My target is newborns and children & my question is on studio lighting

[terrilyn]

k so I would like to taget mostly newborns but children are fun too. I have had my canon 60d for 6 months now "I think I have come along way~ and spent alot of money along the way as well trying to set my self up lol" I have done some studio pictures for a small family of three and really didnt have a really hard time lighting them with the equpipment I have but I was hoping for more light and am looking to get some soft boxes. this family came in at 7pm well all my natural light was gone and they wanted to get pictures like I did for their friends baby that i done afew days before but i did her pictures at 1pm full natural light so i asked them to come back when its light out they had no problem with that and we finished their family pictures they were happy but now what if they were not able to come back in day time hours what other lights/ soft boxes do i need??? I currently have 2- Flash point 320m unbrella lights, a canon 580ex ii speed light, and 2 sets of 52" 5 in 1 refectors one with a stand....I'm looking to stay under $350.00 if possible and would like to achive alot of light. I love the supper white backgrounds or pitcures where everything is lit really nicly. keep in mind i want to stay in my newborn/ chidren photography...Thanks

 

[MLeeK]

You have a great setup and should be able to light a family of about 6 pretty well with it. I would LIKE to see a 620 in there for one higher output light, but you have the speedlight that kind of makes up for it. So, if you add another light the 620 would be it. That would give you one 300wps key light, one 160wps strobe opposite it and the third could be used to light an even larger family, as a hair light or as a background light. You have everything and more than you need in light.
Flashpoint makes some great softboxes for those lights.
personally I like the long and thin strip boxes or at least one of them.That way you can control and feather your light a little bit
If I were ordering I'd probably order one of these SBPZ40120 Flashpoint 16" x 48" PZ Softbox. and one giant softbox for them: SBPZ10040 Flashpoint 40" x 56" PZ Softbox.
You will need speedrings for those so 2 of these: SBSR Flashpoint II Replacement Metal Speed Ring for all Model II Monolights.

I might consider a tripod mount and softbox for the speedlight. In which case you'd need a stand and one of these FASRSHO Flashpoint Bracket Mounts Softbox to Most Shoe Mount Flashes - Uses Bowens Speed Ring (Not Included)
and a speedring for that SRBOWENS Flashpoint Speed Ring Adapter to fit Bowens and the softbox of choice. Their PZ's are their better softboxes.

You can always call adorama and talk with one of the guys. They are great and can help you with everything and anything.

I assumed in there that you had a trigger setup for the strobes... If you don't then you'll want one. You can fire the 580EX II remotely with your camera and that will fire the strobes for now, but eventually you'll want to upgrade that.

 

[tirediron]

Note: Comments herein are based on the assumption that you are intending to approach this as a commercial enterprise. If I am mistaken, apologies and ignore my post.

I will start by respectfully disagreeing with the comment that you have a great lighting set-up. You do if you're going to take pictures of your children in your livingroom. The Flashpoint lights are indeed good products for home-use. They are nowhere near the standard required for commercial work.

I have had my canon 60d for 6 months now "I think I have come along way~ and spent alot of money...

Not to burst your bubble, but this doesn't even approach "a lot of money" in this trade. Think $40,000 - 50,000.

1pm full natural light

Not generally regarded by more experienced photographers as the ideal time for out-of-doors work.

...what other lights/ soft boxes do i need??? ... I currently have...

I would suggest working with your current gear until your experience and knowledge tells you what you need for your shooting style. What I think you need isn't really relevant.

I'm looking to stay under $350.00...Thanks

You're missing a '0' to the left of the decimal place.

Not meaning to rain on your parade, but from your post, I believe that while you may have come a long way, you're not quite there yet. One or two paying customers who like your work (possibly because they haven't seen any others) does not necessarily mean you're ready to become a full-time 'pro'.

I would think more about a 3-5 year plan. Study business practices and ensure that you have your liability insurance (Don't even THINK about shooting children commercially without this!!!) and licensing paid up and try and under-study other photographers in your area. Take classes, join clubs, and get the right gear. There's nothing wrong with the 60D, but you have to have back-up gear. In fact, pretty much everything that you have one of, you need two of.

Good luck!

 

[KmH]

My target is newborns and children & my question is on studio lighting

You and 10's of thousands of other DSLR camera owners.

2 lights is just a start. The 2 5-in1's will be handy. They would be more useful if they were rectangular.

Umbrellas and soft boxes aren't your only choices, and good softboxes aren't nearly as inexpensive as umbrellas. There is a kind of half umbrell, half softbox light modifier known as a brolly:
Photek Softlighter 46" Umbrella & Diffuser with a 7mm Shaft.

For high key work you'll need more stuff.

Here is part 1 of a well regarded 5 part article on how to do high key: I've moved the blog –> zackarias.com/blog » White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space

 

[shootermcgavin]

terrilyn don't let KmH rain on your parade, he knows his stuff for sure but there are plenty of people who start out with less than you have and make it a full time gig. I do agree with him on waiting to spend more money, you have everything you need to get by right now I would keep practicing and get some more people under your wing with paid shoots. There's a photographer close to me that will have open shoots every once in awhile, I don't know if she charges for prints or what the deal it but it seems like a great way to gain exposure. If you did decide to buy another light source I'd get another speed light, the nissin Di866 works great with the 60d and is about half the price.

