Advise on buying a small studio for home family pics.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16468111
They aren't powerful enough to maintain enough depth of field at sufficient shutter speeds to freeze motion. .

barring a focusing problem, this is likely what is causing your sharpness issues. More light, stop down, more DOF.

try f/5.6 or f/8 @ ISO 100 or 200

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

BTW.. I have a setup very similar to what you have, with one addition: the 60mm macro. Don't let the word macro throw you off, on a crop, 60mm is a wonderful length for portraits and this little lens is awesome. I love my 17-55, it is the lens that I use, probably 85% of the time, but when taking portraits of my kids, I reach for the 60mm: it is ever so slightly sharper than the 17-55 and the focal length is better.

You didn't mention how you shoot, so if you are not already, shoot in raw and get comfortable with DPP (that came with your camera) or another tool for post processing that includes sharpening settings.

I am attaching two, very casual, fun shots of my kids. Both were taken with the 7D, 60mm, using on camera flash bounced off of the ceiling and a DIY, large bounce card similar to this: http://img339.imagesha​ck.us/img339/4837/p101​2490.jpg
(Mine was actually more primitive, it was a white bubble-wrap 8x10 envelop, used by amazon to ship a CF card to me (the address sticker was on the back so I had a large shiny white surface). It is fairly stiff, so I just cut slits near one end to make flaps to wrap around my flash and held in in place with a rubber band.) Using that bounce, I got some fill light and a nice highlight in the eyes.

They are not great shots, they were both quick, fun shots, to capture a moment, but I was happy with the results. Click on them to see the detail.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/44350103@N05/5​357755770/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/44350103@N05/5​352920409/

hes gone wrote in post #16471640
=he's gone;16471640]barring a focusing problem, this is likely what is causing your sharpness issues. More light, stop down, more DOF.

try f/5.6 or f/8 @ ISO 100 or 200

Please re read my post. My point was that you are unlikely to achieve those exposure values with a couple of CFL bulbs that come in the continuous lighting kits. I think I understand how to work a studio shot.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16471885
Please re read my post. My point was that you are unlikely to achieve those exposure values with a couple of CFL bulbs that come in the continuous lighting kits. I think I understand how to work a studio shot.

I thought he was agreeing with you -- that the cause of the OP's problem (even though he was bouncing and not using low powered lights) was likely too little DOF.

hairy_moth wrote in post #16471898
I thought he was agreeing with you -- that the cause of the OP's problem (even though he was bouncing and not using low powered lights) was likely too little DOF.

exactly.

i was just adding another benefit to what you (gonzo) were saying.

hes gone wrote in post #16471953
=he's gone;16471953]exactly.

i was just adding another benefit to what you (gonzo) were saying.

Sorry. I misread that.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16471957
Sorry. I misread that.

no problem.

in the gelled flash thread, despite Wilt making a point perfectly clear (twice) i still completely missed what he had said.

Hi, I picked up a "pro" backdrop off eBay. Came with a 10'x20' black backdrop, and white backdrop. I was expecting something thicker, instead it looks like bed linnen. And not the 1000 thread count stuff. The stands and crossbar are nice and heavy it seems.

you don't need much more than what you have, you could get two stands and umbrellas or small softboxes (that probably won't be enough light for full body shots, but portraits work great). Forget the backdrop and paper, use a wall or get some cheap fabric from a fabric store. Keep people away a couple feet.

If you think you really want to get into this, forget the cheap sets, get two alienbees and softboxes or umbrellas, but you're looking at spending more here.

I'd try to learn bounceflash, off camera flash with what you have, simple selfmade or pop up reflectors, work with that. The really cheap sets are IMO worthless, you won't have fun with them and they'll end up in the basement.

Play with natural light, check out a book or two at the library or buy at the store. You can do great work with no flashes or just one or a mix of flash and natural light.

Anyway, that's what I'd do. I have two small softboxes for my flashes and stands, I use those for portrait and half portrait, using a wall as "backdrop". I looked at a lot of these all in one sets, never read much good about them, glad I never bought one.

Also don't forget, you don't need strobes unless you need to freeze action. You can do a lot with daylight balanced lights (I use simple shop clamp lights with balanced fluorescent bulbs) and with your whitebalance settings to correct for tungsten etc.

Also consider your family, will they be into it, or have the 'there goes dad again with his lights and what not' face on photos?

I highly recommend books by Neil van Niekerk (not sure about spelling here) and the Speedlighter's Handbook, the strobist website and just poking around on youtube etc. Then buy what you find you need, and get good quality, you'll have much more fun with it.

I am in Canada as well and setup a small in home studio in my basement.

I am using 2 x Elinchrom BX500Ri strobes with soft boxes and a single beauty dish to switch around with a Manfrotto Background Support and paper backgrounds and its a fabulous setup. You can see portrait work I have done in either my 500px or Flickr profiles linked below.

Thanks for the advise guys

I picked up my home studio setup about 2 years ago... I did a ton of research, looking at speedlite setups, affordable starter studio packages, but I ended up getting a couple of PCB Einsteins, PLBs, and 24x30 softboxes... I'm still learning, but I've gotten some great shots of my son growing up (my wife has me do a shoot once a month for the past 2 years). The setup with 2 lights, modifiers, stands, wireless triggers, and background ended up being about $1500. The power I get from these studio stobes allow me to shoot with smaller apertures and get really tack sharp shots (I was amazed what I was getting from my 7D, and floored by the results from my 5DIII).

My one regret is when we go outdoors to shoot. I'm stuck with just my 580ex, and no modifiers (as its nearly impossible to lug all that lighting equipment outdoors, and manage a 22 month old kid. I'm now looking for a more portable outdoor setup...

I'm looking at the following:

YN622c - $85
(shooting outdoors with the 7D's built in flash trigger sort of works, but it's not 100% reliable)
43" Westscott Umbrella - $22
Cowboy Studio Umbrella Mount & Cold Shoe Mount - $20
Cowboy Studio Light Stand - $22

I'm getting this from Amazon so free shipping if i'm willing to wait 5-9 days (I live in Hawaii, and shipping is pretty killer).

The backdrop I have is also from Amazon, it's a ravelli backdrop and was ~$140, it came with 2 stands, the cross bar, black and white muslin and a couple clips and a carrying bag... I have a relatively small townhome, so the back drop helps screen household clutter, and since i don't have much room to work, I can't get too much distance between my subject and the background to black it out completely, so the black back drop helps.

Good choice on the 622c. I just added another one along with a YN568EX II to my kit which includes umbrella's also. A speed light kit works great outside if you get them close enough.
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Kudos to your wife. Monthly portraits is a really great idea.

I think Buff makes battery packs for all their strobes. Might be a pain to set up outdoors, but results should be a lot better than flash guns. And work with natural light, maybe get a cheap reflector, fun to work with!