Home Studio setup???

[stevieb]

I am looking to start doing some home portraits of my Twins in the coming weeks. But I have tried a number of time recently with varying degrees of success.

I have been looking at some off camera lighting setups (Flash type NOT continuous), but have been advised that i could by the Sync Cables and 2 brollies and use the 2 External Flash units i already have.

I aquired 2 identical Jessops Flash units about 12 months ago, would it be worthwile just using these or would it be best to buy a home studio setup.. It will get used at least on a monthly basis.

My Current kit consists of Bodies Canond 350D and 50D, I have the standard 18-55 kit lense, Canon 50mm F1.8, a Sigma 28-300 F3.5 - 5.6, and a newly purchased Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM Lens (NON IS)

My Origianl Budget for a 2 head Kit was £250-£300. Any Advice apriciated

Thanks

[Simpo Two]

stevieb said:

I have been looking at some off camera lighting setups (Flash type NOT continuous), but have been advised that i could by the Sync Cables and 2 brollies and use the 2 External Flash units i already have.

I aquired 2 identical Jessops Flash units about 12 months ago, would it be worthwile just using these or would it be best to buy a home studio setup.

The more you spend the better the system you will get; you just have to decide what's sensible for you. For a cheap start, just to see how you get on, I'd suggest a radio trigger from eBay for about £15 to avoid trailing leads, and try the two Jessops flashguns - it will be manual all the way I suspect but at least then you have control and know what's going on. No point in spenidng money on kit if you don't actually need it!

[andy-xr]

If you stick with flash guns, Viewfinder Photography have an interesting little kit comprising a beauty dish, snoot, grid and some gels. It's never going to give you the same power or light shaping as proper heads with accessories, but if you dont need that it could be worth a look.

[jon-]

Depending on how powerful the flashes are depends on the result, but I expect what you have will do just fine.

For shooting your children I'd consider buying.

2 x flashstands
1 x reflective silver umbrella
1 x white shoot through umbrella
1 x set of radio triggers
1 x big reflector with silver, gold and white options.

You can get seamless rolls of white with a stand off ebay for £50, and all of the above can be had off ebay for under £100.

Now you can fire one flash into / through an umbrella on one side, use the reflector on the other for a little fill, and have a flash blowing the background out. You'll have to play with everything on manual, so might be worth reading up on the inverse square law of lighting and exposure, but that's half the fun anyway

Lots of good information on the strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com/) with plenty of DIY snoots / grids etc. Providing the room is big enough there's no reason the 50mm 1.8 shouldn't work.

[stevieb]

Jon/Simpo,

Thanks for the Advice..

I am happy with the results from the 50mm F1.8 so far but lighting is an issue, the on camera flash is to harsh. The Jessops Flash on the camera is ok but only give good results with a defuser attached.

Room size should not be a issue 22ft x 13ft (Living Room).

STeve

[james_tigerwoods]

This is something I'm thinking about myself albeit with limited space and Nikon kit.

I've borrowed a D80 with a 50mm 1.8 and I'm falling in love with it....

Edited by james_tigerwoods on Tuesday 23 June 11:49

[frankowvette]

I purchased a set of 200W lamps from a company called Bessel.

Got the 2 flash units and 2 stands for £269, gave me a bit of budget left for a softbox and remote trigger.

Been using them for about 6wks and would certainly recommend them, ideal for my small home studio.

http://www.bessel.co.uk/Studio%20Kits/build-your-o...

[andy-xr]

I've been using one of their snoots and beauty dishes for a little while now. They're S fitment, so work with my Interfit heads. Bessell are pretty local as well, and they work out of a very cool place. Old (I think Victorian) mansion with a pool and acres of land.