Photo Studio Help..

[Shavenlaidblazer]

Please read completely and thanx in advance.

NOw ive posted this on another forum before i found this one, so im asking your advice also.. Ive decided to use the canon ef-s 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 usm and the canonef 24-70mm f/2.8 l usm on my digital rebel.. But im still needing to know what to do about light..

My dad knows my love for photography, and im no pro, not even close to it..(hope to be one day) Well my dad has more money then he has sense lol, but he is getting our house remodeled. Well i asked him if hed turn my garage into a studio 20x30' garage.this will be for my learning process.. Welll here is why i need you guys.. I am using a Canon Digital Rebel xt, and im wanting to know a good lense i can use for portrait type pics.. And What else i would need for really good lighting and good flash.. Just give me a lowdown on equipment..(Be specific)

 

[Village Idiot]

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

The same principals that they use with small speed lights can be applied to studio strobes.

The 24-70 is a great portrait lens.

The 10-22 is a specialized portrait lens. It tends to distort a lot , but it has it's uses. I've done a lot of portraiture with a sigma 10-20. I like the style and I tend to try and use it to distort just a bit, without it looking too unrealistic.

If you want to get into lighting, it's probably best to start with one light and work from there, but eventually you'll probably want three or four lights.

Plus you'll need triggering mechanisms. There's everything from the $280 something a piece pocket wizard multimax transceivers to the $30 a set Cactus V2S triggers. Or you could use built in optical slaves or pc cords with hotshoe connections (Your camera does not have a PC port IIRC).

Read through strobist then ask the question. As it stands you might get anything from "Buy $35 Vivitars off of ebay", to "But $1500 profoto strobes".

It's really subjective and depends on your needs. You may be fine with a handful of Canon 580ex's and 430ex's or you might want a set of Alien Bees, or Elinchroms, or whatever...

 

[BTilson]

There is some pretty nicely priced equipment on this site:

http://www.skaeser.com/

Not sure how high it is on the quality scale, but it might be a good place to start.

 

[Big Mike]

I'd suggest that you do a lot of learning before getting too far ahead of yourself. There are plenty of ways to set up a studio or use a space like that...but it would really help if you had an idea of what you want to do and the sort of equipment that you will be using.

Actually, you can do pretty well with just a garage...the large door can be used for 'window light'.

The lenses you have are fine. I might also add a fast 'prime' lens like a 35mm F1.4, 50mm F1.4 or 85mm F1.8.

 

[Shavenlaidblazer]

Thanx for the help guys so far.. And like i said before im getting my garage finished to be a practice studio, funds really arents a problem because it goes into my remodel budget

 

[LynziMarie]

There is some pretty nicely priced equipment on this site:

http://www.skaeser.com/

Not sure how high it is on the quality scale, but it might be a good place to start.

I actually just ordered a set from them and I'm actually very happy with what I got! I'm sure the quality isn't as great as what you can possibly get, but you're right it's an excellent place to start. The price makes it very nice too