Setting up a small studio on a budget

Hi guys,
I am thinking about setting up a small studio in my living room to do portraits, glamour, etc...etc... but the lights are bloody expensive...

I am thinking to go for the Alien Bees (www.alienbees.com) but I really can't afford a 3 light intial setup. I already own a 420ex if this may help.

Is it ok to start with just one light and 1 umbrella and then buy one piece at time in the future? How did you do without spending a fortune?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Tony

start off with one light an softbox (I prefer octabox), or brolly box if you can't afford the softbox. use the 420 as fill light. get a piece of foamcore (in office supply section) at walmart for 3 bucks. and you should be well on your way to taking beautiful pictures. then you can add on from there.

add one more light for fill, use the 420 for background light.
add one more light for bacground light, use the 420 for hair light.
add one more etc etc.

every single light I have compared to the bees can't compete with the bees for the price. they accept upgrades for 25usd a light, they have great customer service. if you have the money, there are better lights for more money, but for the amount you spend, you can't beat the bees.

mine is ab800 medium octabox 13ft stand will be here shortly. =) hope i heled you.

Thank you Eric, for sure you did.

I've seen several maxim / stuff photographers who just use 1 strobe. And it's not even adjustable output like the a/b setup!

I have 2 strobes, and still tend to shoot with just 1.

So yes, 1 is fine. It's not about firepower, but how you use it...

now i don't know that much here, but unless you need to buy new around this time of year search your local paper classified ads online a few times a week. i ended up getting a brown line set (power pack and 4 lights), 2 norman sets, a bunch of cameras, enlarger, and a ton of other stuff for under $500 and well in my mind, you can't beat that! you have to look online though, cause the ads go out on the web before they go in the paper, got to get it early. and well if you're only looking to get new, go right ahead and ignore me well that's all i have to say, after all my idiotic posting today hopefully i haven't made any enemies here yet.

Hi! I'm new here at POTN.... I just want to share what I did using just one 420ex and a white 20"x30" illustration board to take the picture below.

I placed the illustration board around 45 deg. and about 4ft to the right of my 300d. Pointed the flash straight at the board and ask the subject (my 6-year-old daugther) to face the board and look at the camera.

The camera setting: Manual, 1/10 sec., f/3.2, 50mm lens @ ISO 100.

sorry, i forgot to attach the picture...

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Nice shot, elr. Next time, put another board close & to her high-left to bounce some light into her hair & you've got it!

Oh, and...

Thanks PhotosGuy. I'll do that next time. And thank you also for your warm welcome....

Yeah nice photo, but a levels adjustment, or more light, would make it better.

Thanks Tim. I only have a 420ex when I took it. I recently bought a 550ex and a barebulb strobe, and last night I tried shooting again using the 550 as fill and the barebulb as main light.

Here's one picture I took last night.....
Tv 1/200, Av 5.0, 50mm @ ISO 200, RAW, Subject - Singing....

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Much better lighting wise

Thank you all for that helpful information regarding setting up home studio lighting. I am dealing with the start up "need to know" myslef and am gleaning a lot. I have some track lighting in my family room that I'd like to take advantage of. I'm sure I can not use regular grocery store bulbs for studio photo quality, but is there something I can use in the lights I already have. There are three on the track, and they take a regular sized bulb. They can be moved in any direction. Maybe they would not be of any help at all for portraits, what do ya'll think?

How cute that I'm a junior member, I still feel wet behind the ears at this, even after YEARS of photography for my family and friends, I am ready to learn things outside of "auto" settings and gain a much deeper understanding of photography and what all of those numbers and letters mean. In the meantime, I am trying to set up a "studio" to do portraits with a black backgroud and side lighting that makes the side of the face apear to get lost in the shadows. I'm sure you all can picture this look. I tried a few things in our garage with my husband as the subject. We got a good laugh as I reminded him of Deb from Napolian!

Hey elr, in the first shot of your daughter, how far from the backdrop is she sitting? Were you in a totally dark room lit only with the controlled lighting you set up, in other words, no window light? Lastly, where do you acquire your backdrops? Thanks, Bren