Feedback on DIY studio

[EggWhiteS]

I have been trying to setup a little home studio using stuff I have around the house to get photo's of my son.

I currently have a handing work light with a 100W incandescent bulb to my left of my son about 7 feet away, there is a row of halogen pot lights about 7 feet above him, and then I have my 580EXii pointed at him with its built in diffuser.

Let me know what you think and if there are any inexpensive solutions to help. I am just starting off and right now don't have much money to work with.

[gonzogolf]

mixing continuous and flash is only going to give you bad results. There is a significant color difference between the two. Its time to pick up a second inexpensive flash to complement your speedlight along with a set of triggers. Look at the YN 460II flash for around $50 or so, with the triggers costing another $30 or so ebay.

[EggWhiteS]

Thanks for the tip. I assume with the flash you suggested it won't work as a slave to the 580EXii and I still would need the triggers you mentioned, correct?

Also, would you be able to tell me what difference I would expect with the sample I provided? I am just wondering if I would see a huge difference right away to justify spending the money now.

[gonzogolf]

Thanks for the tip. I assume with the flash you suggested it won't work as a slave to the 580EXii and I still would need the triggers you mentioned, correct?

Also, would you be able to tell me what difference I would expect with the sample I provided? I am just wondering if I would see a huge difference right away to justify spending the money now.
You could trigger it optically with the flash from the 580exII as long as you arent using ettl, preflash would set it off.

As for the difference, you wouldnt have the conflicting white balance problems. If you get some umbrellas you would soften the shadows considerably. Also, you would gain some control over your lights. Bouncing and direct light are fine, but bouncing fills the room with light so you get bland light, and ceiling bounce leaves eye socket shadows.

[suecassidy]

the baby is sitting too close to the background as well.

[EggWhiteS]

What is a good distance to be from the background? In the tutorials I have read on portrait they didn't mention that.

[gonzogolf]

What is a good distance to be from the background? In the tutorials I have read on portrait they didn't mention that.


Enough that the shadows from the lights dont fall on the backdrop. That distance varies by height of the subject. At least a couple of feet.

[EggWhiteS]

That's good to know. I will see what I can do. I don't know if the backdrop I have will allow for that. If I bring my son out further I will probably have to go wider, and if I go much wider you will probably see the edges.

But even if it doesn't work at least I will know for next time to make sure to get something wider. I was trying to find some inexpensive king size bed sheets but no where around me had any so I got this roll of paper from Henry's which is only about 5 feet wide.

[gonzogolf]

That's good to know. I will see what I can do. I don't know if the backdrop I have will allow for that. If I bring my son out further I will probably have to go wider, and if I go much wider you will probably see the edges.

But even if it doesn't work at least I will know for next time to make sure to get something wider. I was trying to find some inexpensive king size bed sheets but no where around me had any so I got this roll of paper from Henry's which is only about 5 feet wide.
If you have a JoAnns fabric store near you they sell muslin in white and several other colors and it works out to be cheaper than king sized sheets. They often have half off coupons as well.

[suecassidy]

That shot should have been framed vertically anyway. That way you'd lose all that dead horizontal space on the left and the right side of your little dude.

[EggWhiteS]

I had looked into muslin, but the only place in the area (henry's) that had it in stock that I knew of had it for over $200, but online they have it for much less. I just didn't have time since my sons birthday was so close. Also, I am in Toronto Canada, and it looks like JoAnna's is only in the US. But thanks for the tip.

Ya, I took some vertical and some horizontal to see how they would turn out. I just picked this one since the lighting looked better. I was playing around with a bunch of stuff and this was the combo I got to look best. If I bounced the flash off the ceiling the ISO went up to 1600 and would sometimes get a reddish look.

[bobbyz]

I am a studio strobe guy but I think a shot like this can be done without any muslin backgrounds (I hate cheap ones as they wrinkle so much and you won't avoid those wrinkles unless you nuke your bg but then you got flare and other problems) or even flash. If you got hard wood floors you can put him or floor with a wall in the back ground. Use ambient light from the window and you set to go.

I will dig an example shot if you want.

[EggWhiteS]

Right now the only room I have to work with is in the basement so lighting has to be artificial. I do have tons of candid shots around the house using mostly natural light, but I was wanting to try to create something studio like. Also one of the reason we "needed" some sort of backdrop was so it would be easier to clean up the cake after, lol.

If you could dig up a couple of photos that would be great, it may give me some ideas.

[bobbyz]

I would then go with seemless paper. For kid that age you can get by with 53" roll. Add plexiglass on top or cheaper tile board from home depot. That will be easier for the clean up. You can use just the paper and then tear it off.

Lighting wise you will need flash/strobes etc. then.

[bobbyz]

Here is one using ambient only coming in from west facing window. Since back wall was closer to him and I was shooting from far, the fall off between him and the bg is not much.

http://www.bobbyzphotography.com/img/v1/p1030421353-5.jpg

[bobbyz]

I just saw this thread by Kristy.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=866098

[EggWhiteS]

Thanks, I see what you mean now. If you don't mind, could you tell me what lens and aperture you used?

[EggWhiteS]

I just saw this thread by Kristy.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=866098

Thanks, great thread. I didn't find that one when I had searched.

[bobbyz]

Thanks, I see what you mean now. If you don't mind, could you tell me what lens and aperture you used?

In this case I use my 85mm f1.8 around f2 or f2.2 if I am not mistaken. The exif information should is present in the shot.

[john stakes]

Wow great advice in here. Honestly I don't know much else to add. Definately second that you shouldn't bother trying to mix those lights. You can probably get better results just using the 580. A wireless setup will also give you better results.

Nice capture bobbyz.

[EggWhiteS]

Wow great advice in here. Honestly I don't know much else to add. Definately second that you shouldn't bother trying to mix those lights. You can probably get better results just using the 580. A wireless setup will also give you better results.

Nice capture bobbyz.

Yes, I really appreciate all the input. I will probably have to move this from in the basement to have it work since right now I just don't have money for any extra flashes, and if I had to pick I would rather use my money to get a 50mm 1.8 lens first. If I can rearrange some stuff in an extra room I may have enough space to work with and then have some natural light to help out.