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One of my best mates (Canon user) is on hols for next few weeks. He has given me OK to use his home studio and lights for whatever I want. I took a few test shots there a couple of months ago and they turned out pretty good I think.

Should I get a IR remote for studio work (kids, nephews, nieces etc), any portrait pros out there?

Should I invest in a 50mm F1.8 for these photos or just use my kit lens?

Is there any particular backdrop colour that is better than others?

Sorry for thse dumb questions but I really would like to improve my portrait technique (which at the moment is fairly well non existent)!

Max

Hi Max, join the club mate. I too am wanting to play with this type of thing and have had a lil play. I made a backdrop up, went to spotlight brought some Muslin cloth and some dye, which i mixed up and dyed the cloth royal blue and tried to get a mottled affect.

Ok when i did some test pics i did have the kids to close to the back ground so will try them further away next time.

Have been looking at studio lights, lots to choose from, but yeh you can get kits in differant places. Now i know someone here has setup a studio as i seen pics of his loverly wife that came out well.
I came up with this as my first try, using the 50mm 1.8 and SB800.


Cheers
John
BBJ

I think John that the colour background you have in the kids' photo is the same as my friend's, seems like blue is a nice all round colour for contrast.

I think there are 2 studio lights there, will hook them all up and see what happens. My sister-in-law wants me to photograph her 3 kids but I want to be ready to go before they turn up and not mucking around with settings, lighting positions etc. BTW, your shot is a good one.

Max

Thanks Max, i am not sure but it could have been Mark or Vince, anyhow someone has got a home studio setup. I am going to make a red backdrop soon to try. These are very expencive to by these suckers like $200+ for proper made ones and well mine was $30, the dye was dearest.
Cheers
John

BBJ, that's a really nice portrait What f stop did you use on the 50mm?

Also just as a suggestion, iron the backdrop The crinkles are a bit much...IMHO and it's really a humble opinion as I haven't had the opportunity to wet my toes with portraiture, the backdrop could be a bit darker so that the people stand out more.

Keep playing guys and let everyone see your results

Piro i used F8, and next time i will move kids forward more. On t5he back drop bit i have read that they leave them crumpled up a bit as it add to the look which might be ok if there was more of a gap from subject and get some DOF going on behind, anyhow how all trial and error.

ozimax
i hope you get a few answers to this post as i'm looking to get a lighting system for my studio, still waiting for the building to be connected to elect/plumb/phone etc.... so it's on the cards i will get a system within a few months... will ask at the sydney meet maybe get some tips on what to get

cheers rob

No worries Rob. I also would like some info as to how much to expect to pay for some studio lights etc, there are heaps of them for sale on ebay but most are from China and real cheap!?

Max

BBJ wrote:Thanks Max, i am not sure but it could have been Mark or Vince, anyhow someone has got a home studio setup. I am going to make a red backdrop soon to try. These are very expencive to by these suckers like $200+ for proper made ones and well mine was $30, the dye was dearest.
Cheers
John

I told this to my wife, and asked if she could get some fabric. I then asked could she 'dye it"? To which she replied, "I already thought I was skinny!"

Max

BBJ wrote:Now i know someone here has setup a studio as i seen pics of his loverly wife that came out well.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's... studio setup! Think it might have been Mark (xerubus)?

BBJ
Nice images and that lighting is soooo soft and gentle. By the way...with 2 SB 800's you can do almost anything that pro lights can do....and they won't cost an arm and a leg.

Ok here is a site that i looked at and sort of went by what advice was here.
http://www.betterphoto.com/exploring/MakingBackDrops.asp
Masdens has lighting here.
http://www.madsens.com.au/2003catalogue/studio/studioindex.htm
Vanbar sells gear as well.

Oh Matt, that was using the lightsphear bounced of the ceiling.

I too have been thinking of a studio setup but space is my issue...I guess the alternative for me is to use SB800 of camera into umbrella first.

FWIW here is a site i bumped into...no guarantee that it will work but interesting none the less..by the looks of it the light is going to be damm harsh
http://www.lonestardigital.com/affordable_lighting.htm

I also stumbled onto this site which show a cheap studio setup.
http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=195
I am not a fan of the background colour...but that can be changed - also I suspect that the light source can be the SB800 off camera.

