Home Studio

[yalemba]

I am considering setting up a small home studio, and have the following configuration in mind.

- 2 550-EXs
- 1 ST-E2
- 2 Westcott Umbrellas (45"-silver and white)
- One 48"-50" Silver-White Reflector (Westcott)
- Background System (Westcott # 9014)
- Seamless Paper

Can you please provide me with you comments? Thanks.

[DaveG]

Why not get a 550 and a couple of 420's? That way you can still use the set up you mentioned (with admittedly less power) but you also get three flashes instead of two.

Or you could use the 550 at the camera position as your fill. The first 420 would be your main, bounced into an umbrella, and the second 420 could be used as a background light, a hair light or whatever you chose.

I have this exact set up and although it is still new to me, I've been very pleased with my results so far.

[deztoys]

Is it the portability you are going for? If you are really looking for studio lights, I'd recommend the Alien Bees. I've been using them for a few months now and love them. for the price of a 55EX you can get a B400, stand and umbrella. I'm using a B400 and a B800 Alien bee setup with an occasional 550EX or 420EX for hair or back lighting....

All in all, I'd rather have another B400 or B800 than the 420EX. I haven't needed a flash while on the road yet, so the EX's don't really get me much.

Scott

[cubfan]

I agree with a recommendation for Alien Bees or White Lightning studio lights. They have modeling lights and a consistency that you will not get with the Canon flashes. I have both set-ups and wouldn't use the Canon units at all in a home setup.

[photography By Evangelos]

I got a really great kit form JTL I ordered it form Denny Manufacturing's Equipment division 1-800-844-5616 they are really nice people. I also order all of my backdrops from them and stand to support them. The kit is just like the photo flex starlight kits. But cost a lot less around $599.00. The kit comes with 3 Light stands,3 24X24 silver lined softboxes,3 500 W light bulbs, 3 lights heads, and a nice soft case to carry it all in. The best thing of it is what you see is what you get. I move the lights around to get the effect I want. I also use my photogenic's 1250DR lights for spot lighting the subject. I use a light meter and off I go no flash testing just position the light to and form the subject to get the effect I want so easy. This kit is great for a home studio and will not break the bank.

[RajaBhat]

Hi,
I set up a home studio about 3 years ago with 2 White Lightnings that fire into Eclipse umbrellas. They're..oh...about 4 feet across the umbrellas. I have one 600 light and one 1200. They have never let me down. You can adjust the modeling light to match the flash output so you know where the shadows are going to be. Can't do that with 550EX can you?
Raja

[MediaMagic]

photography By Evangelos wrote:
I got a really great kit form JTL I ordered it form Denny Manufacturing's Equipment division 1-800-844-5616 they are really nice people. I also order all of my backdrops from them and stand to support them. The kit is just like the photo flex starlight kits. But cost a lot less around $599.00. The kit comes with 3 Light stands,3 24X24 silver lined softboxes,3 500 W light bulbs, 3 lights heads, and a nice soft case to carry it all in. The best thing of it is what you see is what you get. I move the lights around to get the effect I want. I also use my photogenic's 1250DR lights for spot lighting the subject. I use a light meter and off I go no flash testing just position the light to and form the subject to get the effect I want so easy. This kit is great for a home studio and will not break the bank.

This setup sounds exactly like what I've been looking for. Portable, reasonably priced, and yet good enough for home studio as well. How do you link/trigger these in your setup?

[photography By Evangelos]

They are hot lights they do not need a flash trigger. Go to photoflex.com and you can read up on the hot lights.
I have the JTL lights the kit is called the Everlight kit. Adorama has the kit for $499.00 I wish I had waited I would have saved $100.00

[TKHerman]

I went through the same decision making process about eight months ago. I initially decided to go with 2 550's and the ST-E2 and some umbrellas. I was then going to add another 550 at a later date. However, as I got into it I decided the 550's were nice but not enough. I wanted something that I could accessories (like a soft box) to and something that would give me more power.

So, instead of a third 550 I bought an Alien Bee B400. I love my setup now. In fact, I'm going to start moving away from the 550's and get another (maybe two) Alien Bee's. Don't get me wrong, I really love the 550's and won't get rid of them but for studio stuff I found them to be a bit limiting.

Check out my proof section of my web site and look at "Harper" versus "Sather Kids" -- that's the difference between two 550's and two 550's plus the B400. (I also switched from a "homemade" background to a seemless paper background.) Anyway, here's my web site: http://www.level3photography.com

Hope this helps and good luck!!!

TK

[MediaMagic]

photography By Evangelos wrote:
They are hot lights they do not need a flash trigger. Go to photoflex.com and you can read up on the hot lights.
I have the JTL lights the kit is called the Everlight kit. Adorama has the kit for $499.00 I wish I had waited I would have saved $100.00


Ahhhh, now I, er, see the light.. Excellent. Thanks.

[Dans_D60]

One warning about “hot lights”. There’re hot! I too started with a photoflood setup. But after working with people in my confined home studio, I soon switched to flash lighting and slowly built up a pretty decent system. Yesterday (6 September) I spent the better part of the day shooting a 1950’s pinup theme. Nine hours under continuous lighting would have made this shoot miserable!

Image from yesterday’s shoot.
http://www.pettusphoto.com/kelly6sept.jpg


Dan
http://www.pettusphoto.com

[photography By Evangelos]

Dan how do you post you images on the fourm?

[robertwgross]

Follow the directions at the top of this page under "Help".

---Bob Gross---

[photography By Evangelos]

WHat do I do with it? I went to the help page and this is what I saw?
EMBED IMAGE:
http://blah.com/blah.gif


Now what?

[Dans_D60]

photography By Evangelos wrote:
WHat do I do with it? I went to the help page and this is what I saw?
EMBED IMAGE:
http://blah.com/blah.gif


Now what?

Evangelos:

It's very easy (assuming you can upload images to a web server and HTTP access is permitted):

1. First enter the keyword “img” in brackets to indicate an opening tag.
2. Next enter the exact HTTP URL to read the image.
3. Finish with an end tag “/img’
4. That’s it

The example below includes the text string in the image:

http://www.pettusphoto.com/example-imga.jpg


Dan

http://www.pettusphoto.com

[photography By Evangelos]

Thanks Dan I will try in soon.

[huzzar]

I went the 550 (2) and 420 (2) route myself... was fine for about a year... but the IR line of sight became an issue... Now have Alien Bees and Happy as a clam...