Studio Setup for the Poor College Student

[angie_t.]

I've been scouring the internet for a clear answer to this question, but I can't seem to sort out all of the

information that I find--

 

Which lights are the lights for me?

 

I'm in college. I am not a photography student, but I have had jobs and photo studios in the past and

really enjoy portrait and fashion photography.

 

Because I'm in college, I don't have a ton of money to spend. I understand how to use lighting setups

ranging from basic to advanced, but I'm not sure which equipment I can afford that will suffice as

alternatives for what I'd REALLY like to buy.

 

Basically, I'm just looking for some professional opinions on what lights, strobes in particular, can serve

their purpose without leaving me penniless. I know White Lightning and AlienBees are both great, but

they're a bit out of my range--especially if I want to buy two! Ebay is completely overrun with a ton of

extremely cheap lighting kits, but I'm pretty skeptical of them. Adorama has a few that are also

suprisingly inexpensive, but I read a post on here about the lamps (by Smith Victor) being somewhat

dangerous to work with due to the temperature they reach while left on for long periods of time.

 

I would prefer to work with strobes, but then there's the problem of also finding wireless slave triggers

on the cheap side. I've been finding these on ebay for under $10 also, but I'm still unsure about

whether or not they would actually work properly. The only things I'm interested in buying for really

cheap are reflectors, umbrellas, seamless paper backgrounds, etc.. assuming they don't come with the

lights I wind up choosing.

 

I have a beginner's camera--the Canon Digital Rebel XT, and the standard (crappy) EF-S 18-55mm

f3.5-5.6 lens that came with it. If I didn't have previous experience with better camera/lens combos, I

wouldn't know it was crappy. Unfortunately, this IS something that I realize, and know that I should

invest in at least a better lens. The only upside to my situation is that I can always make things look

great in Photoshop, but I don't want to have to rely on it as heavily as I have in the past.

 

I know this is long, but hopefully a few of you will take a chance to read it and give me some advice

about what I should look into. Thanks a lot in advance! =)

[angie_t.]

typo--jobs at* photo studios. I haven't "had" any photo studios of my own, yet.

[b_christopher]

If the White Lightening and Alien Bees are WAY out of your range, I say stick with natural light and shoot the hell out of it. If they're just out of your range, then I say, save a little and get no less. In photography, like many things in life, you get what you pay for. There are reasons why the cheapies and crappies exist and certainly, there are reasons why the Elinchroms and Profotos cost thousands of dollars. A good rule of thumb? Buy the best that you can afford.

[rehor]

Hi Anjelica.

 

There is nothing wrong with your Rebel XT. It has 1/200 flash sync, that's not too bad. You can mount Canon glass, thats good. As for the lens, most models' skin will love any lack of sharpness.

 

As for the lighting, I would get a second hand metz 45 or metz 76, and use it in MANUAL. Dont worry about using TTL, you'll need a science degree to work out what the camera is doing. Manual is more predictable and controllable. Also look at the Quantum flash units - the big ones - get a good second hand one.

 

OR

 

Get 1 AB and a good stand for it. I would get the 1600, you may need that power.

 

Buy a set of reflectors - the ones that fold up.

 

1 STROBE + 1 reflector is all it takes to make great photos, indoors or out. You also have the sun - use it - its free.

 

I would also buy a cheap flash/light meter, try the Sekonic L-308s.

 

Hope that helps.

[carl vogt]

For low cost lighting I have found Britek lights to be a good choice,

I have purchased 3 lights and stands and umbrellas from them.

I have had a set of their HS 2000 for several years and recently purchased a BB150 for use as a background light. The have some inexpensive kits with stands and umbrellas. The lights are good but only have Full,1/2,1/4 power settings, not as nice as the multi power settings on other more expensive units. But for the price they are great.

http://www.briteklight.com/

 

Hope this helps

Carl

[mike_earussi1]

Check out this web site which tells you how to make your own system using shoe mount flashes.

 

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

 

I made my own as I wanted an affordable portable setup w/o cords. You can buy the flashes off of EBay in the $25-$50 range (I use Vivitar 283/285's) and power them off of NiMh AA.

