creating a home studio

[sofaclese]

So, I'm relatively new to the idea of taking photos professionally but have been self teaching with a Canon 330D and now my girlfriends 1100D for over a year now. We both have experience as models so we have found that we both have a knack for getting decent captures in general.... so heres the question...

If I were to invest in a home studio to the level where I could take portraits/head shots professionally eventually what would I need?

What Lighting?
Lenses?
General Equipment?
etc.

what brands, makes etc?
Where can I find these things that would be of decent enough quality to take great shots but without insane expense?

Thanks in advance

Sam

 

[cowasaki]

Studio lights (2 possibly 3)
Light modifiers (soft boxes, umbrellas, dishes ???)
Backdrop (selection)
Light meter (according to some not essential but I do)
Remote (wire to studio light is minimum but wireless is better. min 2xRF603)
Studio light stands

Plus training/knowledge.......

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=2862438#post2862438

Personally I like Lencarta kit but there are lots of alternatives. They do a training day on portrait lighting which is £30 if you buy your kit from them so it might be worth looking at that.

You CAN get away with a kit costing as little as £200 from ebay with everything included but you will VERY soon outgrow this and you mentioned the word PROFESSIONAL which personally would preclude such cheapo stuff.

Have a look in our lighting section.

Where are you based?

 

[sofaclese]

So I'm not interested in getting the lowest level cheapy set up...would rather skip to a medium level where I could produce really good headshots for instance without spending out an absolute fortune. So not a Hollywood budget but say I had £1000-1500 to spend? I'm living in London at the moment by the way

 

[cowasaki]

Well this 3 head setup from Lencarta would cost £500

http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...ads-1/twin-head-mains-powered-starter-kit-505

You would need to add a backdrop & stand plus a radio remote (<£200)

For about £200 you could upgrade to ElitePro lights rather than the SmartFlash ones.

and £30 for their days training.


I would possibly talk to them about exactly what you are doing as you might want to swap to different sized soft boxes from the included ones.

 

[harryb]

Don't do what I did when I started. I got an el-cheapo backdrop stand and backdrop from eBay... I very quickly out grew it - for me it wasn't high enough, the stand may well be for you though (mine was about 2.4m).

I now use a set of Bowens stands and an extendable Manfrotto cross bar - it means it can use it for both narrow paper rolls, full width paper rolls and various Muslin backdrops.

There's a range of studio lights out there, but stick with some of the big ish names, Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta, Lastolite etc and you shouldn't struggle to get modifiers (softboxes, barns doors, grids etc) for them. Personally, I got a fairly good deal with 3 second hand Elinchrom D-Lites from eBay which included multiple softboxes, umbrellas and so on.

A good set of light stands is essential, you don't want those expensive studio lights taking a tumble.

Light meter and white balance card - not essential, but really quite useful. Quite a lot of people seem to use the Sekonic L-308S - used you can pick them up for ~£100, new they are about ~£140.

Remotes - I use Yongnuo ones from eBay - for me, I can't really justify massively expensive ones. I now use Yongnuo RF602s as they use AAAs for the recievers (my old ones used CR2s for each reciever (about £5 a battery!)), and have a decent connection with my flash heads (the cable now screws into the reciever). I haven't had a misfire yet, and they get used and abused a fair bit at events (proms, balls etc).

Backdrop wise, it depends how big the room you are using will be. You can get paper rolls in different widths. For a single person (mainly torso and head), you can used a roll ~1.35m wide. Any more people than that and you will struggle. Most studios use rolls 2.7m wide, but if it's a small room you'll struggle with that. The other option is a muslin cloth background. Again, they come in a variety of widths and lengths.