Starting Studio, Need Advice

[blakes2406]

Hello everyone,

I'll try to keep this as short as possible while still getting my story across, sorry in advance for the long read.

Basically i'm a recent college grad with a film degree (well, digital video, close enough) and despite my best efforts, i remain unemployed after nearly 6 months of job searching. Long story short, i've always wanted to do a local video production business, but there is not much demand for that here in central Kentucky. What i have noticed is that still photography does VERY well around here. There is one major studio here that has been around for nearly 60 years, and 5-6 home owned studios that do decently as well.

I recently took up still photography in addition to video production (bought a canon t2i) and began thinking about starting a studio for both areas. I already have the video side covered, but as far as still photography goes, im a bit lost. I know how the camera works and all that, no problem there, as we were trained in college on them due to the rise in popularity of HDSLRs in the video community. Where im lost is mainly lighting.

I guess my main question is, what complete lighting kits would you all suggest that come with absolutely everything i need? I'm set on getting a strobe kit, however some kits seem to come with a rather expensive black box looking thing, and others do not, and as a result are much cheaper.

As you can tell i know nothing about strobe lighting, as we deal with constant lighting only in the film realm. Just looking for some suggestions and tips.

Thanks everyone,

-Billy Lakes

[bhursey]

First of all do you really know your camera inside and out, what I mean is I can switch your camera to manual and say do this shoot with this criteria in a changing light condition and you could pull it off quickly? Make sure you have all the fundamentals of still photography, ISO, Aperture, shutter speed and so on drilled into your brain. Some of this is different then with video. Work with your equipment un tell you have mastered what you have. Then once you can break down exposure and change everything on the fly quickly. Start looking into lighting. The worst thing to do is to go out spend a bunch of money on equipment and then say now I need to learn. Just ask Zack Arias how that went. It bankrupted him.

As for lighting you need to be able to nail down reciprocals and be able to change any element of your setup and keep the same exact exposure.

Like exposure on F5.6, 200 iso, 1/200 is the same as f8, 400iso, 1/200, you are going to need to know what is a full stop and what is a 1.3 stop and so on.

If you want to start learning about lighting. Buy a hot shoe flash learn it completely on camera. Then move to moving that flash off camera. You need to build up to where it looks you want to be right now. I bet most of those studios that are doing decent have Photographers with at least 10 years of experience under their belts.

[candleman]

What you need is impossible to answer.
What sort of studio are you wanting to set-up?
family portraits? Newborn? Product/Commercial? ...

learning the camera is only a TINY fraction of what you need to know.
Posing, light placement, composition, post processing etc etc is what separates the men from the boys.

Not to menton.. the business aspect.
Do you really know the competition and what it takes to be successful?
Do you know how to market and run a small business profitably?

[Jim Poor]

"A big black box looking thing?" Are you kidding? Did they not teach you anything about lighting in your digital video class?

For starting out, you can't really go wrong with Alien Bees. They have some ready made kits and you can build your own as well.

[nickbedford]

I would be inclined to suggest you need to be a lot more sure about your skills (relative to professionals) to even think about starting a studio, then there's gear, expenses etc.

• Backup... everything. Body, batteries, spare strobe, stand, etc.
• Solid tripod
• At least a couple of flash units (whether they're strobes or speedlites)
• Good stands for your lighting
• Some softboxes or other large light modifiers
• High capacity memory cards (with backups)
• A few different backdrops, and the materials to set up your product photography "stage".

There's a lot more though. Lighting skills, marketing, financing all this gear, accounting, insurance etc.

I'd try becoming an actual photographer first.

[blakes2406]

Thanks for the info everyone, i should have stated my experience level a bit better though.

To those that inquired, i know my camera inside and out, and yes, i understand aperture, ISO, all that jazz. I've been taking pictures for people using natural light (outdoor environments only obviously) for nearly a year, and been making money doing it. I was trained as a director of photography while in the film program, so i also understand how to light, as that was my primary job.

I've used constant lighting in a studio environment for the last 4 years, i just have not used strobe lighting.

So aside from running a business, i have experience in everything else, i just don't know anything about strobe lighting. So that is essentially the main part of my question.

Just looking for a good strobe light kit that has literally everything i need.

[candleman]

Originally Posted by blakes2406

Just looking for a good strobe light kit that has literally everything i need.

I'd go for a couple AlienBees (2x AB800's 1xAB400)
and a wireless trigger.. CactusV5 or CyberSync's or RF-603's

[bhursey]

Originally Posted by candleman

I'd go for a couple AlienBees (2x AB800's 1xAB400)
and a wireless trigger.. CactusV5 or CyberSync's or RF-603's

Ditto If a set studio only or slight outside (Batt pack ~260$) use AlienBees.

If mobility is needed in out side shooting the get a speed light with radio triggers.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by blakes2406

some kits seem to come with a rather expensive black box looking thing, and others do not, and as a result are much cheaper.

100ft pole.

[Brian Mullins]

Start cheap.. buy a couple of manual strobes.. preferably hot shoe strobes, and learn with those both on and off camera. When you hit the limitations of those then you'll better know what you need. No one lighting kit will be perfect for you and strobes have some peculiarities that only experience will teach. Spending any amount of money on any "studio" lights before you understand strobe basics will likely result in a loss as you have to re-buy once you get more comfortable with them.