Studio lights arriving soon ... EXCITED !!!! A few questions....

[snappysi]

Hello everyone,
So i have bit the bullet and bought my 1st studio light set. am very excited ! I am going to set up a bit of a studio space in my garage, and was thinking about a few things. Some are getting ahead of myself but if any one has any info relating to any points would love to hear your thoughts....

1. Obvious restriction will be ceiling height, so what is best colour for walls ? I was thinking black may be best so as to be able to control light and not have so much "bounce" as may be the case with white ??? Maybe grey ???
2. Thinking down the track but what does everyone use to power there strobes on location shots ? I have read a few DIY options for this.. is this viable or is it best to look at manufactured battery packs ???
3. Did i mention i am excited !!!

Any helpfull info anyone has had in this area from your experiences would be good to hear ...

Simon.

[I @ M]

Simon, wall and ceiling colour are going to be best depending on the style of shot that you want.
Both black and white will work well, white will provide you with the ability to have some reflected light which may suit shots where you want a lot of light but not necessarily directly onto the subject. Just as you can bounce light from speedlights off walls and ceilings, your studio strobes can be used in a similar way. Black walls / ceiling will "soak up" light and prevent spill from the lights where you don't want it fairly well in shots where you want lots of shadow.

My thoughts for the best of both worlds is to paint the walls white and then to have drop down black sheets to cover them. The ceiling is a different matter and harder to cover. What is your garage? If it is an open truss "tin" shed you will have to work on a solution but if it is part of your house and plastered you will find it easier to paint a flat low reflective colour to assist your ideas.

I haven't had any experience with portable power packs but they do seem to be a popular way of doing location shots and there are a heap of them on the market ranging from mega dollars to pretty reasonably priced.

[snappysi]

Thanks Andrew, you have just about summed up exactly what i was thinking. My garage is downstairs and under my house ( Think QLD'er style ) so its reasonably open and should make it fairly easy to work with int regards to finding a solution.
Now i just have to wait for them to arrive ( will be about 4 weeks away ) so i have a bit of time to have a think and a play with some ideas.... ( if only i could get some time away from work ! )

Simon.

[KeeFy]

If your garage is large enough. You can consider 1/2 black and the other half white. This way you do a rear bounce for a back blackground and also have a white background when needed. White ceiling would be best for some ambient bounce as well.

[KLi]

It's always fun getting your first studio light =)

In terms of the portable power for your light it depends on the brand and model to see what would be compatible.

[maccaroneski]

Don't forget how it might be a pain to repaint a black room at some point down the track... so Andrew's suggestion of white walls with black drop down sheets makes excellent sense.

[peterb666]

Black if fine as long as you have white backgrounds when you need reflections but I would think that white and using black backrounds would be just as easy and make it better for when you are not using the space as a studio.

[snappysi]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, i think i have decided to go with a drop down sheet type of set up so that i can have either quite easily. Lights are still about a month away so plenty of time to think and work out the details.

Simon.