Advice needed on what lighting system to get

[cambsno]

Now I seem to be getting more bookings for baby photography, I am thinking of moving up a little in terms of lighting. At the moment I just have a sb900 on camera, which if I am honest does a very good job and is easy to use. However, it is far from perfect and I often get images that are too bright in some areas and too dark in others.

I shoot in peoples houses so space is a big factor. On my last shoot the lounge was not huge - put my backdrop and stand (like a lighting stand) up against a sofa and was then almost as far back as I could so that I could use my 50mm. It would have been cramped with lighting stands... so...

- Does anyone here do this type of work AND use lights? If so how do you find it, what do you use etc...?
- Would I be better off having one speedlight on b/g and one on subject than a lighting system?
- Is £300 a realistic budget?

Space and portability is key for me here!

 

[EOS_JD]

I was going to sugget the Elinchrom Quadra kit - very small and light but your budget is woefully short.

£300 is very tight - you would barely get an on camera flash for that much!

If people's houses are too tight find another location - your home, a studio wherever.

Shoot in natural light where possible. Natural light where available is better than flash, use a reflector too if you needa little light pushed in.

Once you go down the studio strobe route you need a lot of money.

Flash kit (minimum 2 lights or 3 if you want highkey), modifiers like softboxes, brollies, light meter (almost essential), refelctor, backdrops (I have a few but mostly use a 6x7 hilite)

If you are taking money for work, money should not be an issue.

 

[HoppyUK]

You could get going with £300. Standard answer round here is a Lencarta Smartflash two head kit http://www.lencarta.com/smartflash-mains-flash/index.php or Elinchrom D-Lites or something from Interfit.

You could also work in your hot-shoe gun to give a third light.

There's no getting away from the fact that this stuff takes up a bit of space, but it's the stands and brolly/softbox that really does that.

 

[cambsno]

Thats my 6 of 1 - half a dozen on another problem! Obviously, better lighting opposed to flash would give better images (all other things being equal), BUT one of my selling points is that I do this in peoples homes. Kids are much more relaxed and parents love that, as well as the no hassle. Some kids are shy and going into a proper studio would mean some very miserable shots! BUT it comes at a price - space. Thinking about my last 6 shoots, only 1 I think had the space for more stands etc...

 

[HoppyUK]

I see your point, and it's a good one. I do much the same sort of thing is people's homes, on an occasional basis for friends. I've always managed to get by, at a pinch, to get studio lights in there but, obviously, all my friends are posh and have big houses

However, I'm doing a session next week where I want to take a more mobile approach and will be using my 'on-camera studio' which has the double advantage of being relatively compact.

That is, a Manfrotto flash bracket http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-manfrotto-mn233b-camera-flash-bracket/p11017 plus a Canon 580EX and 33in shoot-through brolly which sits just above and to the left of the lens on the end of an E-TTL cord. I usually put another 580EX either behind the subject as a hair light, or off to one side/background etc.

The light you get is certainly studio quality (get mum to hold a reflector) and you can work in up to four lights all on E-TTL if you like so no shortage of creative options. I usually use E-TTL as the big advantage for me is mobility with this set up and that is perfect for keeping up with exposure settings when the shooting distance varies from shot to shot. As it does when you're chasing kids around the garden

You could do something like that within budget with maybe a couple of slave guns.

 

[EOS_JD]

Thats my 6 of 1 - half a dozen on another problem! Obviously, better lighting opposed to flash would give better images (all other things being equal), BUT one of my selling points is that I do this in peoples homes. Kids are much more relaxed and parents love that, as well as the no hassle. Some kids are shy and going into a proper studio would mean some very miserable shots! BUT it comes at a price - space. Thinking about my last 6 shoots, only 1 I think had the space for more stands etc...

When you say a "proper studio", many of us don't have that (nor the space to set that up). So kids won't feel any different. Put a toy dowen or a sweetie and they are usually fine - really depends on the age and how you interact with them - sometimes (no matter the location) a kid may not play ball.

Setting up a small studio in a living room is pretty easy. You need a room 8-10 feet wide. (pretty much every living room I know is this wide)
Length - you can get away with 10-12 feet - again most living rooms are at least that size.

The whole area doesn't need to be clear - only a small path to a point where your subject is. If you shoot white, enlarging the canvas to make the shot look wider than it is, is actually not difficult.

In my living room, I set up the hilite against a back wall (I have to move a cabinet into the hall to do this. The wall is 10.5' wide. 2 heads shoot into the hilite across that wall. 1 steps back from the wall is a sofa and a big TV. So my 10 feet width is now cut to just over 6' (just barely enough to get the vinyl floor down) and with the sofa and a table behind me (which are also moved back) I recon I have about 10' from camera to background.

Setting up strobes of small flash isn't really much different in my book. They both need to be on stands (unless you are able to use gorilla pads in a home to mount the flashes)?

Instead of finding issues why you can't use something, think more about how you can and you'll probably find in many cases you can set up a small "studio" in a home. Couches and chairs can be used as props if they are likely to be so close that they are in a shot.

Like I say when charging people money, you should be trying to provide a professional service. By that I don't mean the way you interact but to use an on camera flash is not likely to produce good results. Acceptable to a client who may not know the difference - but that's not what you should aim for. Would be a start to at least get that flash off camera.

A little investment will go a long way.

Just remembered about this......

This is very crude. I have a larger living area than many. The furniture may look larger than scale but this is because I have other things in the way - like the back couch has an 85cm square glass very heavy coffee table against it and a rug which really limits my space..... The TV stand is wider and the couch has tables either side.

I use only one light on the subjects and as I say I've alread moved a wall unit outside my doort into the hall..... Very tight.