help lighting newbie

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liss

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Well ive been thinking about getting into portrait photography , the thing is i dont own a separate flash soft box etc.....

i have a D90 18-105VR and Nikkor 50mm 1.8 and a 70-300 sigma (i know i wont really need the sigma) o and a tripod.

what would i need for a basic setup, ive looked at some of your studio pictures and wish i had a garage to convert etc... all i have is a boarded loft space lol (with window ) not exactly sure on size yet . yes i know this isnt great but i could make my brother sit up there while i practice. :)

Is this all a stupid idea???
 
what are you going to shoot, and in what style?
 
Just your basic head shots White / black background nothing major fancy , was thinking of White sheet as background ...
Just looking for a little help don't know where to start really
 
Best place to start is by deciding what your budget is, otherwise you'll get people suggesting thousands of pounds worth of gear ;)

Oh and don't go for one of those "cheap" continuous light set ups from Ebay :nono:
 
hi unless you can light the white sheet your going to struggle to do a studio stlyle white b/g shoot. dont get me wrong anything is possible . but with the kit you have i would start with a black b/g as this will be easier to do . or out and about location shots. get a reflector of some kind and get some light back into there faces

now the best thing is to post some shots and get advice from them imo


md:thumbs:
 
hi unless you can light the white sheet your going to struggle to do a studio stlyle white b/g shoot. dont get me wrong anything is possible . but with the kit you have i would start with a black b/g as this will be easier to do
Click to expand...

I agree. Black or grey is much easier in a small space
Small spaces affect the range of shots you can take, and it's always easier to get decent results in a large space - but the size of the space doesn't affect the quality. If your attic is too small you can always use another room temporarily, a studio doesn't have to be permanent, by no means everyone has the luxury of a dedicated studio and my guess is that probably most people have a living room or a bedroom that becomes a studio when needed.
 
Sure I replied to this last night :s stupid I phone .
I understand that I'll need lights of some sort but the problem is I don't really know what lights I need , I think I defonatly need a reflector,
Would a black sheet / White sheet be fine as background
Thank you for your help

And budget wise cheaper the better but I don't want naff stuff , what would £200 get me
 
liss said:
Sure I replied to this last night :s stupid I phone .
I understand that I'll need lights of some sort but the problem is I don't really know what lights I need , I think I defonatly need a reflector,
Would a black sheet / White sheet be fine as background
Thank you for your help

And budget wise cheaper the better but I don't want naff stuff , what would £200 get me
Click to expand...

£200 buys you a decent support, a few backdrops, and sunlight.. which isnt so bad as some of the very best portraits were taken like this
 
just looked throught some of them links , 200 was a rough idea , what about the lencarta elite pro starter kit for 345 or I am running before I can walk with that ?
 
liss said:
just looked throught some of them links , 200 was a rough idea , what about the lencarta elite pro starter kit for 345 or I am running before I can walk with that ?
Click to expand...

Reality: It's a lot easier to get good results with good equipment, so the Lencarta kit won't be running before you can walk. I had a guy on the phone today, ordered one and told me that he's very frustrated because his existing lights give a different exposure and a different colour temperature every time. Sad story but a very common one, it's a fact of life that cheap equipment is always touted as 'ideal for beginners' when the reverse is actually true.

Not that I'm trying to encourage you to buy Lencarta - it's selling like hot cakes, only a few days of stock left and then it will be out of stock until the next delivery arrives next month - and the prices are going to have to go up when the new stock comes in because of the collapse of the £:'(
 
right well i thought i better go and check how big the loft was and its actually bigger than i thought.
its only half boarded thought so will have to sort all the boarding out before i do anything, thanks for your help and links etc ... really helped me to think

quick pic of loft
3372598957_a89c1a776f.jpg
 
I'm considering setting up a studio in my loft too, I'll be interested to see how you get on.
 
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