setups and shots with home studio setup Thread

technics100 said:
Great shots, where was the 2nd light? behind the bed sheet?
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Yes buddy behind the bedsheet (y)


I could have moved it down abit to be fair but the shots where just to show as examples;)



Dave(y)
 
..MD.. said:
I thought you guys might like this putting in here rarther than a fresh thread..;)

Hall_liam_1.jpg





hall_liam_3.jpg






I only took these to show you all you dont need a massive studio or lots of big studio lights..

This was taken using two lights Two bedsheets. and my old perspex..:LOL:


OH and it was taken in my hallway in the house....:nuts:

setup10.jpg



Regards MD
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This is great. Just goes to show that you don't need to spend a fortune. I only use sheets at the moment due to the fact I haven't got around to buying the backdrops yet and I get some really funny looks when I pull them out. Makes me feel a bit conscious that I am not at that level yet.
 
Jayst84 said:
Takes a bit of patience. Nailing the focus is tricky, as usual with self portraits - especially with wanting to use a larger aperture for the out of focus highlights. I started at f/2.8, but quickly gave up on that idea. ;) I wanted more diffraction on my face, but my patience ran out before I got there.

Should post up what you've been getting so far. (y)
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Yes, it's the focus on the face that is the hardest to do. I'm also using either a smallish beauty dish or a large soft box, for the face, neither of which I'm happy with. I think a 60cm x 60cm soft box would be best.
 
..MD.. said:
I thought you guys might like this putting in here rarther than a fresh thread..;)

I only took these to show you all you dont need a massive studio or lots of big studio lights..

This was taken using two lights Two bedsheets. and my old perspex..:LOL:


OH and it was taken in my hallway in the house....:nuts:

Regards MD
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I've used sheets before, but always struggled with creases and folds, and can never get it right with pp, does having the light behind the sheet get rid of them? or are you a genius with pp?:cool:
 
i have a studio background kit consists of 2x stands 1x cross bar to hold backdrops, 1x white vinyl backdrop 2m x 4m and 1x black paper backdrop (used approx 6m left 9ft wide) stands & cross bar come in carry case, vinyl comes in tube. looking for £150 collection only. Will post in forsale section later.....

Andy
 
wilmorh said:
I've used sheets before, but always struggled with creases and folds, and can never get it right with pp, does having the light behind the sheet get rid of them? or are you a genius with pp?:cool:
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I try and get the sheets as taut as possible. The light behind helped as I could get it bvery close to the sheet but no spill on the subject.


And a little pp knowledge helps..;;)


MD:wave:
 
EOS JD - thanks (y). It's quite an old shot from my (failed) 365 but nonetheless, I like it. Will post some more st=ups as and when they are shot..... :)
 
I like it :) I sold a speedlight I had recently (a third) and kind of wished I'd kept it :)
 
My shot.... (already posted elsewhere btw)


Max Beauty 1 by Marcus Charter, on Flickr

And my setup.... (and as my wife would say, please excuse the mess!)

Had a brollybox with a 580EXII positioned high. Shoot through brolly positioned low with a 430EX. Both on axis. Had a blue gelled 430EX with a home made black straw snoot fired at Storm Grey paper background a bit to the left of camera.

All taken with Canon 5D classic and 24-70 F2.8L at F2.8 and fired with RF602 triggers. Processing was an unsharp mask, slight curves boost and a slight vignette added.



setup by Marcus Charter, on Flickr
 
really nice shot Marcus.
 
Day off today and finally able to have a go.

Paper background two widths wide on ebay background stand.
Have used plasticized paper paper for the floor, little more hard wearing.
One sheet of 4' x 4' Perspex on the floor.
SB25 left and SB24 right lighting background.
SB600 into 30" softbox front.

Setup
6344327808_726001a869_z.jpg


Straight out of camera.
6344327674_8415ea7dd2_z.jpg


After PP in CS5.
6343580151_291f555a0d_z.jpg


How does this look to everyone? Think if I lower the background lights it will mean less work in PP as it will be more seamless white behind me rather than it going a touch grey near my arms.

Pretty happy with the output for a first go.

