Studio start up on a budget

F

Fluffyhead69

Messages
28
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all.

So after being into Motorsport photography for a while I have moved onto weddings and have had requests for family portraits.

I have no issue with lenses and equipment but don't know where to start on studio lighting. At first I plan to do it from either my home or customers. I don't want to spend a lot to start with in case it never gets used but have found simple black / green / white backdrops on Amazon with 2 x umbrella flash or soft box. I think this might be OK to start with then upgrade as time goes by. What sort of difference will I see between umbrella and softbox and any other advice greatly appreciated.
 
The cheap ebay kits are rubbish, you'll be loads better off looking for better quality stuff 2nd hand, either here in the classifieds or on ebay.

Softboxes are better than brollies in a small space as there's more stray light with an umbrella, which will bounce around all over the place and make life tricky.
 
those kits are quite frankly a total waste of time. you'll use the backdrop once, see how bloody awful the images look with it and throw it away ( cheap nasty muslin ).
first port of call is a couple of speedlites and wireless triggers.. a shoot through umbrella and stand can be picked up for peanuts and a 5 in one reflector for under a tenner.
its worth checking out Matt Granger on youtube ( that nikon guy ) . he has plenty of vids for shooting portiats with single or two flashes and a couple of umbrellas.. no fancy stuff there.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=that+nikon+guy+live
 
Some of my fave pics have been taken with a cheap 20 quid softbox from amazon, 5 pound silver reflector, ten pound stand, speed light and a means of triggering the flash.

Get good with one light then add more.

I started with a Nikon branded flash (expensive but I was naive!) and added studio lights later.

A bit of reading is well worthwhile - light science magic and the speedlighters handbook are both excellent and informative.

S
 
Sir SR where did you get the pop up background as i could do with getting myself one.
 
It a cheap photosel one off amazon. Quality not that great but if you have enough distance between subject and background it's ok.
 
Might do just for messing with whilst save up a bit for some decent backdrops
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top