Please Help me build a Studio Setup

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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Planning to take the next step...
This is what i presently have.. i know it's very humble -
1 SB700, One light stand & a Shoot through Umbrella.

I have 2 options for the studio itself
a 10X10ft room OR a 25X25ft garage that i can hijack.

I intend to use this for Portraits, head shots, body shots, Portfolios and the kind.
Though i do not wish to spend everything i possibly can, i wnat to get something that would really serve the purpose & possibly go a step more till i can (if and i hopefully do) go fully pro.

Any inputs on all must have equipment like lighting, if i should get more flashes an/or strobes, stands, backdrops.. i think you get what am getting at..

look forward to your thoughts
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
The 10 foot by 10 foot room might tend to limit you to using a more wide angle lens than you would want in a full length portrait. As important is what is the height of the room and the garage?

But being a car guy I have to know what kind of car you have and decide if I would want it sitting outside in all sorts of weather.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
The 10 foot by 10 foot room might tend to limit you to using a more wide angle lens than you would want in a full length portrait. As important is what is the height of the room and the garage?
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Right.. forgot to note that..
The Room is probably around 18-20ft high & the garage a little over 25ft

But being a car guy I have to know what kind of car you have and decide if I would want it sitting outside in all sorts of weather.
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:) That shouldn't be a problem.
I have a Suzuki Swift & my Dad has a Honda..The garage extends into a pretty long drive.. can park 2 or 3 more i guess..It is covered on top and as you maybe aware all houses here have a compound wall on the 4 sides, so it's pretty safe even outside the garage :)
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
WhiteLight said:
The Room is probably around 18-20ft high & the garage a little over 25ft
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That seems extremely high? 20 feet is 6 meters?

For a proper portrait setup, you need 6 or 8 feet (at least 2 meters) from subject to camera, for proper perspective. Same distance can work from head shots to full length (with different lenses), but at least that much perspective.
You need almost that much behind the subject, to light the background, at least one meter at the extreme least, two meters is better.
And the background stand, the subject, and the photographer take up another two meters.

This won't all fit a in 10 foot length. 20 feet should be comfortable.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
WayneF said:
That seems extremely high? 20 feet is 6 meters?

For a proper portrait setup, you need 6 or 8 feet (at least 2 meters) from subject to camera, for proper perspective. Same distance can work from head shots to full length (with different lenses), but at least that much perspective.
You need almost that much behind the subject, to light the background, at least one meter at the extreme least, two meters is better.
And the background stand, the subject, and the photographer take up another two meters.

This won't all fit a in 10 foot length. 20 feet should be comfortable.
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Yep.. thought as much..
What would be the recommendations on Equipment considering the larger space?
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
WhiteLight said:
Right.. forgot to note that..
The Room is probably around 18-20ft high & the garage a little over 25ft



:) That shouldn't be a problem.
I have a Suzuki Swift & my Dad has a Honda..The garage extends into a pretty long drive.. can park 2 or 3 more i guess..It is covered on top and as you maybe aware all houses here have a compound wall on the 4 sides, so it's pretty safe even outside the garage :)
Click to expand...

Very tall ceilings then on both. That is a big plus in a studio. You need room to raise the light stands with umbrellas on them high enough to get a proper down angle on them when shooting a person standing up.

I had a in home studio many years ago and it was nice. 20X25 with 16 ft ceiling. Office and darkroom attached and had a separate entrance so it was separated from the main part of the house.

The base lighting setup is Key, Fill, Hair and back light. Key and fill at 45° down and 45° off center. Back hitting the background and the hair light. Key twice and bright and the fill. I call this base because it is JUST A STARTING POINT.

I assume you want to go all flash with the studio? I have not done that with the Nikon CLS system but with my old Film Olympus I had a full Olympus lighting system that was wired to the camera and would operate much like the Nikon system did. I read the light off the film plane and would get perfect exposure every time. I had a white umbrella and a silver umbrella and the ration of light was almost 2 to 1 so I could set the light stands at almost exactly the same distance from the subject. I also had a flash meter that I used to find tune the lights with. We have it much easier at this time using digital since we can shoot and then look at histogram and the actual picture and then fine tune from there. Buy more Nikon SB-*** or the equivalent iTTL flash units. to fill out the system. I am wondering if the SB-400 might be a good choice for back and hair?
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
It is a personal choice about speedlights vs studio lights.