Cheers
 
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technics100 said:
Looks good, I agree about the background lights, might make it easier for you in PP.. Did the PP take long?
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Not long at all, white brush where needed. Dodge the already white parts where needed then a levels tweak to get the contrast correct.
 
I like the shot and the setup. I'd maybe lower the main light a tad

My main gripe is that you have wasted millions of pixels by having yourself a very small part of the image. With a white background it's easy to add the white pixels in post processing to create any composition you want.

For a shot like this you could get the lens closer to the subject - or zoom in more. Lose all that space above too. You can then add the white in area using add canvas and you will then have a subject with a lot more detail.

Zack Arias uses that technique to keep as much detail in the subject as possible - and it does work.

Also the background lights could be closer to the background too I think - Do you have a light meter? You should be able to measure the light to get it pretty even.

Post processing the white should take about 3 seconds. Circle round you and the reflection, feather it and invert the selection, press delete (so long as the background colour is white) - that would turn the image outside you white and then you can use add canvas or better stll use the crop tool by dragging outside the image to adjust the composition.

Cheers
Jim
 
EOS_JD said:
I like the shot and the setup. I'd maybe lower the main light a tad

My main gripe is that you have wasted millions of pixels by having yourself a very small part of the image. With a white background it's easy to add the white pixels in post processing to create any composition you want.

For a shot like this you could get the lens closer to the subject - or zoom in more. Lose all that space above too. You can then add the white in area using add canvas and you will then have a subject with a lot more detail.
Zack Arias uses that technique to keep as much detail in the subject as possible - and it does work.

Also the background lights could be closer to the background too I think - Do you have a light meter? You should be able to measure the light to get it pretty even.

Post processing the white should take about 3 seconds. Circle round you and the reflection, feather it and invert the selection, press delete (so long as the background colour is white) - that would turn the image outside you white and then you can use add canvas or better stll use the crop tool by dragging outside the image to adjust the composition.

Cheers
Jim
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Cheers for that Jim, since I posted it I have been playing in photoshop and noticed there wasnt as much quality in the image as I'd like and I'm fairly certin the bold above is why.

Never thought of using the inverted feather technique in PP but makes a lot of sense.

I need to get a couple of cheapy lightstands, one backlight is on an old tripod and the softbox one doesnt go any lower.

Cheers
 
dan_yorkshire said:
Day off today and finally able to have a go.

Paper background two widths wide on ebay background stand.
Have used plasticized paper paper for the floor, little more hard wearing.
One sheet of 4' x 4' Perspex on the floor.
SB25 left and SB24 right lighting background.
SB600 into 30" softbox front.

Setup

Straight out of camera.

After PP in CS5.

How does this look to everyone? Think if I lower the background lights it will mean less work in PP as it will be more seamless white behind me rather than it going a touch grey near my arms.

Pretty happy with the output for a first go.

Cheers
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You finally got round to doing it then..they look good... Ive done some more too but this time it was for my friend, a few pics of his little lad, that he could get printed for Xmas presents I'll upload soon, this time I put the speed lights behide the BG, I got less spill and had less work in photoshop..
 
Very nice, so is that a 4 light setup you have going there then? And have you replaced the paper background with material? And what is the floor material?

My only worry is the limitations I have with my kit for anymore than one person, the background can only be lit fully about 4'-5' across.
 
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dan_yorkshire said:
Very nice, so is that a 4 light setup you have going there then? And have you replaced the paper background with material? And what is the floor material?

My only worry is the limitations I have with my kit for anymore than one person, the background can only be lit fully about 4'-5' across.
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The BG has always been material couldnt tell you what it is tho it came with the bg stands from eBay, as for the floor it's two 8x4 ft white 2mm tileboard... My mate paid me although i said id do it for free and the practice, he was really pleased with his pics (about 60 of them) Got a few more people interested too now that they been on facebook....

Really want some mains powered studio flashes now :(
 
GR3Z said:
The BG has always been material couldnt tell you what it is tho it came with the bg stands from eBay, as for the floor it's two 8x4 ft white 2mm tileboard... My mate paid me although i said id do it for free and the practice, he was really pleased with his pics (about 60 of them) Got a few more people interested too now that they been on facebook....

