Need Help putting studio equipment together!

Rookie Questions · Apr 8, 2015

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for reading.

I would like to put together together a studio (lights, backdrop, soft boxes or umbrellas etc...) for the sole purpose of being able to transform my living room into a studio and charge for portrait / headshot sessions.

Could you please tell me if this could be achieved for under 1000 dollars or maybe just a tiny bit over and still produce great quality professional looking results so that my customers will be happy with?

I have some portrait photography experience (fairly little, but some) but none in a studio type setting.

The pertinent part of my equipment list so far includes:

Camera -- Canon 70D

Flash -- speedlite 600ex-rt

Tripod -- a very solid manfroto tripod (I might want to buy a pistol grip for this, as I currently have a geared head)

Lenses -- Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM and Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Please let me know if you think this could be achieved for 1000 dollars or just over AND PLEASE could you recommend specific products and where to buy? (I.E. Canon 5D Mark III and you can get the best deal on AMAZON...although we know that wouldn't be true

)

Thanks a lot!

Rook

Designer · Apr 8, 2015

Rookie Questions said:
Could you please tell me if this could be achieved for under 1000 dollars or maybe just a tiny bit over and still produce great quality professional looking results so that my customers will be happy with?

Welcome!

You could probably put together a "bare bones" studio within that budget, but you're going to need to be careful with your money. I recommend that you get good quality stuff, even if you don't get everything immediately.

The one problem that you might not be able to overcome is the size of the room. Typically, a photography studio is pretty big, both in terms of square footage and the height of the ceiling.

If you are blessed with a room that is 30 feet by 40 feet with a 16 foot-high ceiling, then you're good to go.

Derrel · Apr 8, 2015

If only it were as simple as buying gear and then charging for headshots...

Flashpoint FP320MPWK Portrait Wedding Monolight Kit FPML320MPWK
Flashpoint 320M Portrait Wedding Monolight Kit, with Two 320 Monolights, Blk Stands,Umbrellas, Snoot and Carrying Case, $370 dollars or so.
PLUS, THIS ONE, with the backlight stand for $119.94
Flashpoint 320MBS Monolight Kit 150 Watt with stand FPML320MBS
2 of these speed rings at $16.95 each = $8.57 shipping.Amazon.com Flashpoint Speed Ring for all Model Monolights. Camera Photo
A pair of inexpensive Made in China or other softboxes. 24x24 to 36x48, whatever you want. It is nice to have a model like a 24x24 that has an "eggcrate" fabric grid accessory.
An e-Bay crossbar and background pole set $119
A pair of 20-degree grids and a barn door set for the standard-sized reflector.
THREE extra 9-foot light stands. Some poster boards, and some A-clamps.
A large-ish reflector and grip arm to angle and support it.
One-each of 9-foot wide black, thunder gray, and white Savage brand background paper.

If it were "me" I would own five, identical lights, all identical. (So that accessories all interchange, and you become familiar with every combination. And yes, 150 Watt-second lights are plenty in a living room sized shooting area.)

tirediron · Apr 8, 2015

This idea is one I file under the heading of 'bad plans'. As mentioned, a studio space is normally fairly large; mine is about 18x40 with ceilings that slope from 9' to 14' and even at that, I often find myself wanting more room. Now, if all you're going to do is headshots, you don't need too much room. Before you spend dime one however, call your home insurance provider and see where they stand on the issues of liability (client trips on a lightstand and smacks their head....) as well as theft/damage (client leaves and oh look... your wallet you left on the table is gone too). You will also need to find out what your business insurance would cover and what you could rely on your howmeowner's policy for. You also need to talk to you municipal authority and find out what the requirements are, you may need to install a separate washroom, handicap ramps, etc.

As far as equipment goes, again, if you're just doing headshots, all you need is a single light, medium (~30") modifier, and a decent-size reflector. Your background could be as simple as painting one wall a middle gray. I would also look into a "proper" portrait length lens; an 85mm 1.8 is ideal and inexpensive, especially if bought used.