Just a note on the backdrops.. My father used to run a portrait studio and I have memories of us kids helping him paint his canvas backdrops. He liked canvas because durability and ablity to create more diverse backdrops. We used to paint them just like a feature wall in a house... offers a little more variety than dye.

If you have your subject away from the background about 1 1/2 to 2 meters or more and shoot wide open or down one stop, using say 100 to 120 mm lens, the background will become soft and out of focus, but with what ever colours are there, and your backgrounds are every where you look, you can use shorter lens using the above. Make sure you focus on the eyes of your subject. with a bit of confidence vary the above, the more you stop down the more the background is in focus........Lighting is another subject.......look up portrait lighting on the net

cheers
bp

BBJ
I just had to come back and look again! The LS is working its magic on those images and you have handled the post processing supurbly. The image will make a glorious print to frame and hang. I have to say it's one of the most appealing images I have seen on the forum. Still can't believe the skintones!

Thanks Matt, I had to play wit it a bit as Serina has a few small scars on her from when she had chicken pox as a baby and do really stand out so cloned them out. I used the 1/2 dome for this and despite that i know i where i went wrong with them being to close to the back ground mainly as there was not a lot of room in this loungeroom for movement as it was had to move the lounge a bit as backdrop was hanging over the front window curtains.

I will be doing some more for a friend soon so will try and remember to do it right this time, but i had that image printed and looks a treat, i also like the vignetting, i think it needed something as not to just a plain picture but over all i liked it.
Thanks

Cheers
John

Matt. K wrote:BBJ
Nice images and that lighting is soooo soft and gentle. By the way...with 2 SB 800's you can do almost anything that pro lights can do....and they won't cost an arm and a leg.

Of course I would disagree, but I am biased because I own a studio system. I use a multiblitz system with three heads, two 100cm softboxes, brolly backdop system, and accessories. Results are amazing, I had a CEO shoot with one of Australia's largest food companies recently and I couldn't really show up with a couple of SB800's. That said I'm sure the results would be ok with SB800 x2... just might be lacking in power at a crucial time.

heath
any chance seeing a pic of your set-up ??
cheers rob

Will do Rob, give me a day or two please...

 BTW I am envious of several of the items in your list there. Wow!

I only just saw this thread and I'm just going to make my comment on the first post:

Should I get a IR remote for studio work (kids, nephews, nieces etc), any portrait pros out there?

Should I invest in a 50mm F1.8 for these photos or just use my kit lens?

Is there any particular backdrop colour that is better than others?

Definetly get an IR remote. At the time I first played with a D70 in a studio (probably September - October last year), I was using the evil Jaycar JVC remote which would fire with a ration of 1:6-7 triggers. That said, it's a useful tool and, unless you have a cable release plugin for your camera (I still want one of the overpriced evil buggers), they're a necessary evil.

I don't think a 1.8 or a 1.4 lens is required.
Realise that in the studio, you're going to be shooting on a tripod so for one, it won't matter. Two, you'll probably have modelling lights and flashes set up so at that point, a lens that has low light capabilities won't make a difference. You might be able to get a higher F-stop out of a 1.4, but you should be able to do the same with your kit lens if you know how.

I always found that black worked very well as a backdrop colour, as well as white. You have to be careful with the black because, depending on how much flash or light you use, your black will get lighter and lighter (White doesn't do this ).

Aside for the animated creature I stuck into the image, this was the result of my test with a studio shoot and the D70.
At the time, Dad got a bit pissed at me for attaching one of the flash connector mounts to the hot-shoe because apparently I could've blown the camera up. Who knew?!
Luckilly, I think the SB800 as one in it.

http://www.leighlo.com/random/images/stitchfinal001.jpg

This was shot without anyone else in the room so, if I can set a studio up and shoot some self portraits without any problems aside from a Jaycar remote, you bloody well can!!!

Nnnnsic wrote:Aside for the animated creature I stuck into the image, this was the result of my test with a studio shoot and the D70.

Thanks for the comments Leigh, actually the little fella with ears photographed quite well, but the creature with the mauve shirt looks too lifelike to be animated!

Will look into a black backdrop and a remote (LL3?)

Max

Hi Guys, .... in my pro opinion you do not need fast lenses, tripods, IR releases, or even fancy studio lights to make studio images... what you need is simply an understanding of the light you want and how you are going to achieve it.

