Setting Up 1st Home Studio - Am I ready to shoot?

[jefftaz]

Hi Everyone,

I am setting up my first home studio and am trying to make sure I have a good plan before my lighting equipment arrives. I know as soon as it arrives at the door I will want to start shooting. My shipment from Alien Bee is to arrive on July the 3rd, so I will be able to set up for a 4th of July shoot!

Below is a list of the equipment I will be shooting with, a quick “How To” that I put together by reading through numerous threads here on the forum and lastly a couple of lighting ideas.

I would really appreciate it if you all would let me know if I am missing any important equipment, have flaws in my “How To”, or can share any other lighting ideas that I can try. Thanks in advance.


Equipment

Room Size
15 feet wide, 22 feet deep, 8ft ceilings

Camera
Canon Rebel XT

Lenses
Canon 10-22 f3.5-4.5, Canon 50 f1.4, Canon 85 f1.8, Canon 70-200L f4

Lighting
1 Alien Bee 800 (AB800)
1 Alien Bee Ring Flash (ABR800)
1 Alien Bee Large Foldable Octobox
1 52 inch moonlight for ABR800 (wont arrive till after July 16th)
1 Alien bee wireless transmitter
1 Alien bee wireless receiver
2 heavy duty light stands
1 background light stand
12 various colored gels from Ebay

Light Meter
Sekonic L-358

Reflectors
2 Photoflex 52 inch reflectors (both white/soft gold)
2 Photoflex light stands with reflector holders

Background System
Amvona AS-014 Background frame
1 roll of Superior Seamless 107"x36' Artic White
1 roll of Superior Seamless 107"x36' Neutral Grey
2 two inch clamps to hold paper in place

Tripod
Bogen 3021BPRO Tripod Legs (Black) with 488RC2 Midi Ballhead (RC2 Quick Release)

Photoshop CS
Running on a Dell with 27 inch LCD monitor calibrated with Pantone Huey Pro

Quick “How To”

Put Camera into Manual Mode

Set the ISO on both the camera and the meter to 100

Set the Camera and the Meter to 1/3 stop readings.
Camera = C.Fn-6, 0 = 1/3-stop
Meter = Set DIPs to 1 =off, 2=off, 3=on, 4=on

Set meter to Auto-reset Cordless Flash mode.
Hold down Mode button and turn Jog Wheel to correct setting.

Use the Shutter Priority on the Sekonic L-358 light meter
Max Sync Speed = 1/200 on a Rebel XT so...
Set the shutter speed on both the camera and the meter to 1/125

Push the measure button on the meter - the flash symbol will blink.
Fire the flash with the AB wireless transmitter within 90 secs.

Read the given f-stop value from the meter and dial this into the camera.
If you need a larger f-stop decrease the power on the strobe.
If you need a smaller f-stop increase the power on the strobe.

On the meter with Lumisphere raised = people
On the meter with Lumisphere lowered = paper (flat surfaces)

Lighting Ideas

ABR800 as key on its own
ABR800 as key with AB800 to light background
ABR800 as key with AB800 as fill

AB800 as key with reflector as fill and ABR800 to light back ground
AB800 as Key with ABR as fill

[kuanyu]

sounds like you've got everything covered to me

[malskat]

+1 Sounds like you have it all covered...
But where's the model? ;)

[jefftaz]

+1 Sounds like you have it all covered...
But where's the model? ;)

Well I have my wife and our 2 dogs as my models :D.

[jefftaz]

I do have a question for you experts - why is it important to set both the camera and meter to 1/3 stop adjustments? Does 1/2 stop adjustments not give enough control?

[rabidcow]

Digital highlight blowout (unrecoverable) occurs within a tolerance of only 2/10 of a stop. 1/3 allows you to ability to get very close.

[bieber]

So, wait, why does your meter need to know your shutter speed? That doesn't have anything to do with flash exposure...

[jefftaz]

Digital highlight blowout (unrecoverable) occurs within a tolerance of only 2/10 of a stop. 1/3 allows you to ability to get very close.

Thanks for the response.

[roebuck]

why is it important to set both the camera and meter to 1/3 stop adjustments? Does 1/2 stop adjustments not give enough control?

If the Canon Rebel XT is like the the 300D you will find that the camera aperture works in 1/3 f stop increments (check the manual to be sure) and if you set the meter to the same then the you will avoid a reading that camera will not be able to be set too.

Just my 2c worth

Michael

[gcobb]

I'd get a small white umbrella to use as a diffuser. I didn't see any umbrellas listed so 8' may be enough height. You probably don't need it, but it would give you some ideas.

I saw the best thread on light positioning on modelmayhem.com that I've ever seen anywhere. This was about a week ago. You may want to check it out.

[StaticThought]

Is this the one you mention gcobb:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/p.php?thread_id=96872

Hope linking to other forums is okay if not then please remove and accept my apologies.

[InspiredGraphix]

So, wait, why does your meter need to know your shutter speed? That doesn't have anything to do with flash exposure...

In case of ambient lighting.

The better flash meters even give you a ratio of ambient to flash.

Rob

[Kadath]

Will check that link later!

[jefftaz]

Wow this studio lighting is fun stuff. Still learning to get proper exposures but the Sekonic L-358 sure comes in handy! I am doing a shoot with my wife and our 2 dogs. My wife (14 weeks pregnant) is a great model but our 2 dogs are a handful. I will try to post some pictures here soon.

[jefftaz]

Here is one that I took with the Alien Bee Ring Flash and used the AB800 with an umbrella to try and whiten the background.

[jefftaz]

Here are a few more from tonight's shoot.

[jefftaz]

Would some of you who shoot with strobes provide some feedback for me? I tried to do the basics that I have learned here on the forum. I tried to keep about 6 feet from the model and the background. I set ISO to 100 and the Shutter Speed to 125. I tried to keep the Aperture somewhere between f/8-f/11 (is that ok?). I did notice that I was able to get the background whiter on some shots compared to others. When shooting with the Softbox I tried to keep it a bit higher than the model and pointed slightly down.

This is the first time working with strobes and I did find it challenging. One thing that I noticed it that the Sekonic L-358 would read an Aperture that was a bit hot when dialed into my Rebel XT. It seemed like the whites were a bit blown. I would then manually adjust the Aperture a stop or two to compensate.

All pictures were taken with a 2 light set-up.

Any feedback would be appreciated.