Advice for spending my budget, please

[iansimpson888]

Hi, been reading with interest various threads and articles relating to home studio setup and i guess it could be easy to blow a huge chunk of money getting things up and running. I've got a budget of approx £300 at the moment.

Thinking of clearing the garage space (attached to house) giving me a 3.5m wide by 7m long space. there is a window allowing natural light in on the exterior side wall.

(Sorry to list all my kit) I have a speedlight and diffuser (looks like half a plastic milk bottle), three tripods (aquired a cheap second hand one from ebay and inherited one) and obviously a camera and selection of kit and prime lenses (18-55kit, 55-200kit, 50mm, 35-70, Manual Focus Lenses: 24, 35, 50, 55, 135, 300.

I'm thinking i need a backdrop(s) regardless, guessing the wider the better. Not sure if to go for cloth or paper?

If it is to be a semi-permanent fixture is the outlay of stands really required? would a length of curtain pole (or similar) do a job?

I was thinking about a cheap (sub £300) lighting kit. Not going to mention any specific brands at this point, but if this is a suitable path, could then look into the merits of different kit.

Would 1 speedlite (and on camera flash to trigger the speedlite) be adequate to begin with or should i look at investing £100 of budget in a second-hand secondary unit? And use two of my camera tripods as lighting stands.

Was then thinking that I could buy some snoots/softbox/diffusers/reflectors for the speedlights (the lambency diffuser milk bottle thing seems to be okay so far in my limited use) how do these accessories compare (relatively speaking) to cheap studio kit. Is it worth the outlay? I guess two speedlights would always be handy, and used kit would hold value?
If the lighting acc's are poor value and don't really have any effect to improve image quality, i'd rather put the budget to one side and save up, and limit the image types that I could capture in the studio for now.

Another option is purchasing a better quality zoom lens but my current thinking is that if i get a barebones studio up and running, i'll soon discover the most useful focal length for the space available. Also i'd be able to judge based on actual images, the performance of my current lenses. Does this sound sensible?

I realise this is quite long and rambling, and I've probably missed out loads of info, but any advice would be most welcome. Having a couple of young kids means i don't want to throw good money after bad, but at the same time i would like to get the ball rolling now, and not wait for months getting a larger budget.

Thanks for any help for a new member!!

 

[DrGed]

Hi Ian,

You and I appear to be in similar positions and I think many other other people are too.

The best advice I've been given (which was on this forum, btw) so far is to "start small" and build up. Begin with what you have rather than rush out and buy loads of kit. Get competent and confident with, say, using just one off-camera flash and then experiment with modifiers and eventually get another flash, add that in and see how you get on.

I am a relative novice when it comes to photography but I have played guitar for forty years. My experience in this area leads me to think that "It's not what you've got but how you use it". Yesterday I ordered a speedlite and a couple of wireless triggers. Once I've learned how to take decent photos with that set up then I'll add a bit more kit and repeat the process.

As I say, I'm no expert but I think there's an element of common sense in this approach.

Cheers,

Ged

 

[iansimpson888]

thanks!

deep down i knew that was the most sensible solution!! walk before you run and that! but with the money burning a hole in my pocket i was tempted!!

thanks again. think i'll get the essentials (i think?), a couple of backgrounds; some modifiers for the speedlight; and some 'props'

 

[psenior1]

It sounds like you have the camera/lens side of things covered already, especially with a 50 in the bag.

Personally with a limited budget and if it is going to be a permanent fixture I'd spend the money on the bits you are less likely to want to upgrade in future - such as background stands. If you buy decent quality one's now they will last you for years. I'd get a paper roll - much more flexible that cloth.

As for lights, and mentioned above, use your existing speedlight off camera, fired via either some cheap triggers or an old fashioned cord. Depending on what you spend on stands an paper roll you may have enough to pick up a stand and softbox for your speedlight, and a decent size reflector.

That should be enough to get you going, you can always add another flash if you need to further down the line, but with a proper background, speedlight in a softbox and a reflector there is no reason why you can't create great images.

 

[Faldrax]

You may want to look at getting a light stand for the flash, rather than using a tripod - the light stand will potentially go much higher, and more specifically go above head height, allowing you to have light from above the subject.

 

[Phil V]

This

...
The best advice I've been given (which was on this forum, btw) so far is to "start small" and build up. Begin with what you have rather than rush out and buy loads of kit. Get competent and confident with, say, using just one off-camera flash and then experiment with modifiers and eventually get another flash, add that in and see how you get on.

ANd this...

You may want to look at getting a light stand for the flash, rather than using a tripod - the light stand will potentially go much higher, and more specifically go above head height, allowing you to have light from above the subject.

You don't have to buy tons of stuff, but it's important that you understand what you should expect from what you buy. Light stands are cheap, and tripods are crap alternatives, softboxes are more expensive than shoot through umbrellas, but worth every penny, reflectors and flags can be created for free or bought cheap and are invaluable.

Personally I'm not a fan of the 'home studio' approach to photography. A studio is a contrived environment, which at it's best will help you capture a great portrait, as good as you could expect from outside the studio environment. At it's worst is just boring.

Pick out your 10 favourite portraits, my guess is that less than half will have been taken in a studio.

 

[Tizer]

What state is the garage in? A new plasterboard roof and a load of heavy duty white paint on the walls wont go amiss. They are usually quite dusty places, you don't want to ruin your gear before you get going. I'd budget for a bit of decorating and the white walls/ceiling will help bounce your light around a lot better.

 

[iansimpson888]

thanks for the advice, a lot of common sense!
never considered the light stand, but seems obvious now!!
I understand the point about 'boring' studio shots, and to be honest i'm not a big fan and i feel like i'm selling my soul a little by looking to offer generic airbrushed studio family shots, but there is a market for it and needs must, i guess.

i like to think when it comes down to it, i'll try something a little different but at the very least if i give it a go it would be a useful place to experiment and play to increase my learning and understanding. for that reason it makes perfect sense not to waste a load of money up front.

thanks again.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I have a different view.
1. There is absolutely no need for studio shots to be boring
2. If you want to be creative, you need studio equipment, not hotshoe flashes.

It's perfectly possible to be creative with hotshoe flashes, but it's more difficult. Hotshoe flashes have limited power, although they can be adapted for use with the more creative light shaping tools they don't work as well with them as studio flash, they don't have modelling lamps and they take forever to recycle, except at the lowest power settings.

 

[Phil V]

I have a different view.
1. There is absolutely no need for studio shots to be boring
...

I only said 'at it's worst it's boring'

 

[Steve T]

See now, I think its boring when it's worse, which may be worse than boring, but not as boring as when it's worse than boring which I admit can be pretty boring if your bored with boring being worse than worse.

 

[iansimpson888]

See now, I think its boring when it's worse, which may be worse than boring, but not as boring as when it's worse than boring which I admit can be pretty boring if your bored with boring being worse than worse.

Ha! Thanks! And things were becoming clearer

 

[Phil V]

See now, I think its boring when it's worse, which may be worse than boring, but not as boring as when it's worse than boring which I admit can be pretty boring if your bored with boring being worse than worse.

Thanks for clearing that up