Here are three lighting options for you -

1 / Use Tungsten - Given that you can buy halogen work lights on a stand for under $50 then try this as an option. Bounce the light off a white wall to soften it or blast it through a translucent material (keep about a metre between it and the light). Select the right WB, use the 400 or 800 ISO setting, pick a wider aperture (f4 will do) and make photos. If the shutter speed is starting to get too low (1/30 or lower) then put the camera on a tripod... otherwise work handheld so that you can adjust the camera position quickly and easily.

2 / Use the SB-800-
Given that the small flash on the D70 will command the SB800 off the camera without adding to the exposure it is a great tool for doing lighting on location or in the studio... the only thing that you miss out on is the constant modelling that is handy when setting up an image. Buy a light stand and get an adaptor that will let you fit the flash and an umbrella on top. Unless you are combining the light from the SB800 with dull ambient light you will not need a tripod.

3/ Buy one studio light (my preference is for the Bowen 500 Esprites because they can be turned down to 1/32 power output), make sure you get a light stand, brolly and or a soft box with it and then start experimenting. Use reflectors on the opposite side of the light to act as fill (large polystyrene panels are excellent for this although they can be a pain to store unless you have a large garage).

My usual lighting on location these days is a small Sunpack 120J that I use diffused and off camera. It is useful in both night and day time conditions. My colleague in Sydney prefers to use a large ProLite location light however it is both heavy (making it a hassle if you want to travel with it) and expensive. His light cost a few thousand, mine cost $100 second hand!

Tripods have their place in photography (I use a couple) however that place is not in the studio (unless you happen to need slow shutter speeds to capture candle light (or similar) within the exposure. IR releases can also be useful in certain situations but nothing beats working with your hands on the camera, being able to adjust the composition in a moment.

Many people think that you need two or three lights to have a studio lighting set up however some of the best photography is often done with one light. Learn what can be done with that light and you can use it anywhere, both in the studio and on location. As you gain an understanding of light, then start adding lights to the equation, if they are actually needed.

Antsl wrote: Select the right WB, use the 400 or 800 ISO setting, pick a wider aperture (f4 will do) and make photos.

Can't say I'd be keen to use ISO 800 for portrait work.

Agreed.

In fact, with a controlled environment like a studio, shooting at ISO200 shouldn't be hard.

Antsl wrote:Tripods have their place in photography (I use a couple) however that place is not in the studio (unless you happen to need slow shutter speeds to capture candle light (or similar) within the exposure. IR releases can also be useful in certain situations but nothing beats working with your hands on the camera, being able to adjust the composition in a moment.

Thanks for the info Antsl, I have a Manfrotto tripod, but my pro mate (whose studio I am borrowing) never uses one for portrait work.

A lot of info here to digest,

Max

Antsl makes great points here.

Also take note - never buy studio flash heads new - second hand quality ones are available everywhere.

Perhaps buy more than 1 studio head. I have three, usually only use one at a time... but sometimes two (one for background). The third is a invaluable backup, or useful for larger groups of people, hotel rooms, or a customisable fill light (a reflector board is nearly as good though).

Thanks for all the info fellas, i too am interested and well i have seen them doing like pixie type pics at our local Plazza using only 1 flash head with soft box i think or bounce through an umbrella. Well have had a bit of a look at these type setups and well so many of them.

john
the nationaly acclaimed sportsphotog, and now moving into studio portrait shots, do you still drive the cement truck ?? .... leave some room for me john ...lol

cheers rob

The flash equipment used by pixie and also used in local shopping centres, I would class as just above amateur gear........ there is no way I would consider using that style of flash equipment to do a professional photographic job on location, no matter how small the job was.
When doing professional work you should be professional, look professional, know your equipment very well, and use professional flash equipment, One flash head one soft box or brolly and one reflector is a great way to start. You can always hire the other flash heads.

cheers
bp

Yes BP , the pics i seen looked pretty good and they were more for kiddies as they had all the gear for doing kids pics. I would say 2 flash heads and a model light for above as a hair highlight and like you said the reflectors would be a good start.

Remember this post by Matt K?

http://www.d70users.net/viewtopic.php?p ... ght=#70915

Link to the video - http://www.d70users.net/viewtopic.php?p ... ght=#70915

Why use an array of studio lights when 4-5 SB800s will do

Exactly, with Nikon CLS, few SB800s will bring you lot of fun.
I've tried it, that why I got two and my mate has 4, totally 6 with pocket wizard, finally your imagination!

