DIY Experience.

Scroller

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Messages
20
Reaction score
3
Location
California
Can others edit my Photos
Photos NOT OK to edit
So I like to try to do things on my own, probably stems from being told I cant do this or that most of my life. Its an awesome feeling for me when I do something and it works. Well, I decided I wanted to turn my one car garage into somewhat of a studio. Bare in mind this has been going on for about a week and a half now. I bought a type of flooring kind of like a particle board (on advice from a home depot salesperson) and some primer and then some vinyl tiles....enough to create a 6x6 floor and then a 6x6 backdrop. Everything went fine I followed manufactures directions did everything like the directions said. Then came the problems (guy on shoulder begins laughing and saying I told you not to do this....I hate this guy) First I ran out of one of the colors so I went to HD in town and they were out and it was discontinued. Then we entered into a heat wave...all the tiles on the backdrop fell off. so I went out and bought some adhesive triple streangth I will get them suckers up and they will never come down. I need some room so I can lay down the backdrop so I put the floordrop up next to the wall because the tiles have been walked on they are stuck I cant move em they are good to go. so I did that this morning the hottest day of the heat wave guess what happened...yep all the tiles began to fall a few hours into the heat. I hear that guy on my shoulder again....shut up dude I aint in the mood. So now I am going to have to replace ALL the tiles with this glue.....dude on shoulder is just shaking his head at this point. Top all this off and the electric in the house is doing something funky.....only four outlets in the upstairs portion of the house are working.....my buddy the electrician is walking me thru it and says I have dropped a neutral somewhere we just have to figure out where so we are doing this via the phone and right in the middle of it I catch bronchitis down and out for the week. Guy on my shoulder is just laughing at me.....I really hate him now. Well tomorrow is another day, I think I will try to go redo the boards after work. And I think I will just see if my buddy will let me pay him 100.00 to come over and walk me thru the electric problem. The guy on my shoulder likes the electrician idea but rolls his eyes at the boards.....I will show him lol. Sorry for the rant just wanted to share an experience with you all haha. So I have the cowboy lighting kit I don't want to break the bank but I'm thinking about getting reflectors next any suggestions? Thanks.
 
Hi Scroller, haha, that's pretty much in that short time ;).
What kind of images do you want to achieve in the garage?
 
I would love to get into doing portraits..full body to upperbody shots. small family stuff for people that cant afford a professional photographer...I'm a newbee for sure but I want to get better so practice is what I'm told. I forgot to mention that I have a off camera flash. The type that sits on a stand while the controller is attached to my camera which is a canon T6i by the way. Thank You.
 
From what I understand the cowboy lighting kit is continuous light, right? To be honest they don´t emit a huge lot of light, so you have to work with high ISO, make sure that your camera rests on a tripod and that your models don´t move (or just shoot enough images and dump the ones that are blurred due to your model moving).
One thing you could try is using all the light for your model and keeping the background darker in the beginning. Depending on your budget you could buy an umbrella to soften your light. But you could also buy cheap styrofoam (or even use a mirror) as a reflector, or a very thin white piece of cloth to soften the lights. You can bounce your flash off walls or ceilings, or again styrofoam boards.
It´s always more convenient to use expensive gear, but many things can be done with DIY stuff.
Are you looking for a certain look for your portraits? That of course will determine what you need.
 
Thank You for your reply. I am hoping to do just simple portraits. Family shots Church type shots if you will, I have lots of friends that cannot afford pics but would love to have them and I enjoy shooting their pics so it would be a win win. I like your ideas as well..in fact I picked up a white piece of foam core from work today that was destined for the trash. thank You again
 
Man, hope you get everything sorted out over there.
A few random thoughts:
You can use vellum (tracing paper) as a diffuser. It's inexpensive and can be hung in front a a light source to soften it up. Or course umbrellas off of e-bay are pretty cheap as well.
You may want to expand that flooring to at least 8x8. I have an 8x8 floor set up right now and it's tight for full body portraits of children. Granted you can always put the subject right up against the background, but that's not usually desirable.
If you're looking to do this on a tight budget I'd recommend looking up the "Minimalist Lighting" book by Kirk Tuck. It covers the basics of portrait lighting using inexpensive, "re-purposed" equipment.
The Dollar Tree is a great source of 20x30 foamcore. Having some black on hand and some white is quite useful. Black to block spill light and white for bounce.
 
Thank You for your reply. I am hoping to do just simple portraits. Family shots Church type shots if you will, I have lots of friends that cannot afford pics but would love to have them and I enjoy shooting their pics so it would be a win win. I like your ideas as well..in fact I picked up a white piece of foam core from work today that was destined for the trash. thank You again
I'm glad you like the ideas. Living on the other side of that big water, I'm not sure what church type shot means ;). I rather meant what kind of backdrop you'd like.
If you consider white - have you seen Zach Arias tutorial videos? They are great. Of course it is not too easy to create an all white setup with energy saving lights. But if you don't mind noise due to high ISO, it is doable. Plus it doesn't have to be all white either. Look at this video for example.
You don't have to use barn doors for the background lights. Everything that blocks light spill into your lens and onto your models is fine. And if it is white, it is even better because it reflects more light onto your background. Again you can use foam core.
Of course all white isn't everybodys favourite, but it's a good starting point.
 
Last edited:

Most reactions

Back
Top