My home strobist studio is complete.

[BLWNHR]

Now to find some time to use the thing!

I picked up a pair of light-stands, 43" umbrellas, clamps and Cactus triggers from a fellow forum member today (all Image Melbourne items). Finally I have my home studio pretty much complete!

I now have:
3x6m black backdrop with backdrop stands (3m wide, 3m tall)
Aforementioned light-stands, umbrellas, clamps & triggers.
Nikon SB-900
Nikon SB-800
Sigma EF-500 Super
Sigma EF-500 ST

And most importantly a spare room! :)

So, between that lot I should be able to turn out some decent shots given the time!

The Sigma flashes are Pentax-mount so I will need some more receivers before I can use these. For the time being the Nikon CLS will have to do.

I couldn't help myself so I quickly set up the gear when I got home and rattled a few shots off. Far out it is so easy to take great flash photos with the right gear!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC6056.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC6062.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC6063.jpg

I thinking of moving my 'studio' to my offices. I currently have a spare room around 3.5m x 6.5m office with a 2700 ceiling and no windows which would lend itself heavily to conversion to a studio! (It also has a flat-white ceiling and neutral coloured walls, as a bonus.) It'd be nice if it was a meter wider so I could get the lights a bit further away, but you play the hand you're dealt.

[bellamae]

Oh!!! I am jealous! Have fun with it and I look forward to seeing some shots :)

[mercho]

Looks good mate! Enjoy!

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day Adam

Looks good, and I'm envious ~ without being too rude, could you give us plebs a ruff idea of its all-up cost?? I'm about to update my very basic system and would like some ideas... tho I'm toying with lights rather than strobes

regards, Phil

[pgbphotographytas]

That looks like a really good set up, I hope you enjoy using it.

[BLWNHR]

without being too rude, could you give us plebs a ruff idea of its all-up cost??

It's hard to say because I've snuck up on it, but I'll give you an idea.

3x6m black backdrop with backdrop stands (3m wide, 3m tall) - $120 for this (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_61&products_id=52) model, and $75 for a plain black muslin background. (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_54&products_id=35) Plus shipping.
Aforementioned light-stands, umbrellas, clamps & triggers. - For a decent 2.6m stand (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?products_id=54) - $60, 43" umbrellas (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?products_id=308) $25, clamps $25 for plastic (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=36) or $50 for metal (preferred) (http://##############.com.au/store//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=117). Plus shipping.
Nikon SB-900 - $750 new in 2009
Nikon SB-800 - $400 2nd hand in 2009
Sigma EF-500 Super - Free when I bought a heap of gear in 2006.
Sigma EF-500 ST - $250 in 2005.


tho I'm toying with lights rather than strobes

I like the flexibility of strobes. I plan to use my gear for outside stuff pretty regularly so batteries are the preferred option for me.

If you are after studio lights I spotted this awesome deal in the current Photographic Trader; Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit, with 2 heads, 2 stands, 2 soft boxes, case, sync cables, power cables and an instructional DVD for $849 delivered anywhere in Australia! (http://shop.cameraelectronic.com.au/E5Product.cgi?Code=20802)

[Lincolnbl]

Great setup. Wish I had a dedicated room for photo gear.

Can I ask the reasoning behind setting up the flash far away from the brolly when shooting thru? I have usually setup my shoot thru a lot closer to the brolly but when bouncing I set it up (as you have) right near the end of the pole.

The only reason I did it this way was my first (borrowed) brolly had a black backing that required the flash to be mounted closer.

I am sure I am probably doing it wrong, but keen to hear your thoughts anyway.

[BLWNHR]

Can I ask the reasoning behind setting up the flash far away from the brolly when shooting thru?

Reason: I don't know what I'm doing, lol.

I've yet to experiement with it and just set it up like I've seen other people using them. Admittedly I can't remember if the setups I've seen have been shoot-through or bounce.

I would think that having the umbrella further away from the flash will spread the light more as it isn't so concentrated on one part of the umbrella.

[Lincolnbl]

lol, that makes two of us then.

Quick search of strobist and think I have an answer.


But I didn't want the light to be too soft on Ant's face. So I "choked up" on the shaft a little bit to make the light a little less soft. (The flash was not lighting the entire umbrella.)

But that proximity also gives me another advantage. When my light is this close I also have lots of control over the amount of light reaching my background, which in this case happens to be a grey room divider.

I guess it makes sense that the closer the flash to the brolly the more control over spill light you have.

So we were both right :)

Linky here:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/03/rethinking-umbrella.html

[Darvidanoar]

I'm jealous too. You have a spare room! lol

Looks like a lot of fun .. a brolly and stand have been on my wishlist for a few months now. tight budget (home owner) :)

[Adrian Fischer]

Way to go. You will need to be carefull with those brightly coloured walls that it doesnt affect your end results. I too have a small room that I use so I can leave my gear set up pretty much all the time. Its a real bonus. Im now looking to build a 4.5X 9 metre shed to accomodate my gear. Only time and money stopping me. I look forward to seeing your efforts with the new gear also.

