help lighting newbie

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liss

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Well ive been thinking about getting into portrait photography , the thing is i dont own a separate flash soft box etc.....

i have a D90 18-105VR and Nikkor 50mm 1.8 and a 70-300 sigma (i know i wont really need the sigma) o and a tripod.

what would i need for a basic setup, ive looked at some of your studio pictures and wish i had a garage to convert etc... all i have is a boarded loft space lol (with window ) not exactly sure on size yet . yes i know this isnt great but i could make my brother sit up there while i practice. :)

Is this all a stupid idea???
 
Just your basic head shots White / black background nothing major fancy , was thinking of White sheet as background ...
Just looking for a little help don't know where to start really
 
Best place to start is by deciding what your budget is, otherwise you'll get people suggesting thousands of pounds worth of gear ;)

Oh and don't go for one of those "cheap" continuous light set ups from Ebay :nono:
 
hi unless you can light the white sheet your going to struggle to do a studio stlyle white b/g shoot. dont get me wrong anything is possible . but with the kit you have i would start with a black b/g as this will be easier to do . or out and about location shots. get a reflector of some kind and get some light back into there faces

now the best thing is to post some shots and get advice from them imo


md(y)
 
hi unless you can light the white sheet your going to struggle to do a studio stlyle white b/g shoot. dont get me wrong anything is possible . but with the kit you have i would start with a black b/g as this will be easier to do
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I agree. Black or grey is much easier in a small space
Small spaces affect the range of shots you can take, and it's always easier to get decent results in a large space - but the size of the space doesn't affect the quality. If your attic is too small you can always use another room temporarily, a studio doesn't have to be permanent, by no means everyone has the luxury of a dedicated studio and my guess is that probably most people have a living room or a bedroom that becomes a studio when needed.
 
Sure I replied to this last night :s stupid I phone .
I understand that I'll need lights of some sort but the problem is I don't really know what lights I need , I think I defonatly need a reflector,
Would a black sheet / White sheet be fine as background
Thank you for your help

And budget wise cheaper the better but I don't want naff stuff , what would £200 get me
 
liss said:
Sure I replied to this last night :s stupid I phone .
I understand that I'll need lights of some sort but the problem is I don't really know what lights I need , I think I defonatly need a reflector,
Would a black sheet / White sheet be fine as background
Thank you for your help

And budget wise cheaper the better but I don't want naff stuff , what would £200 get me
Click to expand...

£200 buys you a decent support, a few backdrops, and sunlight.. which isnt so bad as some of the very best portraits were taken like this
 
just looked throught some of them links , 200 was a rough idea , what about the lencarta elite pro starter kit for 345 or I am running before I can walk with that ?
 
liss said:
just looked throught some of them links , 200 was a rough idea , what about the lencarta elite pro starter kit for 345 or I am running before I can walk with that ?
Click to expand...

Reality: It's a lot easier to get good results with good equipment, so the Lencarta kit won't be running before you can walk. I had a guy on the phone today, ordered one and told me that he's very frustrated because his existing lights give a different exposure and a different colour temperature every time. Sad story but a very common one, it's a fact of life that cheap equipment is always touted as 'ideal for beginners' when the reverse is actually true.

Not that I'm trying to encourage you to buy Lencarta - it's selling like hot cakes, only a few days of stock left and then it will be out of stock until the next delivery arrives next month - and the prices are going to have to go up when the new stock comes in because of the collapse of the £:crying:
 
right well i thought i better go and check how big the loft was and its actually bigger than i thought.
its only half boarded thought so will have to sort all the boarding out before i do anything, thanks for your help and links etc ... really helped me to think

quick pic of loft
3372598957_a89c1a776f.jpg
 
I'm considering setting up a studio in my loft too, I'll be interested to see how you get on.
 
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