My First Dat In My DIY Studio.

[smudge]

Thanks to reading all posts by forum members, relating to lighting, I managed to take my first ever photos using studio lights today... wait before you cheer, you haven't seen em yet. No seriously It took me all day, trial and error...and error and error, I really need to get a meter tomorrow. I haven't sorted a backdrop yet, so garage door chic is the order of the day.

Started with me...and then my long suffering son agreed to fool about for about three minutes, if he could have his hood up. I can see that finding willing models is going to be the hard bit.

Oh well what do you think folks.

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL581/2631269/5244917/96851760.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL581/2631269/5244917/96876694.jpg

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL581/2631269/5244917/96876684.jpg

[skade]

Crazy kid! Mine are all the same.. they hate my camera with a passion lol I like those shots tho.. thats one intense stare you have there!

[BlueTit]

I like them, great kid. Oh and nice lighting :-) I think anyway.

[smudge]

Crazy kid! Mine are all the same.. they hate my camera with a passion lol I like those shots tho.. thats one intense stare you have there!

LOL, I have small eyes, I was trying to make sure you could see them. I definitely need to relax in front...tell you what I won't go round that side anymore.

[ayotnoms]

Looks good for the most part. Bit of a shadow on your right; from the shoulder down but doesn't distract from the photo. That said, it would look better if the lighting was as even as it appears on your left side.

As for the youngster...still laughing. A real ham. :-) :-)

[Lamplight]

I think you did quite well! The one of you has a bit of a greenish tint, but in this case I feel it works perfectly. 8) BTW, I'm pretty certain you should be a detective in some sort Criminal Investigation television show. :lol:

[Halliday]

Those kid shots are great. I love the one with his tongue out and hood pulled out.

[T.O.]

The kid is funny,

your first portrait is an excellent photo to my eyes,

thanx for sharing,
T.O.

[smudge]

Thanks for all your replies.

Ayotnoms. There is more shadow there than I realised, I didn't want to have it sterile and did want some darker areas, but I think your right the shadow on my right is off putting.

Lamplight. I can't tell if its a green tint, but your right its definitely a tint of some sort, I did this in P.S, levels. I adjusted the levels correctly, but didn't like the effect, so I slid out the blue highlights, I think, until I liked the way it looked.

Halliday, T.O, thanks for your encouragement. Just off out to buy a meter, that should speed up the whole process a little.

[bikerider]

the door behind you is in focus so you have probably picked up some coloration in a cold tone from that, the kid's shots don't seem affected as the door is more washed out, less in focus and the colours are warmer. Great shots though!

[mgbeach]

I think the self-portrait is right on. The tones are very pleasing. Really the only thing is that the diagonal brace on the door behind you looks like it's stabbing you in the neck. It really doesn't detract much at all though because the line is continued with your arm on the other side. What types of strobes did you end up going with for your home studio? I'm looking to make the plunge myself.

[freddycr]

THAT KID IS GREAT !!!!!
Light 's not bad either

I'm thinking of putting together an ersazt studio too. What lights did you get, how much...can you give me some advice?

Regards

[smudge]

Thanks guys. I first researched the different types available and their limitations/benefits and decided to go with one brand; Bowens.
A friend of mine suggested that I should buy the most powerful lights I could afford, because you can always turn them down, but if you need more juice, its there. So I looked on ebay and found two older style Bowens 800 monolights for £150. These would do for background etc. Then I found a Bowens 500 esprit two head kit, for £600, in as new condition. They retail for £800. The kit includes stands a softbox and a brollie with various power and sinc leads. Thats it ready to rock.The old 800's don't have a built in photo cell, so I plugged my sinc lead into the first 800 and bought a photo cell for the second, the newer 500's have the sensor built in. Really I have way too many light for such a small space, I could have settled for just the 500 two head kit, but the 800's were a bargain. Oh and today I invested in a Seconik flash master 358 light meter, that'll be another day locked in the garage trying to figure that out. Without the flash meter there was a lot of wasted time in adjusting everything through the histogram, which meant as soon as I wanted to turn off lights and try something moody, I had to take another 10 shots to get the exposure right.

I can tell you one thing for sure, you'll love it. Its opened up a whole new dimension for me. Its also improved my knowledge of exposure and metering massively.