The SB800's would be ok but i guess if you had to buy 3 of them thats if you already have 1 the cost you could buy a flash head, as i have seen some prices and setups.

Here is a snipit from Masdens.
Portraits with One SLS Studio Flash Unit

When starting out it is possible to make very good portraits using but a single SLS Studio Flash with a good Umbrella or Softbox on a solid Lightstand. Short Lighting, Broad Lighting and if a Boom is available Butterfly Lighting can also be used.

A Twistfold Reflector is a great help when using Short Lighting or Broad Lighting as this allows for fill-in light without having to worry about a second set of shadows. Simply hold Reflector Parallel with Studio Flash for greater efficiency. Silver and White Reflectors and Diffusers are the most popular. Gold may also be handy and a Black Subtractor can at times be a "lifesaver!" A Twistfold Bracket allows for reflectors to be attached to a Tripod or Lightstand.

The latest SLS Flash Units include stepless control from 1-8 to full power for both model light and flash output on these units.A Heavy Duty Lightstand or Wallboom is required for mounting these powerful studio flashes. Used with a medium size umbrella or softbox the SLS2001, 3001, 4001 and the 320 to 640 Studio

Flashes are ideal for portraiture. SLS 520-640 are also very good for photographing groups of people a 60" Umbrella or a large Softbox is ideal for Groups in the studio or on location. For Groups a Boom should be considered as this allows for unsightly shadows being kept behind the subject.

As you gain experience you will benefit from using two or more SLS Flash Units for your portraiture. But do try and keep your lighting simple and concentrate on poses and expressions. Expressions sell portraits more than anything else!!

Here is a link to 1 of there pages they have u need acrobat to see it, flashes at dif prices.
http://www.madsens.com.au/2005catalogue/studio.pdf
also have a look here
http://www.madsens.com.au/2003catalogue/studio/studioindex.htm
prices dont look to bad.

Birddog114 wrote:Exactly, with Nikon CLS, few SB800s will bring you lot of fun.
I've tried it, that why I got two and my mate has 4, totally 6 with pocket wizard, finally your imagination!

Something like this?

All i can say is lotsa batteries. LOL

Hmmm.. I have to say guys that some people seem to be dazzled by the glitz of owning multiple SB800s. For less than $1200 (or the price of a couple of SB-800s) though you can buy one decent studio head setup that will give you the power of a dozen SB-800s. With that one light you can do a lot! Honest!

Owning half a dozen SB-800s or similar units makes sense if you regularly photograph interiors or arcitecture for magazines. If you are shooting people though you are better to keep your setup simple, there is less effort required in getting the light looking good and the light will look more convincing (lets get real about it... how tacky is it when you can look at one of the Pixie Photo images created in a mall stand and you can identify every light they have used to make the image... it is formula photography!!!)(and it is a style that they have been using since the time I got into the industry in 1982!)(I was servicing lights and cameras back then for Milestone Photography, a mall photography and school photography crowd and so I have a rough idea of what they were doing even then!).

LESS IS MORE. In a good photograph you should not be able to tell if flash light or available light was used and at this point there is more of a chance the image will look convincing. People love images that are convincing.

At the moment I am in the process of modifying a light for location use. If anyone in the Melbourne area has a drill press and would like to help in exchange for some professoinal one on one tuition time on the subject of lighting (studio or location) or just wants to learn more about pulling flash units to bits for modification then drop me a note!

Cheers, Ants

Antsl,
I agreed with you partial but not all, I love to be mobile with number of SB800s and the light meter as Seikonic. Apart from that, I have 3-4 Nikon bodies so the flash will help me alot in some situation and some shooting scenes with flexibility and mobility.
My other half is too hard on me : she doesn't want me to set up a studio inside the house or anywhere to shoot the models cos she knows my blood
So I have to find my way out of that

Ants, good info and i guess you are right, for the price of a few SB800's you can get yourself a starter light setup, but depends on what you want to do with it as i have seen some portable ones that are very mobile.

I had thought of this mainly because i have been approached to do some dog portrait's for a friend oneday and thought we all know how some people are with there animals, wouldnt it be a good idea if you had a portable setup and went to say the dog show and set up a table etc... and did some doggy portraits. Easy enough to do and a bit of a money spinner but still what ever you do the gear could be handy.

Well something to nor on for a bit.

