Does anyone have homemade at home studio?

8ball · Oct 28, 2010

Does anyone have homemade at home studio?
Weather it be a sheet hanging from the wall with some lights post some pictures up of them.
Trying to get an idea for what I can do

Thanks!

Big Mike · Oct 28, 2010

What exactly do you mean by 'homemade'?

I didn't make any of the parts, but I've set up a studio in my basement.

benhasajeep · Oct 28, 2010

Unless you have thick sheets, they are probably too thin to use as a backdrop. Guess you could do a couple layers. Will need to iron them so they don't show wrinkles.

But for a background you could do everything DIY. Simple srping clamps will hold up the background to what every support you chose. Background paper is not that expensive. Again clamps will work fine. If you have a ceiling or wall you can use, you don't need light stands or a cross bar. 2 shelf rod brackets and a closet rod will work just fine. You can even DIY the lights. Just make sure everything is the same temerature (ex 5,000k). As long as all the lights are the same, you can correct for color casts.

Its really not that hard. The design with dictate ease of use though.

Big Mike · Oct 28, 2010

Actually, thin sheets may not be problematic at all, unless you have a bright light source behind them, and even then you can probably kill bright ambient light with a fast shutter speed, provided you are shooting with strobes.

I shot this in a hotel room with direct sunlight hitting the background (curtains). To the naked eye, the light was practically coming though.

This was shot with a very thin (cheap) muslin backdrop.

Yes, wrinkles can be a problem...but if you are going for a white backdrop, you can use two lights (one from either side) and the wrinkles probably won't show in the photo.

8ball · Oct 28, 2010

Big Mike thats exactly what I was takling about.
and Ben, thanks for the tips!

Nautifish · Oct 28, 2010

Not yet but i am slowly working on it....

mwcfarms · Oct 28, 2010

Holy hat batman.

Aayria · Oct 28, 2010

Crazy etsy hats: Not just for newborns!

Rosshole · Oct 28, 2010

Mine is very similar to Mike's setup...

SrBiscuit · Oct 28, 2010

mike! man oh man...now i can FINALLY visualize what im after for my basement studio. ive been cleaning and getting rid of tons of **** to make room.
thanks for posting that...i might print it out and hang a pic of YOUR studio in MY studio to keep me motivated to finish it lol.

doziergraphic · Oct 28, 2010

big mike - are those strobes? or continuous lights?

rCOSIO · Oct 28, 2010

Good Luck 8Ball ...

BIG MIKE ... looks like you got a couple of AlieBees for key and fill lights ... but what are you using for background light and if you dont mind me asking ... how many feet are the background lights in front of the actualy backgroung? Than, how many feet do you position your subject from the actual background?

I have a very similar setup, and get ok shots .. .but i think i can really use some help with some background light setup and positioning ...

thanks

Big Mike · Oct 29, 2010

BIG MIKE ... looks like you got a couple of AlieBees for key and fill lights ... but what are you using for background light and if you dont mind me asking ... how many feet are the background lights in front of the actualy backgroung? Than, how many feet do you position your subject from the actual background?

I have a very similar setup, and get ok shots .. .but i think i can really use some help with some background light setup and positioning ...

The Key & fill lights are (yellow) B800s (although you can't actually see the fill light because it's in the umbrella). There are two (black) B400s mounted to the walls for background lights.
The background lights are maybe 4-5 feet from the back wall...and aimed down at the backdrop. They do spill some light onto a subject, if they get too close to the backdrop, but it hasn't been too much of a problem. I've tried using grids, but they didn't give me enough spread for the background. Barn doors (or just something to block the light) could be used to keep them from spilling on the subject.

But hey, this is a 'home made' basement studio...you do what you can with what you have.
Forrest Turns One ~ Mike Hodson Photography
More Forrest ~ Mike Hodson Photography

Ideally, I'd love to lengthen the whole set up. I'd move the background lights out farther and aim them more toward the backdrop. I'd also like to have the backdrop be longer so that I could hang it higher and bring it out farther. At least I have plenty of room to back up and shoot.

8ball · Nov 1, 2010

Big mike what is the size of that backdrop paper?

Big Mike · Nov 1, 2010

That's actually a sheet of vinyl. I work for an industrial fabric company so I had them make up a backdrop for me. It's something like 10 feet by 12 feet. For use in my own studio, I'd love it to be a lot longer...but for taking to a client's home or somewhere, this size seems to work well enough.

As you can see, to get more length out of it, I laid down a white sheet of fiber board (from Home Depot). Besides giving me more length, it is a nice hard & durable surface.

Paper would be a decent option here as well. It would give me the length I want, but I've have to be weary about someone puncturing the paper because of the carpet underneath. If I used paper, I'd put something like plywood under it.