Setting up your Home Studio - advice/tips?

[scottsdaleriots]

I am seeking some advice/tips/suggestions on setting up my own home studio (I dont really have a spare room, i was thinking maybe the garage [no cars] wchih has concrete floor and walls, only one large window and one wall out of the three has sort of wooden panelling, kind of hard to explain).

Yesterday I learnt about lighting stuff (bowen[?] and broncolor). I'd like to shoot some weddings/portraits stuff especially since i'll have pro lighting gear. i dont have a speedlite (i'm waiting for the new one coming out with the new 5d) or a pocketwizard (i've decided to get the newly announced/almost released one). I know when you're first starting out you can buy reasonably priced lights from target and ikea, those home deco stores.

But yesterday the teacher demo the broncolor scoro to us and i was amazed by it. There's a power adapter one and a little battery powered one - i think they're the scoro a2 and a4 packs. But I did a quick search on B&H and a broncolor catalogue booklet i got and found there's also the mobil, senso, verso, grafit and topas ones.

There's a store which works with my school institution and the teacher said that he could maybe do a deal for students to get a battery pack with the scoro a2(?) with 2 lamps and everything else in the carry bag for about $3500-$4000. He said they usually got for around $6000-$7000. But there's two battery options: a lead battery and a liithium. Which is better, lithium or lead? And they have like 170 full power flashes and 1200 charge battery life which i have no idea what it means since i just learnt about it yesterday. The teacher advised us to maybe try ebay since they'd be cheaper than, i personally dont use ebay coz even though there are bargins there are always dodgy people on there waiting to make a quick buck. I want to buy one of those small battery powered kits coz they're small and cute (perhaps an invalid reason i know lol). But do i need it? Absolutely not!

[wickidwombat]

for studio lighting this is the best value for money / reliable industry standard gear around at the moment
http://www.proworld.com.au/elinchrom-d-lite-it-4-to-go-set

still gotta grab another for my home studio

using a 6x4 shed

also putting this on the ceiling so i dont have stands and stuff in the way
http://www.studiolight.com.au/overhead_systems.htm

and going to build one of these
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2011/07/how-to-build-a-cyclorama-wall-with-mostly-naked-ashley/

hope that all helps

[StevenBrianSamuels]

Seeing as you only learned about "lighting stuff" yesterday my advice would be to wait till at least the end of your current semester and learn a bit more.  Don't just jump on the first bright light you see.

[scottsdaleriots]

True. It'd be an impulse buy.

for studio lighting this is the best value for money / reliable industry standard gear around at the moment
http://www.proworld.com.au/elinchrom-d-lite-it-4-to-go-set

still gotta grab another for my home studio

using a 6x4 shed

also putting this on the ceiling so i dont have stands and stuff in the way
http://www.studiolight.com.au/overhead_systems.htm

and going to build one of these
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2011/07/how-to-build-a-cyclorama-wall-with-mostly-naked-ashley/

hope that all helps

Thanks that helped a lot. Are those lights you get from target/kmart/ikea, etc any good do you think? I know some of them you can't adjust the intensity with a knob or anything. But just for starting up purposes it'd be good, wouldn't it?

[AmbientLight]

I don't think buying lighting equipment from common retailers such as target/kmart/... that looks reasonable, but which has no way to adjust lighting settings is the way to go. If you take the time to read some of the posts regarding lighting equipment, you will find that being able to make small adjustments to lighting is a key to be able to use it effectively. In the end it is all about you being able to control the environment as much as possible.

+1 for Wickidwombat's recommendations, especially regarding the set to start with. I say that's quite a decent price for some reasonable lighting equipment to start with.

[neuroanatomist]

Personally, I think Paul C. Buff lighting is a great value/quality compromise, sort of the Manfrotto of studio lights.  The Einstein 640 costs slightly more than a 580EX II, and is powerful and versatile.

As for the battery, I'd get the lithium.

[StacyC]

I can tell you right now that the lead battery will be 20 times heavier than the lithium ones.  I would absolutely recommend the lithium batteries.

[Jamesy]

Personally, I think Paul C. Buff lighting is a great value/quality compromise, sort of the Manfrotto of studio lights.  The Einstein 640 costs slightly more than a 580EX II, and is powerful and versatile.

As for the battery, I'd get the lithium.

+1 for Alien Bees

You don't have any flashes yet - why not consider Speed Lite's - they should be plenty powerful enough for a home studio, IMHO.

[wickidwombat]

here is a very very cheap and portable option. all manual though but no different in setup to using studio strobes

get 3 or 4 of these
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/YongNuo-YN-460-Speedlite-Canon-Nikon-Pentax-OZ-/251000827697?pt=AU_Flashes&hash=item3a70d0af31

get 2 or 3 of these
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Photography-Photo-Studio-32-Soft-White-Umbrella-Lights-Lighting-Stand-Kit-/140709915799?_trksid=p3286.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6657407661390978134

get a set of these
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DSLRKIT-PT-16NE-16-Channels-Wireless-Radio-Flash-Trigger-SET-4-Receivers-/220864111376?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&hash=item336c86e310

go get yourself a cheap white sheet and a black sheet to use for back drops

under $200 all up and you can shoot anything and its fully portable. that way if you dont like studio shooting you haven't dumperd heaps of coin on studio gear

[Seanlucky]

I don't think it was the Broncolor Scoro pack you were seeing at those prices... I have a few of those in my rental inventory, and while they're amazing pieces of equipment (who would likely be totally overkill for anything you're doing), they also retail for just over $12,000 on B&H. That's pack only.

Are you sure you didn't see the Senso? I just got a pack and two light kit in for demo, and personally love it! It's essentially Broncolor's response to the Profoto Acute system. While it doesn't boast the same amazing flash duration as the Scoro packs, it's a greatly versatile pack system (much more assymetrical control than a Profoto Acute).

I'm personally a pack and head system kind of person, and I love the Broncolor lineup. But if you're just starting out, monoheads are an easy way to go. I personally don't like the Paul C Buff line, but they are incredibly cheap for a workable light. If you're just shooting for yourself, it's a logical way to go. Big downside I see is that if you ever want to rent a particular modifier, you'll have a hard time finding anyone who rents them.

[JavaBean]

I did not see above this, but what is your actual budget? There are a lot of choices, and every pro will give you 10 that they think is awesome - but usually out of the price range of someone just starting out. So what is your budget?