[rjlewis]

Definitely check out the strobist site. For a small portrait set up you could pick up a couple Vivitar 285's, inexpensive stands and umbrellas and triggers. The wireless ebay triggers do work (problematic with canon flashes) or you could go with flash triggers (more expensive) and trigger those with the camera's flash. Just direct the camera flash away from the subject with aluminum foil. I've used this set up with fine results. No need for big bucks equipment at this point.

[rjlewis]

I forgot to add, for ease of use an inexpensive meter that reads flash is useful. The more labor intensive approach is to do the math (guide numbers, light loss with umbrellas, distance, etc.) and test the equipment until you get a feel for which exposures fall into your starting point, then fine tune using your histograms, ala strobist. Not as easy as expensive gear, but it will teach you a lot about lighting.

 

When you're ready to upgrade to more expensive gear, the Vivitars become fill and background lights.

[digitmstr]

You can look for any METZ CT-xx series flashes on EBay. These can be used in manual and you can still find the vari-power accessory on the used market. Also, a Vivitar 283 system will work fine. Again, easy to find on the used market. You could also invest in a used 550EX and an ST-E2 and 'keep it in the family' (Canon family that is).

 

Don't spend money on monoblocks as you will want to take the flash with you soon enough and portable (battery powered) monoblocks are very expensive compared to a used 550EX.

 

For softening the light I would strongly rec. a Photek SoftLighter II umbrella box.

[Gary Naka]

couple of options

 

#1 The strobist route, using older (cheaper) manual flashes. BTW you shoot studio strobes in manual mode anyway so this is not a handicap.

 

#2 eBay studio strobes. You might find a used Novatron or Speedotron set for an affordable price. I was able to pick up a Speedotron 400ws pack + 2 heads for about $200, plus $50 shipping (the stuff is heavy and bulky).

 

The good thing about the strobist route is the gear packs away into a lot smaller space than studio strobes. Important if you have limited storage space, like in a dorm. And it is a LOT easier to move.

 

About the triggers, I have both eBay RF slaves and optical slaves.

 

The eBay RF slave work fine, for me. Maybe not as reliable as PW, but a LOT cheaper. But since I use it for a hobby, if it isn't 100% reliable, not a big deal. I use the RF slave to trigger my master flash (when using strobist style shoe flashes), or my Speedotron pack.

 

My optical slaves are Wein and from eBay (caution, lots of different ones on eBay, some probably not very good). I use these to trigger my secondary shoe flashes, or as back up to the RF slave triggered by the popup flash on my D70.

 

So, yes you can do it w/o breaking the bank.

 

BTW there are a lot of money saving ideas that are talked about on both the Strobist site and the related flicker forum.

 

Gud luk and N-Joy, Gary

[ilkka]

A cheap and good portrait lens for a small sensor digital body is Canon's own 1.8/50.

[daniel_borzynski1]

Depending on what exactly you want to be doing, I would second learning to shoot with natural light for the next couple of months. With longer daylight hours coming, you should get plenty of practice. This will get you a couple of months to save for some lighting (look at the Alien Bees) and once you have a really good feel for natural lighting, the strobes will complement your work.

 

Also, check out the Strobist website - You can get there through Midwest photo Exchange (www.mpex.com), but I think the website is http://Strobist.com. They have a lot of good advice on inexpensive setups, especially with the Vivatars.

 

Of course, the advice on natural lighting isn't going to be worth much if you will need to be shooting indoors or are down in Australia with shorter daylight hours coming.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Does your college have a studio photography course? Why not enroll in it as an elective?

[jon_de_la_cruz]

I have recently bought the following items:

 

3x 6' light stands $65

2x 40" silver umbrella 2x 30" white shoot through $35

wireless trigger + 3x receiver $75

3x hot shoe flash bracket with umbrella mount $45

nikon sb 24 $50

nikon sb 25 $60

more than enough rosco gels samplers $.20

 

Total $330.2 --> just a bit more than a nikon SB800, MUCH less than the new Canon flash. all of the items bought from a combination of on line retailers, ebay and craigslist. the above set up and my sb600 gives me A LOT to play around already in my garage :)

 

oh and i'm a fellow starving student too.

[cham]

have a look at www.mpex.com/strobist/strobistkits.htm you can get a decent set up including strobes modifiers stands etc for about $182

 

as was said up there i'd definately recommend reading the strobist site as well

 

"less equipment + more brains = better photography" :)