been given a cheap home studio

Alan_T

Alan_T

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hi, my mum played with photography a couple of years ago, spent money before doing any research and has now given up as she isn't getting proffesional studio shots from cheap budget equipment.

she's been kind enough to give me her 'studio' setup, so i was looking for a little help....

all i have is a grey pop up backdrop made by 'Photosel' with a black and white sheet/cover thing. like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PhotoSEL-...=UK_Photography_Backdrops&hash=item27bb92842e



also there is two light stands with white umbrella's. apparently they take ''e27'' bulbs?

like the light stands here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1250W-LIG...Photography_Lighting_Kits&hash=item3f0ca1ec9f

ok, so my question is, is it worth trying to use this (if so, how?) and what bulbs would you reccomend as they are missing?
 
It really depends what it is you're trying to achieve, the background is a good start and it's perfectly possible to get good results with.

The light stands and umbrellas are also useful, the lights themselves are continuous lighting and the replacement bulbs will cost almost as much as the lights cost in the first place. Continuous lighting isnt ideal for shooting people, but you haven't said what you'd like to use it for.

If you already have a couple of speedlights you could get some brackets to attach them to the stands and a radio trigger set and you're all set.

Alternatively two mains powered flash heads will complete the setup.
 
Well I've got my son and second baby due in feb, so I think that's what it's going to be used for mainly.

The triggered flash option interests me but obviously that's the most expencive route! Lol

Is it worth buying some bulbs in the meantime untill I get myself a couple of flashes?
 
Do you have a speedlight at all? Because one speedlight through an umbrella and a White reflector on the other stand will be easier to use than the continuous lights. If you can't run to cheap radio triggers a pc cord might be cheap enough. And probably cheaper than the bulbs.
 
If you have a speedlight cheap radio triggers are about the same price as a pair of bulbs.
 
I have a flash, although a cheap one, and should just have secured myself a wireless trigger in the for sale section. So it's a start!

I do want to get an ettl flash soon, so this may just speed up the transaction! Lol
 
Alan_T said:
I have a flash, although a cheap one, and should just have secured myself a wireless trigger in the for sale section. So it's a start!

I do want to get an ettl flash soon, so this may just speed up the transaction! Lol
Click to expand...

For the kind of stuff you are talking about doing, cheap manual flashes are actually the way to go.

ETTL means using cables if off camera, or expensive radio links such as radio poppers or pocket wizard flex system. You don't even want to ask the pricing on those, believe me!
And as for using cables, it ain't a great idea with kids about.

Besides, manual actually gives you far greater control
 
So this cheap flash, cant remember the brand, will do the job ok then? Will ace to try it out!

I'll post back withsome results! No doubt asking for help! Lol
 
Ok Phil made a comment about continyous lights not being good for people photography can someone tell me why. As a younger man i was involved with stage lighting and can relate to using continuous light in photography. It makes it simple to see the effects the light gives without firing a shot, What am I missing?
 
jd.smith said:
Ok Phil made a comment about continyous lights not being good for people photography can someone tell me why. As a younger man i was involved with stage lighting and can relate to using continuous light in photography. It makes it simple to see the effects the light gives without firing a shot, What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Where do you want to start?
Continuous light is all about quantity - and not a lot of that - not about quality, which it needs to be.

Continuous light works for movies and theatre mainly because it has to but also because there's a lot of space for heat dissipation and because the talent are used to coping with it. For still photography, especially in confined spaces, heat becomes a real issue, even when using fluorescent lighting, and it becomes impossible when using tungsten lighting. So does the fire risk.
Fluorescent lighting is a discontinuous spectrum light, and although white balance isn't a problem, Color Rendition Index is, and creates false colours - just as an example, reds often photograph as orange.

The there's the discomfort caused by the apparently bright light, and the dilation of the pupils that results.

Then there's the modfiers, are rather the lack of them. Fluorescent lighting is physically massive compared to flash and it just isn't possible to use it with most of the light modifiers/shapers that we use for people photography, in fact softboxes are really all that works. And even they don't work well, because it isn't possible to adjust the power by very much, if at all, which means that the only effective adjustment of power involves moving the light, which changes the quality of the light.
 
Hi Garry I understand what your saying about heat Manx remember that well but as regards power adjustment that's down to the dimmer board that controls the lights or isin the theatre. Same with modifiers stage lighting has focus ability flood barn doors to angle or bounce the light gels and gauze or aren't continuous photography lights at this level yet?
 
Dimmers work in the theatre, but we need to maintain colour temperature with still photography.

Yes, of course modifers are available - but the continuous lighting bought by beginners for still photography is bought on price. The stuff you're talking about isn't cheap.
 
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