[brianward81]

Image Melbourne are a great place to get your gear from (I saw that you got some of your stuff from there) - I got a backdrop stand and muslin backdrop, cactus V4 radio trigger, 2 light stands, reflectors, and heaps more. Really top quality stuff (I don't work for them!). If only they sold extra rooms...

[Dee Kay]

Nice setup, those yellow walls are a cause for concern though if shooting people..

[exmrblonde]

I'm going to visit Image Melbourne this week to pick up a similar set-up.
As I'll be shooting outdoors mainly, I won't be picking up a backdrop, but everything else is pretty much on the list - as well as a softbox. Might as well get one while I'm there...
These will be used with the Canon flash, as well as a couple of YN460 el-cheapos from ebay..

[jimsuy]

nice simple set up... :)

[mal from cessnock]

and so some time later I imagine this project has been finished. Tell me Adam has it worked out? Is the space 6500x3500mm enough to provide width for stands and suitable depth for you to shoot and provide adequate space between your subjects and the background?

[BLWNHR]

Well I had a fairly major setback with pretty much all of my gear being stolen in September. That shot my inspiration to pieces and I've hardly used this gear since. Well, actually, I've used the light stands a bit for car shoots, and I've loaned the whole arrangement to some friends, but I haven't actually done much with it.

Over Christmas I spent a fair bit of time trying to photograph a clear glass bottle with a white etched logo in it, in high-key. I started seeing some alright results, but such is the haste of my life at the moment the project remains half finished.

I have a corporate portrait session booked for the end of July, that will see the gear get a workout again. Around 100 couples to shoot in under 1 hour, I'll have to be hurding them like cattle!

I will say that over the last 4-6 weeks I've started getting back into car feature shoots again and after having 3 months off I've got a new passion and have learned quite an amount from looking at everything in a new light (excuse the pun) again.

A bit of a look at what I've been up to...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC1358.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC1601.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC1826-copy.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/blownhr/Photography/_DSC1992-copy.jpg

[mal from cessnock]

Adam - thanks for you comprehensive and frank response - you've had a bit of bad luck there bro' - losing your gear must have been traumatic. I haven't got insurance for photographic gear and would be devastated if something untoward were to happen.

The glass bottle sounds like an interesting project and I love your cars. Tell me, are you still only using strobes?

Can you tell me what your lighting setup was in the last car pic? Is the black diagonal area in the foreground a shadow or a drop off? If it is shadow, how did you do that?

I had a good look through your website after I'd posted my question to you and noticed there was no studio stuff there. Good website - great wedding images.

Great that you have bounced back - us human beings can get shot down, "but we get up again..."

All the best :party6:

[BLWNHR]

Tell me, are you still only using strobes?

All but the second image are using strobes. The second is using a contsant lighting arrangement. I own 3No. Nikon SB-900 strobes fired using Nikon's CLS (optical triggering). Once this latest round of magazine shots get published I'm going to buy another SB-900 and some CyberSync wireless triggers. I will lose flash power control from the camera, but won't get any miss-fires.


Can you tell me what your lighting setup was in the last car pic? Is the black diagonal area in the foreground a shadow or a drop off? If it is shadow, how did you do that?

The last pick was using all 3 SB-900s, fired bare, using CLS. All 3 strobes were mounted on light-stands and were about 2-2.2m from the ground. There is one camera-left about 2m in front of the car (about 750mm out of the frame) and two camera-right, one about 4.5m from the front of the car (500mm out of the frame) and one about 2.5-3m from the back corner of the car.

The shadow in the foreground was from me standing about 1.2m below ground level behind a ledge. The ledge was shaped like _____/^| so there was a lip I could use to block out the foreground light.

The PP for that shot was limited to some dodging around the front grille and removal of a couple of over-bright streetlights in the background.

That night was about 7-degrees taking in wind-chill and it was blowing about 30km/h. Thankfully the car owner had a friend, as did I, so I had people standing with each light-stand to stop them blowing over.

[mal from cessnock]

Thanks for the detail Adam - figured there was a drop off ______/ but what does this represent ^| ?

Tell me which mag do you shoot for?

BTW love the MADAZ number plate :)

[BLWNHR]

Haha, that was meant to be the peak at the top and the vertical piece I was standing behind.

I freelance for a few magazines, Fast Fours & Rotaries, Street Machine, Cruisin', Street Commodores etc.

[mal from cessnock]

Ah ha! Now I get it. I'm a bit think sometimes - but I did get the _____/ ;)