Home studio on a budget

[CaveDweller]

Hey, basically I'm looking into making a small home studio on a budget. I have been looking on Ebay and Amazon at kits. After reading many reviews about dodgy backdrops a lot of people have said to spend a bit extra and get one with a backdrop made of muslin fabric (whatever that is).

I'm not after a full on professional setup worth ££££'s, just something for my own personal use and experimentation as I have never done any sort of studio photography before,. I will mainly be taking pictures of mine and my neighbors kids and also my two collies. I'm only looking to spend around £100-120 so that if I don't like it it's not a massive hole in my pocket.

The room I will be using is completely empty and it measures 3x4m with a lot of natural light (small I know but hopefully I can sort something out). This kit I was looking at the bulbs are not a very high wattage, but there are 3 of them and the room isn't that big so I thought it might be ok for my room and budget? It has the muslin backdrop others were on about.

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170922716081?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Edit: Also, I wouldn't be taking pictures of full body shots of multiple people, just upper body and portraits.

There are other kits available with higher wattage bulbs but it only comes with 2 of them instead of 3

 

[higgeh]

im no expert myself but to start I just bought a cheap pop up background and a flash stand with an umbrella. works nice for just head shots at the moment

 

[stupar]

What you have linked to is a continuous light system.
Given your subject matter (kids/animals which don't always stay still) I think you would be better with a flash system instead (guns or strobes).

With the budget you have I think you may be better with the following

1 x flashgun (e.g. Yongnuo 560)
1 x set of triggers to fire flashgun
1 x diffuser (softbox/octabox/shoot through brolly etc)
1 x reflector
1 x backdrop stand with cloth/popup background

I'm not saying continuous light is bad but I think flash is easier to work with. I'm sure others on here will say similar.
Also it is easier to work with and understand a 1 light setup which can be used in a multitude of ways. Then as your experience grows you can add more lights as you see fit.

I'm new to home studio myself but the advice I have given above is taken from reading countless threads on TP re a similar topic to yours.

Hope this helps.

 

[HoppyUK]

As Stuart says.

The problems with that kit are a) low brightness, that will be overwhelmed by the daylight, and b) zero control of the light - it will just go everywhere. It's hard to get muslin to show without folds and creases - paper or vinyl is better.

 

[CaveDweller]

Cheers. I've looked into it and I'm going with what you have all said. I'm going to order a Yonguo 560iii with some 603 triggers, along with everything else mentioned. I can use it for different stuff so it makes sense. With that kit I linked it is very limited.

Thanks for the advice

 

[jonneymendoza]

What is inside your camera bag at the moment? Do you already have radio triggers? flashes? a camera ?

Are the walls in your empty room painted white or colour?

You dont need a backdrop if your wall is clean already.

You can get a pair of lightstands from amazon uk for £20. a decent 30 inch unbrella for something like £20 and the rest can be spent on whatever is missing from your setup.

This is what you need for a very basic studio setup.

1x flash of some sort. Long ETTL cord or a camera which has a popup flash(for optical usage if the flash can be set to master) one lightstand with an unbrella and finally a unbrella flash hot shoe adapter.

That is all that is needed to get started. You can add more flashes, ligthstands, softboxes, reflectors etc later if you enjoy it

 

[DrGed]

Cheers. I've looked into it and I'm going with what you have all said. I'm going to order a Yonguo 560iii with some 603 triggers, along with everything else mentioned. I can use it for different stuff so it makes sense. With that kit I linked it is very limited.

Thanks for the advice

I experimented with continuous lighting and softboxes and the results were, at best, underwhelming. I went down the Yongnuo and radio triggers route and the results are a million times better.