must haves for starting home studio?

looking to get a home studio going and im not sure exactly what i need to get started. i need backdrop stand and backdrops....what kind of lighting should i get? umbrellas, soft boxes (and what wattage)? what else would you suggest getting?

[RexK_Cozumel]

depends on what you plan on shooting.

[Murtasma]

I would suggest not even bothering with hot lights. I have them and they are just way too hot, even when photographing stills after 5 minutes those lights can seriously cause a room to become very uncomfortable.
If you want to photograph people good luck with hot lights, a few friends of mine could only stand about 5 - 10 minutes under the lights before they start complaining and sweating; I don't blame them.

If you are just learning about lighting, I found it to be a slow process with hot lights. Most of the time I felt very rushed when working with the lights on because of the temperature. With a strobe it will be harder to visualize what the light will look like at first but you will be able to spend more hours figuring this out. Nice strobes also have modeling lights, I have not used one before but I would imagine it would be much more pleasant working with a system like this.


What you will need

1. Backdrops
2. Light Stands
3. Tripod
4. Strobes (flashes)
5. Remote Triggers

Reflectors, diffusers and other small odds and ends can generally be self made for cheep.

[private]

The only good thing about the hot lights is that babies fall asleep a lot faster...but they DO get hot! So if you want continuos lights you can get the spiral bulbs. And they tend to be a bit cooler.

now what is the difference between strobes and umbrellas? i dont really have any experience with any extra lighting. so any advice helps! im planning to be photographing, individuals, babys, and small family's (for now).

[FrankLamont]

I seriously suggest you attending a course... mastering studio lighting, especially flash, isn't easy - since it doesn't seem that you don't really know it to the full potential, anyway.

You'll be introduced to lighting, and see what you like most; softboxes vs. umbrellas or both, what size softbox, etc.

A strobe is the flash. An umbrella either reflects the strobe light or acts as a shoot-through (pretty obvious). A softbox is much softer. Barndoors and grids control light direction. Gels colour the background.

Originally Posted by RexK_Cozumel

depends on what you plan on shooting.

portraits= babys, individual portraits, and small familys (to start)

Originally Posted by FriedChicken

I seriously suggest you attending a course... mastering studio lighting, especially flash, isn't easy - since it doesn't seem that you don't really know it to the full potential, anyway.

You'll be introduced to lighting, and see what you like most; softboxes vs. umbrellas or both, what size softbox, etc.

A strobe is the flash. An umbrella either reflects the strobe light or acts as a shoot-through (pretty obvious). A softbox is much softer. Barndoors and grids control light direction. Gels colour the background.

plan on researching heavily

[candleman]

Originally Posted by ntinlizi

portraits= babys, individual portraits, and small familys (to start)

theres a massive amount of choice out there.. but its all worked around the budget

if you are in the USA i'd suggest checking out AlienBees..

however.. a good (my choice) option is using flashguns (like what you put on the hotshoe of the camera)
you'd need a minimum of two flashes, two stands and some sort of radiotrgger such as CyberSyncs, Cactus, PocketWizards.. and a sofdtbox/umbrella for each stand.

preferably three strobes.

again.. heavily dependant on the budget.



my only comment RE: flash vs hotlights
avoid hotlights...
unless you want to concentrate on babies.. they wil close their eyes if you blast them with a flash. thats the only time i'd suggest hotlights.

hotlights also require a much more powerful power supply..
whereas a stobe set-up is generally lighter, and only required four AA batteries.. so you can do portraits in the park, abandoned buildings, special locations decided by your client.. prettymuch anywhere.

for more information read www.strobist.com

Originally Posted by candleman

theres a massive amount of choice out there..

if you are in the USA i'd suggest checking out AlienBees..

however.. a good (my choice) option is using flashguns (like what you put on the hotshoe of the camera)

minimum of two flashes, two stands and some sort of radiotrgger such as CyberSyncs, Cactus, PocketWizards..

but this is what your budget wil decide.



my only comment RE: flash vs hotlights
avoid hotlights...
unless you want to concentrate on babies.. they wil close their eyes if you blast them with a flash. thats the only time i'd suggest hotlights.

hotlights also require a much more powerful power supply..
whereas a stobe set-up is generally lighter, and only required four AA batteries.. so you can do portraits in the park, abandoned buildings.. prettymuch anywhere.

awsome, thanks for all the advice! ill deffinatley look into alienbees.