And it is, based on what I've done so far.)

My set has 3 tripods, two strobes, one hairlight, 2 softboxes, 1 silver umbrella, and various cords and such... oh, and carrying bags. I'm *very* happy with it for the price.

Brad,

Hmmm.. That sounds interesting! So less than 400 complete light kit off ebay, i've seen those around, but never known if they will really EVER produce any good results, ya know? Do you have any portraits or other studio work taken with your ebay light setup?

Thank you!


Barron,
AB is definitly a great company. Do you feel as though the Beginner setup is enough for portrait, i know you shoot food a lot and say never experimented with portrait... but what do you think? Or for portrait does there really need to be 2-3 lights? Your shots are great, by the way.

Thank you both,
Ross
ps -- i will hunt around on dpreview -- that place is just so crowded its hard to find stuff

[brad]

Originally Posted by Ross

Hmmm.. That sounds interesting! So less than 400 complete light kit off ebay, i've seen those around, but never known if they will really EVER produce any good results, ya know? Do you have any portraits or other studio work taken with your ebay light setup?

I forgot, it also included white, black, and rose colored/mottled backgrounds.

Here are shots taken with the light sets:



The first three were taken with a softbox on one strobe, the umbrella on the other, and the hairlight bouncing off a white ceiling behind them.. the last one was a single strobe with a softbox... all of them have the black background.

Oh.. and this one, which was taken with a pair of softboxes against a red carpet (friend's dog, they were trying to get her pic with the kids, but the dog didn't want to cooperate):

[srwatters]

Skip the hotlights and buy strobes. I tried the Home Depot halogens and unless you want your subjects to sweat or melt, don't bother. Fluorescent would be nice, but for that $$$ you can get strobes.

After spending $2500 on my indoor studio, I would recommend a single light, stand, and a couple of modifiers to start out with. If you want to do headshots and 3/4 length, you don't even need seamless. How big is the area you want to shoot in? I ask because I went out and bought the AB1600 first thinking bigger is better, right? I now use the AB800 as my main and the 1600 as either fill or background light. In other words in my 16x20 space, the 1600 can be too much. I found I was using it at nearly the bottom of the power slider. I got the big 48" octobox which is nice, but you might want to think about getting umbrellas and saving up to buy a Photoflex soft or octo box with both silver and gold interiors. The warmth can really make a difference.

I'd also spend a few bucks on two different sizes of 5-in-1 reflectors. One in a large size like 42" and one smaller maybe 22" or 30". The 5-in-1's are nice because you can also use them as a diffuser or gobo. You also will want a light meter. For $139 you can get the Sekonic L308B (B&H).

Good luck and enjoy your new shooting space.

[Ross]

Brad,

Thank you for posting your sample portraits and dog :) they look good for a sub-400 setup.
-----------------------------
Scott,

Great advice. I will be using a smaller room than that. I measured and the room is about 13x22. But I will be using about 1/2 the 22 , so more like 13x11 or 13x15 .. somewhere in there.

I want to do things like Headshots, 3/4, posed shots, and then the occasional wine bottle shots for my pbase gallery and other stuff like that :)

What is seamless? --So you would recommend the 1 800 strobe, possibly even 400 from AB + their stand and whatnot setup... then i'll pull a couple reflectors off ebay the 5-1 variety... Hopefully I can keep all these costs down... I just e-mailed AB to see if they will give student discounts.. i think its like 10% through them.

Thank you for hte advice!
Ross

[Clint_Smith]

another vote for some Alien Bess. I have three AB 800s and one 400

[srwatters]

Personally, I use only Manfrotto stands. You can get a good 8' stand for $69 from B&H. I like Wescott umbrellas, but to be honest those are the only ones I've used. You might even want to start out with an AB 400 and take advantage of their trade up policy when you need more power, or use the 400 for a fill/background light and buy a bigger light when you need it.

Seamless as in seamless paper background. I bought a kit for $99 then added two 9' wide rolls in white and gray. Savage paper seems to be quite available and popular, but if your walls are white and you don't need full shots, you can get away with just the wall. Skip the hanging sheet, the wrinkles always look awful.

There ya go, all my knowledge in 5 minutes or less.

[kumori]

I thought about getting the AB-400 for my first strobe, but opted for the 800. The price difference is only about $50. When I use it for still-life/food photos, I put the power slider near the low-end, but occasionally when I want to take photos of the kids just playing around in the livingroom (not a studio setting), I will point the strobe up to bounce of the ceiling and crank up the power pretty high. I have high ceilings, and this give me a pleasant light, not much shadowing. Or, I will use the umbrella to diffuse the light. I am not sure if I would have enough power using the AB 400, but the 800 works great for this.

By the way, here is a thread on dpreview you should check out.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=12861130

[Bartman01]

http://www.alienbees.com/beginner.html

Has a B800, stand, bag, and silver/white umbrella for $359. Or would someone be better off just getting the strobe for $280 and other equipment instead?

[Ross]

Thank you all for the replies.

I have decided to go with the Alien Bee's Beginner package, but stepping it down to a AB400, not the 800. It saves some money and the examples i see from the AB400 are just as bright/good as the examples from the 800s, for what i'm going to be doing.

I actually might leave out the stand as well, and get a manfroto or the like more heavy duty one.

Thank you all for the advice!!! Placing order later today. I think i'll go with the black color :) hmm.. maybe yellow... I'm so conflicted

Scott, what color are yours? does it make any diff?

Again, thank you all for the comments and links and whatnot.

Best wishes,
Ross

[eurotrash]

Originally Posted by Ross

Scott, what color are yours? does it make any diff?

yes. pink means you are cool. trust me.