Lighting for Infant/Mother Pictures

[kensmith]

So far, I have done several team pictures for local teams and things have been going great. Without any advertising, I have been offered several jobs.

All pictures have been outside using mostly natural lighting. Now I have an offer to take pictures once a week at a local doctors office of newborns and their mothers. The doctor will build a studio and purchase all the lighting, backdrops, props. etc. and I am welcome to use them outside the office as well.

So my question is if you were going to provide a list of what equipment you believe would provide some great pictures, what list of equipment (including backdrops) would you create?

[tim]

Seamless white background with stand.
Five AB800 strobes - main light, fill, two on background, one on a boom for hair light (or scalp light for babies).
Light stands - two main, two background, one boom
Gels to color the background where required.
Two large soft boxes
One set of grids (for hair light)

Or get the white seamless, one strobe, one soft box, one stand, and one reflector. Or cheaper still use a white wall, use a cheap portable shoe mount flash and a silver umbrella.

[sweetypie925]

What a great opportunity that you've come across. I would love to get into something like that. Is the doctor going to take a certain percent of the profit? I second what the above poster wrote. Seems like a nice setup.

[kensmith]

He is not taking any profits. It is a gift he is providing to each of his patients. The deal is that each mother/child is given two free 5x7 and he will pay for the processing.

If the families want anything additional, then I receive the profits. But the real benefits I see is first the equipment at no charge. I think though the biggest benefit is really getting my work known by word of mouth.

He is the most popular OB/GYN in this area and therefore a large percentage of mothers will end up in his office and therefore in my studio. A couple of free pictures to really establish my business is a great opportunity.

The other part is the most known photographer in town was arrested for vandalizing another studio's business. There is now several people that are searching for a new photographer for their pictures. So now is the time to really hit hard and get known.

Thanks for the advice. I will take a look at the list.

[tim]

My kit will set you back $3K - $4K... pretty steep for him setting you up. You can do fine with one strobe and a soft box, but you can do better with two. A background is nice with no white wall.

[tmonatr]

If it were me, I would get an AB800 set-up with their 47" octabox. $465.00 Then get a collapsible white background from B&H 8x16 with train $130.00.
$600.00 for the whole thing. Should do a very good job and not cost him alot. Tim's set-up would be better, but I wouldn't be comfortable spending that much of someone else's $$ when they would get no profit from it.

[kensmith]

The Doctor has asked me to present a list of equipment. I know that he is leaning towards buying from ebay (he loves ebay and buys everything including his motorcycles from ebay).

Personally, I feel more comfortable with the Alien Bees. I know I have support if I need it. But here are a couple of options and see what others think.

This is what Alien Bees recommended:

Thanks for your interest in our AlienBees products! For what you'll be doing I would suggest going with a one light set up with a softbox because that will give you really nice soft pictures and it won't take up too much room. So I would suggest going with one B400 ($224.95), one LS3900 13ft heavy duty stand ($69.95 must have the heavy duty to support the weight of the softbox), a FSB2436 24"x36" softbox ($119.95), and a set of Radio Flash Triggers ($39.95 each; one transmitter and one receiver). Then later on if you move into a larger area or just want to add a back light then you can just get another B400. Here is a quote I put together for you. It doesn't include shipping since I didn't have your zip code. I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions just let me know. Thanks and have a great week!



I like the suggestion except I would want to add a fill light and backlighting.



Here is an option I found on ebay but I am leery. I have read positive and negative reports on this site which leaves me more confused. Here is one option:




http://cgi.ebay.com/PRO-4-LIGHT-STROBE-FLASH-620-W-S-MUSLINS-SUPPORT-NEW_W0QQitemZ200163624291QQihZ010QQcategoryZ30087Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



and another...



http://cgi.ebay.com/900ws-Strobe-Monolight-Packages-with-Carry-Soft-Case_W0QQitemZ120175237963QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30087 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



I am still open to other suggestions, but I need to get something together as soon as possible. I searched on ebay for AlienBees but did not find much.



Thank you for any help anyone can offer!

[kensmith]

I also found this setup... anyone have any opinions?

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/portrait_flash_studio_kit_500.htm

Thank you.

[tim]

Go with the Alien Bees, price is similar and the quality's great.

[kensmith]

I am thinking of presenting two packages... am I missing anything or does this look right for a studio:

Bare Bones Starting Package:

1 AB Giant Softbox Light System (wireless remote and transmitter)
563.68 (includes shipping)
1 Savage System (53” Wide) + Black Paper
134.90 + shipping (Amazon)
1 Savage White Paper 53” x 12 yards
24.95 + shipping (Amazon)

This is an economical package: Approx: $723.53 + shipping



Basic Studio Package:

1 AB 3 giant softboxes+ 1 backlight with gels and carrying cases.
$1885.44 (include shipping)
1 Pocket Wizard Plus II
$160.00 (eBay)
1 Three roll Savage System (9-12’ wide)
$219.95 + shipping (BHPHOTOVIDEO.COM)
1 Savage Black Paper (107” x 12 yds)
$39.95 + shipping
1 Savage White Paper (107” x 12 yds)
$39.95 + shipping

This is a Basic Studio package: $2,345.29 + shipping

[kensmith]

This is what is included in the second AB package:


2 B400 AlienBees B400
2 B800 AlienBees B800
4 AlienBees Carrying Bags
1 Foldable Large Octabox (47") with attached speedring
1 Foldable Giant Softbox (30"x60") speedring attached
1 Four Honeycomb Grids
1 Four-Channel Wired Remote
1 Backlight Stand
1 10-foot General Purpose Stand
2 13-foot Heavy Duty Stand
1 Stand Carrying Bag1 Giant Softbox (with LGSR)

[emh01]

This was with a tungsten light and medium softbox. Black= felt from the fabric store.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i227/minmin702/IMG_8889_bw2_R.jpg

This was with 1 B800 and giant foldable softbox. White= felt from the fabric store. Both images were taken in tiny living rooms. With the 300D and Tamron 28-75mm.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i227/minmin702/retired/IMG_8511_bw.jpg

[LightUser]

Just make it simple...a good backdrop and a Gary Fong Lightsphere II cloud for soft wrap around light...keep it simple..you will take up lots of time setting everything up, snapping and then taking everything down..you will get tired of all that real fast.