Help I need efficient but cheap lighting/materials

[priddyyungphotographer]

Hi,

I am planning to do a photo shoot at a large studio. The studio has nothing set up and I would have to bring everything related to the taking the photos. These photos are for ebay...but im selling vintage clothing and Im using models and I just want the pictures to come out clear. I have an Olympus E410 SLR, But (as you can probably tell) I am an amateur photographer. I have been doing extensive research on what I need, strobes/monolights, triggers/receivers, octoboxes/softboxes, etc. Not only can I not afford all those things but Im not even sure I would know how to use it properly. I have photographed using these materials before...but mostly on non-moving objects never on people. I guess my question is what do I need to take clear pictures...im not looking for any special effects, I just want clear, natural pictures. Is there anyway do this without using all the extra equipment. I have about $500 dollars that I can invest. Is it possible to get the pictures I want with this budget?

[vincent_su]

Welcome to the forum.
It looks like you won't get much response on this one as you rented a studio and have no lighting equipments for shooting clothing with models.
My advise is to rent a studio with lightings. All you need is to buy some triggers.
Or, you may try to rent the lighting equipments.
My best advise for this task is to hire a photographer with his/her own studio since you are not even sure how to deal with the lighting setup.
Good luck.

[shannyD]

lighting is so crucial!

anyway.. there is a photographer on here.. i forget his name on here.. but his name on flickr it rapidflop. and he does excellent lighting.. but it seems to me.. even with the main lighting he does have.. he uses a ringlight as well to fill in the shadows, so you dont have dark shadows on the person, and on the clothing. ( used as fill light)

but i think this will be such a huge challenge.

if you want to do something easy.. get a off camera flash, get some cheap wireless triggers, and shoot through an umbrella.. i have seen some really excellent results with that. and it gives it kind of an edgy look.. or you can get a really nice classic feeling.. just depending on your settings, and processing.

but like vincent said.. i would rent a studio with lights, but also read up on how to photofraph people in those kinds of lighting situations. you dont want your sunjects looking flat, or even too broad. lighting is such a tricky thing. and im trying to learn it as well. and it whoops me arse all the time.

shannon

[CanIYes]

I'm not experienced in a studio but have shot a lot of photos AND tried my hand at flash. My advice, FWIW, is to avoid flash based on what you said.

Your time is at a premium. If you can get enough 'basic' lighting in the
studio or take a few basic lights , 2 at 45 degrees to the subject, you
should be OK.

Use the smallest aperature , that means a longer exposure, and ask your
models to stand still. Lastly simply make sure your white balance is
set for the lighting. I suspect that AUTO might work OK.

The worst case is that you might have to batch fix your white balance. But
they'll all be the same if there's an error.


You'll NEED a tripod. Even if you do closeups at least set one leg of the
tripod on the ground as you hold the camera to shoot.

If your exposure is 1/15th (unlikely) or 1/30th of a second you should be OK
for ebay photos if you use the tripod 1 leg on the ground for the shots
where you're moving the camera around a lot for angled shots.

If you can avoid angled shots and simply shoot 3 good shots, ask the model
to rotate, then you should be really fine.

That's my opinion based on experience.


Avoid flash. It will likely cause hot spots, highly variable exposures that might
require fixing later, and will slow you down.

Maybe you're more professional than I've led you towards. If so then please
accept my apology. I sold on ebay for 10 years and did very well in the
presentations.

Shooting with a stable camera and available light (trying though to get
the levels up as high as possible) gave me the best shots I could hope for.


Last tip. you might want to drag into the studio some kind of backdrop.


Oh and don't forget to take a white sheet for SETTING your white balance.

You'll want to shoot it under available light. That should give you

1. good idea of exposure time (using small aperature)
2. seeing if auto gives you good whiteness .. if the white is white then you're
going to be close to great.

PS. Do NOT use paper from a printer. In fact I've had my best luck for
white balance checking when using a white colored item that also had
colors around it. Like a large colored magazine ad with white. and skin tones.
This way you can check the white, to be white, and skin tones .. if they
look good or close to right then other colors will come out well enough.

Sorry I didn't give you a better answer. IT's hard to throw out an answer
when it's 15 minutes of time on a forum.

Andre