Speedlights can work, but studio lights offer much in that use (more convenient, more versatile, more power, and some are perhaps less expensive than some speedlights). Main thing is AC power, more power, and rapid recycle and high duty cycle, you can shoot fast when your subject is peaking. You don't need a lot of power, but 300 watt seconds class is very versatile. 150 watts seconds work indoors, but maybe not out in sun.

I use a 160 watt second light at no more than 1/4 power for my main light (large softbox positioned close), ISO 100, shooting f/8 or f/10. My fill umbrella is behind the camera (farther), at reduced level, but it needs more power to reach. Speedlights could do that, but maybe not at f/10.

Speedlights, are maybe 60 to 75 watt seconds equivalent (double power is one stop, 4x power is two stops). And you wait for recycle and cool down, and you watch your batteries. This gets old real fast, IMO. However, TTL setup is really fast and self metering, nearly zero time. Manual light setup is slow and tedious (but you have full control).

Nikon commander with two groups works for Main and fill, but more lights are a problem (no individual control). You really want manual lights (for more control), your portrait subject isn't going anywhere.

Whatever you do, pick one system (commander or full real manual) and go with it. Don't plan on mixing systems, like attempting optical slaves or flash meter with the Commander. Cannot work. Pick one system, and go with it.

Studio, you can fit modifiers (sofboxes, grids, snoots, etc). Speedlights are pretty much only umbrellas, but which work good. I like reflected MUCH better than shoot through.

But it is a choice, it can all be made to work. Your SB-700 has its SU-4 slave mode, so it can easily be used as another light with studio lights. Just set it out there and it works very fine, like as a hair light or even normal backgrounds, but you do have to wait for its recycle (which can be fast if close).

As to Essentials, other than lights, I would say a hand held flash meter (to set up multiple manual lights) and a white balance card for the first test shot.

Maybe see 45 degree Portrait Lighting Setup
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
Studio lights offers more flexibility and power if you want to do it right imo. I use two Einstein E640, medium octobox, 22" beauty dish, and manfrotto backdrop. Shooting at f8, 1/160, iso 100 indoor is something that the speedlights wont be able to offer.
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
gqtuazon said:
Shooting at f8, 1/160, iso 100 indoor is something that the speedlights wont be able to offer.
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They might get close. SB-800 (about 2/3 stop more power than SB-700) is not 640 watt seconds, but it will do:

f/11 + 4/10 at four feet from reflected 45" white umbrella fabric at ISO 200.

So it should do f/8 + 4/10 at ISO 100, at four feet (main light)

f/5.6 + 2/10 at ten feet from reflected white umbrella fabric at ISO 200 (groups... how much more is needed for that?)

It is not always about power, but the real point is that this is their full power and slow recycle, about 3 seconds waiting for next shot, and then not too many too fast. It may matter to some, and not to others.

The bigger lights (some of them) can shoot much faster, a couple per second easy, or about as fast as you can go... and are fan cooled, without maximum number specifications. This part is a day and night difference.
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
gqtuazon said:
Studio lights offers more flexibility and power if you want to do it right imo. I use two Einstein E640, medium octobox, 22" beauty dish, and manfrotto backdrop. Shooting at f8, 1/160, iso 100 indoor is something that the speedlights wont be able to offer.
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I have to agree with Glenn... if I was doing real "studio stuff" I would be looking at studio lights.. I am using speedlights but that is because I wanted the speedlight system for other things... I have done a few studio shots but if I was doing more... I would likely be grabbing some studio lights..


Pat in NH
 
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Steve B

Senior Member
And Paul Buff Einsteins cost less than an SB-910. (They will be more expensive once you add the radio triggers but not by a lot) I use 2 Einsteins and an Alien Bee when I do studio work. If I need additional lights I use a speedlight with everything triggered with a Paul Buff Cyber Commander. They also support Pocket Wizard triggers.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Made a list of things that would be required-

Studio strobes (2 or 3)
Backdrop with frame
Light modifiers
Softboxes, Umbrellas, reflectors
light stands

Anything that i've missed or not required..?

Figured it would be easier if i listed them out & ticked them off..
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Steve B said:
If you ever do location shooting Paul Buff also makes some really compact portable power packs called Vagabond Mini.
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I've taken a look at Paul Buff but the problem is it is very difficult to find in here in India.
The few vendors charge 3 to 4 times the regular prices
 
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