Antsl wrote:Hmmm.. I have to say guys that some people seem to be dazzled by the glitz of owning multiple SB800s. For less than $1200 (or the price of a couple of SB-800s) though you can buy one decent studio head setup that will give you the power of a dozen SB-800s. With that one light you can do a lot! Honest!

I own both multiple flashes and studio lights. Unfortunately I don't have room for a full time studio so it is sometimes easier to set up the flashes than get all my lights out. Also two of those flashes were bought with the express intention of selling for a profit.

BBJ wrote:...I had thought of this mainly because i have been approached to do some dog portrait's for a friend oneday and thought we all know how some people are with there animals, wouldnt it be a good idea if you had a portable setup and went to say the dog show and set up a table etc....

If you are going to do pet photography my advice would be to do it without the SB-800s and just use one or two studio lights. As much as I like the SB-800 (I tested them a while ago and I was impressed) they still have that delay built in from the time that you push the shutter button to the time that image is made. Even though this delay is less than a second it is still going to be enough to get annoying when you start missing the peak moments when the dog might be looking the best (and dog owners know when that moment was!). Doing pet photography can be a good earner and might help you buy more gear!!!

Ants, i agree and yeh well it was just a thought as a friend wants some done but yeh i thought well if could make portable and well 1 could make a few bucks here as we know with some people who have pets, they are family members so why not. If there is a demand for it, it could pay for itself. This how i started in Bike pix as i was there and well i took the camera so i seen that other photogs only come to major meetings and well since i have been doing he hasn't bothered to come.

So i hit the motoX track as well, parents always want pics of there kids doing there sport as they are usually to busy to take the pictures themselves, i wasn't planning on doing this for money then i started to get a lot of interested people wanting to buy my pics so if it helps me get more gear why not. So if i was to get a reasonable deal that isn't going to cost an arm and leg, well why not and then play with it get to know how to use it and then try make a few bucks to pay for it and lots of fun doing it.
I cant see the point in having 4 or 5 sb800's and all those batteries for this type of setup.

MCWB wrote:

BBJ wrote:Now i know someone here has setup a studio as i seen pics of his loverly wife that came out well.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's... studio setup! Think it might have been Mark (xerubus)?

hahahahaha!!!!

here's the thread i posted details about my setup in... saves me doing it again

http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=4226&start=0

cheers

xerubus wrote:....the thread i posted details about my setup in... saves me doing it again

http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=4226&start=0

cheers

Any idea what type of clamp you are using to mount your SB-800 and umbrella on? I'm looking to get a couple.

About time you showed yourself Mark, i new it was either you or vince that had this setup. Thanks we can rack your brain now.
Edit: Mark cost for this setup and where did you get this gear, not sure if they Alien Bees, or is that further down that post?
Thanks
John

Well John and Ant, spent about an hour taking some studio shots of the missus with a crummy background. I will post the shots in "images" on this forum. Also, called into Spotlight with the aforementioned missus and purchased (at half price) a nice background material. Am going to do some "serious" kid photogrpahy on Friday.

Please let me know how I can improve the posted photos, many thanks, Max

ozimax wrote:Well John and Ant, spent about an hour taking some studio shots of the missus with a crummy background. I will post the shots in "images" on this forum. Also, called into Spotlight with the aforementioned missus and purchased (at half price) a nice background material. Am going to do some "serious" kid photography on Friday.

Please let me know how I can improve the posted photos, many thanks, Max

Repost here with appropriate link:

http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?p=83201#83201

petal666 wrote:

xerubus wrote:....the thread i posted details about my setup in... saves me doing it again

http://www.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=4226&start=0

cheers

Any idea what type of clamp you are using to mount your SB-800 and umbrella on? I'm looking to get a couple.

using the stand which comes with the sb800 and a shaped piece of styro to hold the umbrella.

BBJ wrote:About time you showed yourself Mark, i new it was either you or vince that had this setup. Thanks we can rack your brain now.
Edit: Mark cost for this setup and where did you get this gear, not sure if they Alien Bees, or is that further down that post?
Thanks
John

how are you mate...

i've been flat out as of late so get very limited time to actual contribute at the moment....

i ended up selling my alien bees as the cheaper lights i purchased are doing their job quite well... in the future i will be upgrading to bowens heads. All purchased from http://www.studiolight.com.au/ .

so far have not had any problems, however the lights are only cheap... so don't expect to be able to control apeture etc as well as you can with more expensive heads.