Home Photography Studio, What Will We Need?

My wife has long since had ambitions to become a photographer and has taken some really nice photos lately of our daughter and friends horses..

As she isn't going back to work she would like to try her hand at baby photography..

I intend to convert our mostly unused garage into a studio by boarding and carpeting it etc, buying some back drops and soft boxes..

a few things i'd thought of include:

Black and White backgrounds
Baby Posing Chair
Softboxes
Remote Trigger

Any other suggestions?

Dean.

You need to decide whether you want to get actual studio strobes, or try to make due with speedlites. A couple of nice shots of your daughter and a few horses do not a career make. It seems like you may be putting the cart in front of the horse by diving in so fast. So you need to make some hard decisions about the level of investment you are ready to make.

I agree with Gonzo in that you need to really consider the transition from hobby to profession.

There are plenty of business-side considerations beyond gear including things like insurance, tax implications, licensing (if needed) and so on. I don't have a clue what the rules are in England, but you should make sure that this transition won't cost you more than you think and that it won't put you at risk... 'round here business licenses, taxes and insurance can get expensive.

From the hardware side I think that strobes with a good set of modifiers and a few stands and booms are a basic need. You'll also want a good tripod and probably a dedicated computer and software for camera control and/or capture and processing.

In a professional environment a backup body is going to be a must.

I'd ditch the carpet, personally, in favor of laminate or something like it, but that's me. I'd also expect to need more than a couple of backdrops. Seamless isn't too expensive but you may also consider proper muslins.

You'll probably need more than one baby posing item (chairs, pillows, etc.) Mom and dad may want to be in the shots and will need seating as well. You'll also need other props (toys, hats, costumes etc.) for variety...

Obviously these aren't all day one requirements, but they should be kept in mind.

My 2 pence, for what it's worth.

Hi Guys,

I totally understand the concept of "all the gear and no idea" and wasn't meaning that buy buying a ton of gear will make her a pro (or anywhere close) but she needs somewhere to practice and bring people to, i am totally prepared that after spending £2,000 on converting the garage and back drops, another speedlite etc that it might fizzle away to nothing, but on the other hand i also no if i do nothing it'll end up with the same (nothing), at the end of the day our drive easily takes 3 cars (4 bumper to bumper) so its more useful as a play room anyway if it doesn't work out..

Her first 15+ shoots will likely be FOC until she builds up a portfolio..

Vinyl / Laminate is a much better idea..

Muslin back drops are what i was thinking about..

We have a 600EX-RT speedlite and i'm happy to buy another, its only a single width garage so nice bright white walls and ceiling should help..

Softbox wise what would you guys recommend..

Dean.

These look suitable?

Suitable, for sure, but pretty expensive.

I'd look for good quality used (pre-depreciated?) items myself. I was able to put together a full 1,000 watt 4-light kit with stands and modifiers for the price of that pair...

You dont want white walls, just the opposite. White results in a lots of bounced light in places you dont want it.

To do this right you need a minimum of 3 strobes.

When you say 1,000w are you talking about 4x 250w? or 4x1,000w?

Any particular models to look for?

Dean.

deanbayley wrote in post #16342795
When you say 1,000w are you talking about 4x 250w? or 4x1,000w?

Any particular models to look for?

Dean.

Watts are a measurement for continuous light. Watt seconds are the measure of flash. You want flash here not continuous light.

deanbayley wrote in post #16342795
When you say 1,000w are you talking about 4x 250w? or 4x1,000w?

Any particular models to look for?

I bought some nice used Dynalite stuff. The strobes themselves are fan cooled heads and they require a power pack to provide the energy to fire them off. The pack is a 4 port 1,000 watt unit which is where the number above came from.

The heads are actually 1,000 and 2,000 watts by spec, IIRC.

On my kit the pack has two zones and adjustments to let me fire off the heads at fractions of full power (1/8, 1/4, 1/2, etc.) in each zone.

I can also control the 250w modeling lights the same way.

Many folks prefer monolights which integrate the power supply into each individual light. The ones you linked to above were that type.

There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to each type.

All told you probably won't ever need more than 800w to light the space you've got and, for most shoots, you'll probably need a lot less. I use my pack at 1/4 power most of the time. The key, though, is to get sufficient lighting in the right spots which is why you'll probably want at least 3 sources.

Folks do, however, do really great work with single strobe setups so it's going to be about what you want your shots to look like, what you can afford, etc.

BTW, I bought the Dynalite stuff because I tend to be the kind of person who would rather have a used Mercedes than a new Kia. YMMV.

How about these?

Also can you use a speedlite as trigger system or as part of the studio lighting, as in could you use the speedlite transmitter (Canon ST-E3-RT) to trigger the 600EX-RT which would at the same time fire the studio flashes?

Or, Is that what these pocket wizards are for?

Dean.

I find the westcott website a bit misleading. They refer to effective wattseconds which is a pretty specious measurement. I cant find any listing for actual watt seconds. You would be best served with studio strobes to get a simple wireless flash trigger like the YN602, or YN603. You would only need one trigger and one receiver as the other strobes will fire via built in optical slave.

These are the cheapest i've found that list watt seconds..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/​itm/261299781685

Dean.

I don't know if the Buff line of strobes is available in the UK, AlienBees or - better - Einsteins are fantastic and a great value. Might not be the case with shipping and duty etc.

Personally I'd have concrete floor painted white, white walls, and if the garage is big enough I'd build a "curve" from the floor to the wall in the back. You can use gels on a strobe or two and turn the white walls to any color you want, you don't need paper for a seamless background. And if the white gets dirty, paint over it. All the studios I work in have white walls and concrete floor, one done as above.

How big and tall is your garage? For babies a regular height is probably just fine, since they're little and low to the ground. 8ft would be a minimum for me. Strobes with modifiers can get big.

If you have enough room you could set up a corner with a table and chairs, and a rug underneath for comfort of the clients. And you need heating of course.

Backdrops can be made from most fabrics, no need to buy expensive ones. A stand for them is cheap or can be made cheaply as well.

Sounds like a fun project, good luck! My garage is full of stuff and a printing press, and it's ceiling is not high enough, otherwise I'd have done this to it already.

Good luck!

deanbayley wrote in post #16343934
These are the cheapest i've found that list watt seconds..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/​itm/261299781685

Dean.

Your goal shouldnt be the cheapest. Your goal should be the best quality affordable system. Ebay is riddled with these kits that overpromise in terms of power and are of pretty shoddy quality. Has your wife done any work with artificial light?