Advice re whats best to purchase for a home/mobile studio

[melaniew2000]

I am looking into purchasing a mobile studio for taking photos of people (mainly children) in my home plus I want to be able to be transport the kit easily (in a car) should I want to take photos of people in their own home or another location. At the moment I am just doing this as a hobby, but if it does take off id like to do it as a business in the future.

I am pretty limited on budget - althought my husband has said he wants to buy me something nice photography-related for my 30th birthday (May 2010) - so am guessing he would be ok spending £150 to £200 and I would need to pay for the rest myself.

So far (based on internet research) it looks like I can purchase a set with 2 'heads' although some are softboxes and some have umbrellas - is one better than the other for this sort of photography? I havent seen one where you can get one of each unless you buy them individually - but im guessing that would be more expensive.

I am aware that I will also need a stand to hold the backgrounds and a lightmeter - both of which i will probably buy myself in due course. I have a couple of hand held reflectors plus obviously a digital SLR camera, flashguns, lenses etc.

I did find a studio set on amazon :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294 for just under £100, there is also a softbox version for the same price.

Any advice on a reputable, reasonably priced company to buy from? Or any particular brand to buy? I have had a look on jessops website - but usually find them pretty expensive so would prefer to buy online.

thanks in advance.

 

[rbrown74]

It's a jungle out there when you start looking at all the options available.

The reason I would not buy what you have linked to is that it is continous lighting. You'll really find huge benefit in a flash lighting set-up if you want to do portraits.

Even a single flash head will reap excellent results as long, as your heart isnt set on white backgrounds (in which case you'll need 3 heads to have a good crack at it.) I dont have a lightmeter and I reckon you can get by without one. Just shoot, review and adjust till it looks good on screen.

Elemental and Lecarta seem to be the 2 highest rated brands at the cheaper end of the market.

Hope this helps - I'm sure there will be much better qualified along shortly to help you!

Edit: here's a link to my recent thread with 1 light on the subject and 2 on the background. Just gives you an idea of what one 200W flashhead will do for you
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=212877

 

[AliB]

Melanie, don't spend a penny until you have had a good old trawl on youtube

Seriously there are some fab training films on there. Rick is right, you don't want continuous lighting, so go and have some fun watching that or have a look at phototraining4U, there are some free lastolite films on there and Mark Cleghorn is a great trainer with this stuff. Get familiar with the kit and the reasons for using them and spend it wisely

 

[david1701]

also think about what you want to shoot:
white or black background?
how big is the background you want ie how many people?
will you be fighting the ambient?
are you just doing 'safe' shots or do you want more involved mods sometime in the future ?

 

[cambsno]

I set up last year, have a 2.15m x 2.15m Photodeals backdrop (around £130) black one side, white the other with train. Excellent although can be awkward in small rooms and you need a blank 2m wall space to rest against. Also have a Lastolite 1.8 x 1.5 white/black (£90) and stand for it which is fine for any room.

Use a SB900 flash on camera, bounced in ceiling. Yes, purists will say heads are better and they probably are, but these were all taken using the above.