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choeschen · Oct 5, 2004, 3:45 PM

RyanH wrote:

Quote:

For an inexpensive option. Use the work lights from Home Depot. I have three of them that I got for about $25. I also just purchasedtwo umbrella's off of eBay for $16. I am going to test them out next week.

Wish me luck. :?

When you get it all setup take some shots of it, I would like to see how you set them up.

flint350 · Oct 6, 2004, 10:12 AM

Glad to hear you have a little more room than I thought. It's still small by 'studio' portrait standards, but should do fine for your informal sounding needs (for now anyway - trust me, if this starts to work out for you with decent results, the bug will bite and on to the spending and endless accessories....).

Just a few quick thoughts - you said you mostly do kids, family, extended family, etc. That sounds like several people, which will require either a wider staging or creative bunching (usually not good). Using your 10' wide section for posing, you will need to consider the even quality of the light across the group. With only one main, the traditional angled lighting will create light fall-off to one side, which is not good in groups. Straight on, reflected would probably be your best bet, if using photofloods or Home Depot floods. Again - I'd strongly advise a good book with lighting info, setup diagrams and examples to give you direct guidance. The 5' deep area will allow you to move the group forward, away from the background (avoiding harsh shadows), but with less control of photofloods/Home Depot lights, you may be moving lights around a lot until you find the best position for even, but not harsh light that doesn't spill onto the background creating a flat look.

Last, I'm not pushing Alien Bees. I do own them and love them. I only add that they are more flexible in adjusting power and light quality with less physical moving of the lights in such limited space. They will give more repeatable results and better effects, than single source hot lights. If your space allows you to get the models a decent distance from the background and still gives you a decent camera distance from the subject, you can get some pretty decent shots. If you're thinking of full length - that could add additional issues and problems, especially with the background and height/distance issue. Hope I'm not confusing you or adding more than you wanted to know.

choeschen · Oct 6, 2004, 11:30 AM

Not at all Flint, supprising I do belive I understand what you are talking about. Supprising because I have not done any studio lighting setup before

I do appreaicate your help and I am really leaning towards the Alien Bees as they do seem to give me more freedom to work. I know the hot lights can work out great too as I seen Kalypso's work but I don't know if I would work well with them yet. I am interesting in seeingthesetup RyanH is planning as this might help me but still for the price I think I will go with at least one AlienBee to start out with.

When I mean extended family I am still only talking about 1 to 2 adults and some kids. Just not going to be shooting any strangers until I get good at this and then maybe look at shooting different people.

Thanks again everyone for your advice, every little bit helps greatly.

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Oct 6, 2004, 10:12 AM	#12
flint350 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 171	Glad to hear you have a little more room than I thought. It's still small by 'studio' portrait standards, but should do fine for your informal sounding needs (for now anyway - trust me, if this starts to work out for you with decent results, the bug will bite and on to the spending and endless accessories....). Just a few quick thoughts - you said you mostly do kids, family, extended family, etc. That sounds like several people, which will require either a wider staging or creative bunching (usually not good). Using your 10' wide section for posing, you will need to consider the even quality of the light across the group. With only one main, the traditional angled lighting will create light fall-off to one side, which is not good in groups. Straight on, reflected would probably be your best bet, if using photofloods or Home Depot floods. Again - I'd strongly advise a good book with lighting info, setup diagrams and examples to give you direct guidance. The 5' deep area will allow you to move the group forward, away from the background (avoiding harsh shadows), but with less control of photofloods/Home Depot lights, you may be moving lights around a lot until you find the best position for even, but not harsh light that doesn't spill onto the background creating a flat look. Last, I'm not pushing Alien Bees. I do own them and love them. I only add that they are more flexible in adjusting power and light quality with less physical moving of the lights in such limited space. They will give more repeatable results and better effects, than single source hot lights. If your space allows you to get the models a decent distance from the background and still gives you a decent camera distance from the subject, you can get some pretty decent shots. If you're thinking of full length - that could add additional issues and problems, especially with the background and height/distance issue. Hope I'm not confusing you or adding more than you wanted to know.

Oct 6, 2004, 11:30 AM	#13
choeschen Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 332	Not at all Flint, supprising I do belive I understand what you are talking about. Supprising because I have not done any studio lighting setup before I do appreaicate your help and I am really leaning towards the Alien Bees as they do seem to give me more freedom to work. I know the hot lights can work out great too as I seen Kalypso's work but I don't know if I would work well with them yet. I am interesting in seeingthesetup RyanH is planning as this might help me but still for the price I think I will go with at least one AlienBee to start out with. When I mean extended family I am still only talking about 1 to 2 adults and some kids. Just not going to be shooting any strangers until I get good at this and then maybe look at shooting different people. Thanks again everyone for your advice, every little bit helps greatly.