Setting Up a Small In-Home Studio on a Large Budget

[snedigity]

This is the first tme I hae looked at this thread. It is really need to see how your studio has grown. Awesome stuff Dwight.

[DwightMcCann]

Originally Posted by snedigity

This is the first tme I hae looked at this thread. It is really need to see how your studio has grown. Awesome stuff Dwight.

Well, you know where I'm going. We'll see what unwinds next week, although I have boxing and a VIP event.

[snedigity]

I am a phone call away if you need help

[DwightMcCann]

B&H order arrived. I will be off to Home Depot sometime by weekend to get PVC for cross pipes and some rings to latch the drapes to the poles. I've been doing a bunch of reading on lighting and will be watching some DVDs from Frank Doorhof and others. I'm coming down the home stretch on the studio ... then I'll have to learn what I am doing with no excuses.

[Murphy66]

Dwight,

I am REALLY coming into this conversation in the middle so please excuse me if this has already been said.

My suggestion to you is to do nothing.

USE the room first. Discover what the strong points and weak points are and then modify from there. I fear that you'll waste money on bells and whistles that you could live without for your entire career.

My studio is 12 x 24. It's a small warehouse with unfinished walls. I thumb tacked black fabric on the walls and screwed in some eye hooks to hang soft boxes from. Otherwise the space is left open so I can move what I need where I need it for each shoot.

Get your background paper up, move your model 6-8 feet in front and start experimenting!

The people who sell lights and camera stuff are trying to convince every photographer that they NEED gear to make strong images. Wrong. What you need is a strong concept of how to manage light and then you can do it with camera flashes and cereal boxes.

It would break my heart to hear that you tricked out your studio only to find that you boxed yourself into a corner and can only use the space for the same shots over and over again. Engage that considerable mind of yours and spend money after you've made one hundred lighting mistakes first!

Best of luck, I'll help any way I can.

Bob

[DwightMcCann]

Bob, No Sweat ... I have used the room for two years although not often ... I'm not doing anything because anyone else told me to ... I am doing it all only for fun. My casino work subsidizes everything else I do. I understand everything you are saying but everything in this room is portable and usable in other ways. But I cannot limit the light at present and think I need the drapes ... which I will test this weekend, I hope.

[snedigity]

Dwight, I will be more then happy to use your studio for you. I will see you Satuday

[DwightMcCann]

Originally Posted by snedigity

Dwight, I will be more then happy to use your studio for you. I will see you Satuday

Oh, good ... we'll find out if I need stronger poles for the drapes and whether the rings I bought to go through the grommets in the drapes and around the poles are a good size. I can go back to Home Depot while you shoot if we need something.

[DwightMcCann]

Back again, sigh ... the "split rings" I bought to attach the drapes to the PVC turned out to only look split ... so now I need smaller actually split rings to attach to the larger not split rings, which are the perfect size, and grommets in the drapes. What with the potential Tucson trip, copyright infringement pursuit, need to spend money in this year's budget, day job, casino work, other clients, family and Christmas I can't see to get one nostril above the waterline. Updates when I got 'em.

[DwightMcCann]

Here I am again. I got some rings that work! But I need to replace the sagging PVC with metal pipes, hopefully this weekend. The Tucson trip fell through but I have new work requiring my studio lighting at the casino ... never a dull moment. I am thinking of starting up my blog again.

[snedigity]

I think that would be cool if you started a blog. You have so much going on it is sometimes hard to keep up with.

[charlesteton]

Have you tried using the lovely daylight that comes through your two windows?

[DwightMcCann]

Originally Posted by charlesteton

Have you tried using the lovely daylight that comes through your two windows?

Welcome to POTN! Once for a self portrait a long while back. I like window light portraits and have done a few in a previous house. I don't really have any good south facing windows in my current house, nice as it is. The one in the studio is pretty blocked up by an equipment rack. The west facing one might be usable but it is generally covered by my backdrop equipment. But in any case, that's not what I am looking at just at this time. I expect that rather than continuing to add to this thread too much more I will be making entries to my blog to serve a wider audience.

[Lunajen]

I know you want Bowens or have them but what about Wescott Spiderlites. You can use halogens, flourescents ,and slave strobes in the TD3 or TD5. I use the TD5 on a regualr basis and it is wonderfula dn easy to set up. Here are two shots where i used just one TD5 and a 36x48 inch softbox.

Now just so you know, this was first time using this particular light for people..I use it mostly for product work. And this was my first baby portrait session as well.

1.

2.


And I know that they have what the company calls the apollo(inverted umbrella) and halo that are softboxes that can fit over any exsisting light that you might have.
Thought that this might help...


And for backdrops, I get some great muslins from Amvona on Ebay. Only trick is winning them..

[DwightMcCann]

Yes, I have about $10K of Bowens now although I am not very pleased with their repair service in the USA. OTOH, they are very good lights when they work. OTOH, they seem to have a problem with Pocket Wizards, sigh.