home studio set-up

For some reason my search isn't working. I am trying to start a home

studio. Can I get away with a room that is 20ft long by 12 wide by

71/2 ft high for portraits? From what I read I should shoot in and

airplane hanger for height. Also given these dimensions what rate

lighting can I use to get the right light without overdoing it?

What about lens length and positioning from backround? I have read a

lot of the posts and it always seems to be a big debate over brand

names. Has anyone set up under these conditons? Any help as far as

reading and personal experience would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

The 20x12' part is fine.However,the low ceiling wil not allow proper placing of hair lights for standing subjects.You can do seated shots though no problem.

Don't be inhibited by the height of the ceiling. You can light well

enough at 7.5 feet, but not from directly overhead.

The more height you have, the easier it gets. At 7.5' you won't have enough height for a standing portrait with a hairlight above, and you won't have enough height for shots that use a low camera angle looking up, and you will get a reflector effect from the ceiling, although, if you can paint it black, that will not be a problem.<p>But there's a lot that you will be able to do and lack of size will affect only the range that you can undertake, not the quality.

I set up in a similar space a few weeks ago (I had about 8 more inches in height and about 18 fewer in width), and I think it is just fine for portraits. I used a 10D with a 50mm lens (so it acts like an 80mm), which is great for headshots and 3/4 shots, but for full bodies, you'll need a wider lens. At f2.8 the background is nicely out of focus when the subject is 3-4 feet from the background.

 

My one problem was that my lights were too powerful. I rented 2 Calumet Travelite 750s, and I had to set both to 1/32 (that's what, 23 WS?) and it was still hard not to overexpose. Being without any ND filters, I had to cover the tube with white paper.

 

Hope this helps some...

<i>I should shoot in an airplane hanger...</i>

<P>

This is true. You have plenty of length and adequate but not ample width, but the height is going to be extremely limiting. For all but very short adults or children, it's going to be all but impossible to keep the ceiling out of the shot without having the subject within a hair's breadth of the background. This isn't the end of the world, but you'll be limited to seated adults.

...and limited to an eye level or higher point of view. Also, you don't want your lights lower than eye level, or the shadows are above the facial features. This makes it tricky to use large softboxes or umbrellas, because they extend as high above eye level as they do below. You will be severely limited, which means you must be extremely creative. Make this a good thing, (and get or make some strong boxes to stand on)... t