Home Studio Questions

[RussTKD]

Hey, first "real" thread here.

Anyway, we have a friend who has a studio set up at her mother-in-law's house, and we've used it a couple times recently and had an absolute blast shooting there. The first time, my wife was about 7.5 months pregnant, and the second was when our daughter was about 5 weeks old.

After seeing the results we got using her studio (one strobe with a huge softbox, dark backdrop, and a few inconsequential props), I got to thinking about setting up something similiar at home so I can shoot the baby and have something to play with.

The wife has given me the OK to get pretty much anything I want within reason (no L glass, no 5D), so I've been looking at various things online and from what I gather, Alienbees seems to be the best "bang for the buck" out there. I'm thinking I want to go with their "digi-bee" package (2 AB400 lights, stands, umbrella, shoot through umbrella) and then get a backdrop stand, honeycomb, barndoor, gels, and reflective screen. I'll also get a backdrop from another vendor. I'm trying to stay around $1000, give or take a few bucks.

Would that basic two light set up give me a lot of flexibility, or am I going to be wanting a third light relatively soon? From what I've gathered, this should be plenty to get started with and will probalby suffice for a long time.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Edit: I should probably add that I've got a 20D, Tamron 28-75, Canon 50mm f/1.8, and a Speedlite 420ex now.

[Ed Shapiro]

Hi Russ- Depending on you lighting skills, you can quite a bit of creative mileage out of the lighting setup you have described. You may wish, at a later time, to purchase 2 or three more lights to use as hair, background and kicker lights. Theses can certainly make the difference if you are going to get into advanced portraiture. Problem is, too many lights can cause confusing at first so it is a good idea to master them before going on to a more elaborate system.

Also it is a good idea, once you have your basic lighting system in place to look out for good deals on the used market.

Adding reflectors, in some lighting setups, is like having more lights. One popular lighting is using one light and a main, the other as a kicker and using a reflector as a fill source. If you don't want to invest in reflectors at this time, you can make your own out of materials such as white Foam-Cor(tm) with one side covered with crushed and re-stretched aluminum foil. One for soft reflection and the other for stronger reflection respectively.

Hope this helps. Ed

[brian.austin]

Just a few things to add to Ed's thoughts...

AB400's will be fine for single or tight subjects (ie a family closer together) but will be a little underpowered behind a softbox lighting a family. They'd be fine with umbrellas, though. AB800's are a nice compromise between power and price. I know several pros using JUST AB400's so it's hardly a deal killer. Just my personal experience.

If you're going to get a third light, do it in the initial purchase. Alienbee lets you design your own "package" that's based on light quantities. That's all their packages really are. For every light you buy, you get 5% off of accessories. Buy two lights, get 10%. Buy three lights and you'll get 15% off. They top out at a 20% discount. The discount works out well if you plan ahead.

[RussTKD]

Got my equipment last night.

2 AB400's, 2 stands, 2 different umbrellas, reflector, flash meter (that I need to learn how to use), and a couple new books as well.

[Songman45]

You will probably be happy doing baby's pictures with that set-up. As previously stated, those lights are not powerful for large family groups. Have fun photographing the little one. You'll probably add equipment as your skill develops. The AB's will not be obsolete anytime soon and should have a good service life for you as part of your equipment for a long time. Some of us tend to be over zealous once we have moved up and tend to forget how much fun we had and how creative we were when we only had bare bones stuff. Don't worry too much over a room full of lights until you have exceeded the abilities of your two-light rig.
Regards,
Steve

[RussTKD]

Originally Posted by Songman45

You will probably be happy doing baby's pictures with that set-up. As previously stated, those lights are not powerful for large family groups. Have fun photographing the little one. You'll probably add equipment as your skill develops. The AB's will not be obsolete anytime soon and should have a good service life for you as part of your equipment for a long time. Some of us tend to be over zealous once we have moved up and tend to forget how much fun we had and how creative we were when we only had bare bones stuff. Don't worry too much over a room full of lights until you have exceeded the abilities of your two-light rig.
Regards,
Steve

Thanks Steve...

I'm figuring that for my intended uses (baby pictures to give to family/friends, pics of my wife for myself, and couples pictures for friends) the equipment I got will probably serve my needs for a long long time.

The studio we shot in that prompted this had one strobe, one silver reflector, a handful of propes, and a low key backdrop and we loved what we were able to do there. I don't see why I can't replicate my results there at home.