Trying to make my spare bedroom a studio on a budget.

Hey all,

I've had some lady friends that have been wanting to pose for me and now I have a dillema.... NO STUDIO!

so that being said... I've done some creative improvising and done the following:

bought a white bedsheet and pinned it to my wall... no wrinkles, i think it provides and excellent "pure" back drop.

now here's my lighting dillema, I'm a car nut, so I have shop lights.... which are two craftsman 500W Halogen lights... they get friggin hot!

and then i have 4 80W bulbs in the ceiling fan that I can direct DOWN onto my subject. Could possibly go buy better bulbs if i had to.

That's what I have and I really don't know where to go to buy any light diffusers or anything of that nature... I'm a noob at this sorta stuff :/

-Heist

here's a picture i took last night

Aperture Priority
1/8s f/6.3
Light Metering: Spot
custom white balance
no flash

four overhead lights beamed down on subject
two 500W lamps positioned left and just behind the camera, one point up, one pointing at subject stationed about 6feet in the air

Aperture Priority
1/10s f/6.3
Light Metering: Spot
tungsten white balance
no flash

same light setup as above

he did say lady "friends" so they probably already know where he live. the second shot came out pretty good. But, the shadows are bit strong.

Hello,

Sound advice, perhaps; however, I'm not sure that it's much more difficult for a determined individual to break-in to commercial space than it is for them to break-in to a residence.

As for lighting on the cheap, you're going to want to diffuse the harsh light from those 500 watt car lights. Consider picking up a second white sheet and stretching it around a PVC frame (perhaps 5 ft. x 5 ft.). If you shine the car lights through the sheet or bounce them off of it, you'll get light that's perhaps not as bright but that is lot easier to work with.

Of course, maintain a safe distance between the lights and the sheets so that you don't set your new studio on fire! Have fun with your ladyfriends!

i said "screw it" and went out and bought some stuff

$204 after tax = 3-500W photolights, two umbrellas and stands

Can we see the pics from that set up??

swimchic wrote in post #3415901
Can we see the pics from that set up??

havent postprocessed yet...

a friend of mine who's a pro commented the following on all the pics, unedited:
"There needs to be more light on the subject. Its also good to baby oil her up before the shoot. And watch her facial expressions, also back straight, chest out and suck in your stomach."

Heist wrote in post #3415782
i said "screw it" and went out and bought some stuff

$204 after tax = 3-500W photolights, two umbrellas and stands

i may be very wrong here, but i think those umbrellas are backwards..they are "shoot through" white umbrellas...shouldnt they be facing the other way?

the little lighting guide suggested the way i did it.... however im sure i coulda reversed it for a stronger light source... might try it next time... i really dunno!

OneEyedJack wrote in post #3418751
i may be very wrong here, but i think those umbrellas are backwards..they are "shoot through" white umbrellas...shouldnt they be facing the other way?

can we see some end results?

haha, i love you guys... I'll upload one unedited... I havent had time to do much!
keep in mind, this is the FIRST time I've ever sat down and shot another human being. so be gentle on the critiquing

EXIF:
1/20" f/6.3
Tungsten white balance
Evaluative meter mode

It's a good start, you colour is good, but nothing pops here...Aim one of those lights at our backdrop, that will give you a nice pure white background, then place the other two on your subject depending on what shadows or lack of shadows you want. I would also straighted out your cloth on the floor it's distracting.

5 months ago I was in the same place as you. My husband, made me some nice lights from halogens and I used them until march I think. If you take a look at my website, you can see how I made those babies work for me. I broke down and bought studio lights in March. Occasionally I still bring out the halogens just to shake things up.