Broke out the portable studio ...

Broke out my portable studio this weekend and set up shop in a friend's house somewhere around 11PM. How I got any children to pose is beyond me:

My 3 year old son and our friend's daughter:

wow, these are great. look like in #1 she asked him to take her shopping

Ha - she's great. She and my son get along fabulously and she's great in front of the camera if you can get her to sit still. I have a dozen or so photos from the shoot with he bouncing in and out of frame with me unable to keep up or keep her in the lighting zone. The good pics make up for it though =)

Love this set... they are so fun and free... looks like the kids had a fun time staying up late and posing for the camera.

Really like #3.

Can I ask what back drop and lighting you used did you use a normal flash or one you add on? am a beginner excuse the wording x

pinkdaisy wrote in post #13798907
Can I ask what back drop and lighting you used did you use a normal flash or one you add on? am a beginner excuse the wording x

Backdrop is a simple painted wall about 3 feet behind my subjects. I would position myself so that the kids obscured the white wall outlet/socket - but if you look at shot #1, you can see behind the seat of the car where I didn't do a good job.

Main light is a Sunpak 383 set to 1/4 power through a 45" shoot-through white umbrella camera right set about 1 or 2 feet from the subjects who are standing on a blue "X" I marked on the floor with painters tape.

Rim light is another Sunpak 383 set to 1/16th power shot into a 45" silver reflective umbrella camera left, again, about 1 to 2 feet away and slightly behind the subjects.

Both flashes are triggered by Radio Popper Jr-X's. There is no flash on the camera. Let me know if you have any other questions about the setup or if you didn't understand what I just posted.

Those lights confuse me ha I am doing a home set up I am doing photo shoots of familys and local people and children etc, but I need to but lights to start me of and unbrellas and things? I think I need to buy a f30 flash for my camera so i put the light to the ceiling of the wall behind me? as i get lots of shadows behind my subjects

pinkdaisy wrote in post #13800085
Those lights confuse me ha I am doing a home set up I am doing photo shoots of familys and local people and children etc, but I need to but lights to start me of and unbrellas and things? I think I need to buy a f30 flash for my camera so i put the light to the ceiling of the wall behind me? as i get lots of shadows behind my subjects

What is your budget for setting up a home studio?

good work

Bill Ng wrote in post #13800232
What is your budget for setting up a home studio?

How much do you think I need to spend?
am thinking around £500 over all, I am advertising for familys etc to come to my home and I take photos of them and children etc, and give them the images, I don't charge them as I have a long way to go in photography so I ask for a donation if they are pleased with the images so then I can spend that money on better equipment so will buy more as I go. but have about £200 at min

here is my facebook page for you to look at, http://www.facebook.co​m …otography/22843​2153906211

pinkdaisy wrote in post #13801653
How much do you think I need to spend?
am thinking around £500 over all, I am advertising for familys etc to come to my home and I take photos of them and children etc, and give them the images, I don't charge them as I have a long way to go in photography so I ask for a donation if they are pleased with the images so then I can spend that money on better equipment so will buy more as I go. but have about £200 at min

here is my facebook page for you to look at, http://www.facebook.co​m …otography/22843​2153906211

Given the currency conversion - you can have better gear than I have. I'll give you a similar run-down to what I gave someone last night:

First you need flashes. I'm of the "fully manual flash" Strobist camp. So something like this is what I would pick up right now: http://mpex.com …o-lp160-manual-flash.html You can get by with just 1, but 2 would be better and allow you more options for lighting your subject. Getting 3 would give you a key/main light for your subject, a rim light for your subject, and a light for your background. I read an article about a Playboy shoot and they use upwards of 25 lights on a set at times.

Then you need a way to trigger those flashes. I'm currently using Radio Poppers Jr-Xs. They are more expensive than the Chinese triggers you can get on Ebay, but they are built to last a lifetime and work at amazing distances - I wouldn't give them up for anything. You'll need 1 transmitter and 1 receiver for each flash you plan to trigger: http://radiopopper.com​/the-jrx-system

Then you need light modifiers to shoot those flashes into. The simplest and easiest way to get started is with a plain white shoot through umbrella or two like this: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …nslucent_Umbrel​la_43.html

You'll need to mount those umbrellas on stands, so you'll need a pair or so of these: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …6B_Light_Stand_​Black.html

And you'll need a umbrella holder than mounts to the stands and holds both a flash and an umbrella: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …117_Umbrella_Br​acket.html

That's it. Now you have light, a way to mount that light, and a way to trigger that light from up to 1000 feet away if you wanted to.

For a two-light kit:
2 LP160 flashes = $320
1 Radio Popper Jr Studio Kit (1 transmitter, 1 receiver) = $170
1 Additional Radio Popper Jr Receiver = $100
2 Shoot-through white umbrellas = $28
2 Umbrella stand = $40
2 Umbrella bracket = $36

Total comes out to $694 which equals £440. The rest of your money can cover shipping.

what about light-meter? Are you using or suggesting to use one?

chirkut wrote in post #13829888
what about light-meter? Are you using or suggesting to use one?

I'm not. I have one, but its a very simple Sekonic that does not offer flash metering.

For shoots like these, I tape a blue "X" on the floor, then have a subject stand there for a few test shots. The second-to-last shot above, the one of my almost-6-year-old, that was actually a test shot.

Once I get my light ratios set up the way I want and exposure worked out in the camera correctly - I'm done. Exposure is locked (Manual mode takes care of that nicely), I don't touch the strobes, and I just direct my subjects to stand on the "X" and I shoot away.

While I would love to have one of those $400 top-o-line meters that would reduce or totally eliminate the need for test shots - a handful of pictures and a minute or two worth of time savings just isn't worth $400 at this point in the game.

Bill Ng wrote in post #13831207
I'm not. I have one, but its a very simple Sekonic that does not offer flash metering.

For shoots like these, I tape a blue "X" on the floor, then have a subject stand there for a few test shots. The second-to-last shot above, the one of my almost-6-year-old, that was actually a test shot.

Thank You