Really want some mains powered studio flashes now :(
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Haha, thats how photography works.

'I only need one more bit of kit love then I'm done......'

Then someone posts something up and you have kit envy.

The tileboard gives a really nice finish, I am doing a shoot for a friend in a couple of weeks so got plenty of practice until then. I have some white material to try too.

Facebook is a very powerful tool, I need a signature to slap on mine (y)

Dan
 
Dan As said above crop your portraits as tight as possible on all white b/g images you can add the space required later.. Nice start though matey (y)


Dave(y)
 
Graeme
I like the images - Just watch trhe skin tones as athat first one looks odd? Nice image though.

I much prefer the look of the tile board to the acrylic though(y)
 
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EOS_JD said:
I much prefer the look of the tile board to the acrylic though(y)
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I agree, but I much prefer the price of the acrylic over the tile board. Haha.
 
technics100 said:
These are great Graeme, any chance you know the settings you used? ratios of all the different lights?
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Can't remember to be exact, but I think the front two lights were 1/4 or 1/2 power and the rear lights behide the bg were 1/2 or full power, I'm only using speed lights tho... I just experiment with apperture and iso leaving the shutter on 1/160... I tether to my pc which is nearby so I can see what I'm getting and make adjustments as required....there's always PP
 
Graeme,

For those shots of the young lad, how did you manage to get enough lighting in the background for the full length shots?

Is this something lighting the background from behind has made easier? I can only get an area of about 4feet lit which is fine for above waist shots on adults or kids but I struggle with any more..... or do you just light the face and upper body as a priority and the rest can be fixed in PP?

I'm using bare flashes zoomed out to 24mm and feathered from subject.

Any chance of seeing a S.O.O.C for one of the full length shots to help.

Cheers.
 
GR3Z said:
S.O.O.C ?
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Straight out of camera.

Thought that might throw you when I was writing it, apologies.
 
Some cracking photos here. Iam quite surprised that with a small budget you can get quite good in my eyes pro shots.

I've been taking loads of photos of my niece since she was born-now 18months.

I've not really done much flash work before tho, other than my flashgun what do I need to buy to achieve these photos?

Another flash gun
Umbrella
White bed sheet
Perspex
Flash gun stand

Does that list sound about right?
 
jimmy83 said:
Some cracking photos here. Iam quite surprised that with a small budget you can get quite good in my eyes pro shots.

I've been taking loads of photos of my niece since she was born-now 18months.

I've not really done much flash work before tho, other than my flashgun what do I need to buy to achieve these photos?

Another flash gun
Umbrella
White bed sheet
Perspex
Flash gun stand

Does that list sound about right?
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You will get away with two lights if just doing headshots, baby shots etc.

You will need a means of firing the flashes from the camera. One of the best options for a good price is the RF602's you'll find on ebay.

A bedsheet will be fine for the background, just make sure its ironed to save on PP.

Perspex is a cheaper alternative to tileboard and for £25-£30 you can get a 4' x 4' sheet from B&Q like the one I'm using.

The background light could just sit on a table or on the floor pointing to the background but ideally you'd be better with two lightstands both with coldshoe adapters for the flashes and one with an umbrella adapter for the key light on the subject.
 
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This is a cracking thread and has certainly provided some ideas and useful knowledge. I have a shoot on Friday for a friend, I'll be using my hilite and 3 lencarta lights. I've got perspex for the floor so hopefully should get some good results with the tips and examples in here!

Will post a few once I'm done and taken a brave pill! :LOL:
 
dan_yorkshire said:
You will get away with two lights if just doing headshots, baby shots etc.

You will need a means of firing the flashes from the camera. One of the best options for a good price is the RF602's you'll find on ebay.

A bedsheet will be fine for the background, just make sure its ironed to save on PP.

Perspex is a cheaper alternative to tileboard and for £25-£30 you can get a 4' x 4' sheet from B&Q like the one I'm using.

The background light could just sit on a table or on the floor pointing to the background but ideally you'd be better with two lightstands both with coldshoe adapters for the flashes and one with an umbrella adapter for the key light on the subject.
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Yeah only planning on head/shots baby shot for the time being I think.

What about using clear pvc sheet instead of perspex?
 
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