Advise on buying a small studio for home family pics.

Hi everyone, I have a 4yr old and an 8 month old girls. We have been to two studios for family photos and each time it was bust. Kids only got about 10 mins of good oppertunity for shots and them there done! Plus photographers we had did nothing to stimulate the kids. Didn't position them or give direction. I was looking on eBay for some affordable options.

But I don't know what I need. I do know I need a backdrop,and stand. But what size? 7' high? 10' wide? Or 10x10? And do I need a kit that includes light umbrellas or look for one with strobes?

Location could b in basement but ceilings are low. Could do garage if I move the junk around.

I have a 7d canon with a 17-55 f2.8 and a 70-200 MKII 2.8. Two 430EXII speed flashes. Would two bounce flashes be good enough or should I get two strobes and umbrellas and stands with counter weights?

I'd like to pick it all up once in a kit to save on shipping by ordering multiple things over and over.

I'm in Canada so shipping on a single item isn't much less than a full kit

Thanks

Something like THIS would work with your two 430EXIIs. Its minimal but workable.

You might want to add some inexpensive triggers. Manual flash settings are an easy way to set things up. The other trigger option that offers both manual and ETTL options is to use YN-622 triggers. They aren't overly expensive via Amazon.

If you've already got 430s just get a couple of cheap stands and umbrellas. With 1 YN-622 you can fire 1 flash wireless and the second if needed in slave mode.

For background I would just get another couple of stands and 1 or 2 rolls of seamless paper.

My kids are a bit older and I've managed to use a similar setup successfully over 12 months now. That said I'm at a point where I want studio strobes for the modelling light. That wouldn't make a difference with moving children imho and the 430's do well so far.

dmward wrote in post #16466349
Something like THIS would work with your two 430EXIIs. Its minimal but workable.

You might want to add some inexpensive triggers. Manual flash settings are an easy way to set things up. The other trigger option that offers both manual and ETTL options is to use YN-622 triggers. They aren't overly expensive via Amazon.

That's a pretty good suggestion for the stands & umbrellas. I personally prefer reflective umbrellas with a diffuser on the front like THESE, but the ones in that kit should work just fine.

Note, I don't think the 430EXII has optical slave mode. However!, it can be controlled by the 7D's pop-up flash. So, you don't need to buy triggers.
http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …ransmitter_Quic​kGuide.pdf

There are some limitations - for instance, it requires a reasonable line-of-sight from the camera to the receiver on the flash (the red plastic panel on the front) - but for a small home studio it should be just fine.

As mentioned above you want stands and umbrellas to get started, you already have two flashes so the expensive part is done. You will want to get comfortable using your flashes in manual mode as studio work and ETTL can be a bit of a strained mixture.

Imho no point in going through the trouble and expense of setting up a studio just for some family portraits. Just get a stand or two with an umbrella ($20 on eBay, maybe less). You don't even need to buy triggers since your 430ex's can be triggered as optical slaves by your 7D. Sit everyone on the couch. Use paramount lighting with the one umbrella, or rembrandt and use the other flash as fill / hair light. If you're feeling lazy or cheap you could just bounce one flash off the ceiling and use a reflector as fill. Results will be just as good as if you try any throw together a jury rigged studio.

Agree with dmward and other's suggestion. Two convertible umbrellas, two stands, and two flash umbrella brackets will work fine with your 430exs. No need for a trigger if you use the built-in optical slave. Just read the manual for setup on firing with the on-camera flash. A muslin background and support system will give you a "studio" look, but family portraits are often more interesting IMHO within a natural setting.

You are right where I was a year or so ago; opted the Cheetah route however vs using umbrella's. Bought the Qbox24 with the Cheetah Boom and use YN622c for my triggers, and another set of cheep stands to hold my seamless paper.

This was great until I discovered strobes in a 28" beauty dish with modeling lights...no turning back now, however I still use my flash units for hair lighting, gelling ect.

Definitely a good idea to buy a kit, I bought mine bit by bit as I wasn't sure it was something I would get into.
I could have saved a fortune buying a 3 light kit. SO IMO the way to go.

I would suggest you look and see if you have ROCWING stuff in Canada cheap as chips and built like a tank! Stands backdrops etc. are about 4x the strength of other kit I have bought and seen.

We picked up our photos at Sears today, what amazes me is the sharpness of the photos. Man o man, I struggle to get clear sharp photos. I know they have the lighting and their cameras on a tripod with a wired shutter release, but still.

They were using a 40D canon with an 18-200mm lens. Not that impressive. My 17-55 should be able to pull off sharper images than this. But then again, im always hand holding using bounce flash with center point autofocus. And yes, I do prefocus and recompose.

So im looking at this....

Backdrops and stands... $160

And this light and umbrella kitfor $70

and maybe this for another $120

mxz600 wrote in post #16467700
So im looking at this....

Backdrops and stands... $160

And this light and umbrella kitfor $70

and maybe this for another $120

Avoid the continuous lights. They aren't powerful enough to maintain enough depth of field at sufficient shutter speeds to freeze motion. Plus to achieve that they would be blindingly bright for your subject. The yn triggers are a good choice but you will want to use your flashes in manual mode to get repeatable results so you could get by with cheaper manual only triggers like the yn603.

I agree with gonzogolf (partially). With the continuous lights you'll likely be shooting at ISO 800 or better because kids move a lot. I would still get the 622c rather than 603 because you'll find other uses for them after you get the kids pics you want.

They were using a 40D canon with an 18-200mm lens. Not that impressive. My 17-55 should be able to pull off sharper images than this. But then again, im always hand holding using bounce flash with center point autofocus. And yes, I do prefocus and recompose.[/QUOTE]
This quote made me chuckle.

Stelvio wrote in post #16466375

mxz600 wrote in post #16466321
I have a 7d canon with a 17-55 f2.8 and a 70-200 MKII 2.8. Two 430EXII speed flashes. Would two bounce flashes be good enough or should I get two strobes and umbrellas and stands with counter weights?

If you've already got 430s just get a couple of cheap stands and umbrellas. With 1 YN-622 you can fire 1 flash wireless and the second if needed in slave mode.

Why does he need the YN-622? The 7D's build in IR remote can drive up to 3 flash groups. It may not have the range of RF, and the flashes do need to be in line-of-site of the camera, but it is pretty good for what he is looking to do.

I am attaching page 126 from the 7D manual.. It is a pretty good summary of the (auto) capabilities, though manual works too. This page also discusses using groups A+B+C and the built-in -- the prior 6 pages talked about shooting with the buit-in turned off so that you are just using the remotes; in those modes, the internal still fires to control the remotes, but its output is so low that its contribution to the lighting is negligible. BTW -- I think this is the most overlooked, killer feature of the 7D.