 

[Overread]

KmH - you need to update your Zak links - his blog has moved home (and redirects might not last forever).

terrilyn - I would listen to tirediron - yes you've come a long way but after only 6 months you've got a very long way still to go. It would be poor business practice to be practising and learning your craft on paying clients; especially once you start to leave your immediate friends circle and try to push out to more the more general community.
It would be well worth your time and effort looking around locally and seeing if there are any established working photography pros who you could mentor/train/intern under or even local education colleges and the like offering lessons in studio and other photography subjects - as well as subjects pertaining to running your own business (remember once you start to run a business you have overhead costs and many "mums with a camera" type pricings simply won't come close to covering those costs let along providing a proper income to support yourself with - in the end this suits them fine as they only stay in things for a short time and mostly just to earn a little cheap pocket money).

 

[DiskoJoe]

i know you may be unaware and im sure it was not your intent but your title is creepy.

 

[terrilyn]

Wow GREAT! abit of mixed reviews but thats great!!! I like that too. I prefer to use the natural light for shooting baby's photos, their skin looks much more glowing, and I think that's what I don't wanna loose with any new lights that i might add I was thinking of just adding one rectangular soft box and another "something for a background light" or adding two large rectangular soft boxes. I am working out of a 12X 15 foot basement room I place subjects along the 12 foot wall so I have a narrow space to shoot through. As for clients or customers for some reason I do have allot or enough this is only supposed to be a hobby lol and now i find my self taking days off work for weddings or shoots sometimes editing lol I live way up north in canada so for this time of year 1pm is the best time for lighting in the room I do the baby pictures in. I totally agree that more practice is something we all need seeing as how this is a thread for beginners I guess I was just looking for some recommendations of maybe what set-up types others maybe be using. keeping in mind that I'm doing this as a hobby and I'm loving it. The area I live in doesn't have a baby photographer I sorta think that's how I'm getting the clients that I have they see their friends pictures and love them and come in for their own I think that's the way things start to happen lol I live in a small city with a population of aprox. 43,282 no advertising just word of mouth I've only been having new clients and reoccurring clients now for about 4 months so as you can see I'm new new new the soft boxes I was thinking of adding are only to be used as a fill if i need to do a shoot after the sun goes down my other lights are fine. I like the pictures you see where the babies are full of life and light lol everything is well lit. and around here their is no course I can take or photographers to shadow or I would this is a small community were these people feel threatened lol AS IF! I'm not out their to do that to anyone I started taking pictures of my kids and my friends kids with film and now just bought a good digital cam and a few things. Thank you for all the reviews I really do appreciate it

 

[terrilyn]

oh yes sorry it sorta is but i just wanted my question answerd not this arqument this is stupid! lol Im new to this stuff and and wanted some lighting advice sorry the title creeped ya out yikes!!!

 

[Big Mike]

A little hint, try breaking your posts up into a few separate paragraphs...as needed. Maybe I'm just getting old but it's hard to read your posts.

Shooting babies with natural light is going to be limiting. As you know, even when shooting indoors, natural light isn't always predictable and it may only be at it's best during certain parts of the day. You'd be doing yourself a favor if you can figure out a good solution for studio lighting that you can set to be consistently good light, any time of day. This is especial important with babies as you often have to work around their tiny schedules.

I'm guessing that what you like about your natural window light, is that it's soft. To get soft light, you need a large light source that is close to the subject. This is where a large softbox is a great tool.

You mentioned a white backdrop. That is best achieved by lighting the backdrop separately, usually with two lights so that one side is not brighter than the other. So if you have two lights on your background, you'll need another light (or two---main & fill) for your subject. That's why a good portrait lighting kit is 4 lights.

If you want to shoot with a dark background, you might use the 'background lights' as hair lights or accent lights behind your subject, so that they have separation from the background.

And lastly, I hope that if you are doing these jobs for money, that you are properly set up as a company....have a business license, claim the income etc.

 

[gsgary]

Wow GREAT! abit of mixed reviews but thats great!!! I like that too. I prefer to use the natural light for shooting baby's photos, their skin looks much more glowing, and I think that's what I don't wanna loose with any new lights that i might add I was thinking of just adding one rectangular soft box and another "something for a background light" or adding two large rectangular soft boxes. I am working out of a 12X 15 foot basement room I place subjects along the 12 foot wall so I have a narrow space to shoot through. As for clients or customers for some reason I do have allot or enough this is only supposed to be a hobby lol and now i find my self taking days off work for weddings or shoots sometimes editing lol I live way up north in canada so for this time of year 1pm is the best time for lighting in the room I do the baby pictures in. I totally agree that more practice is something we all need seeing as how this is a thread for beginners I guess I was just looking for some recommendations of maybe what set-up types others maybe be using. keeping in mind that I'm doing this as a hobby and I'm loving it. The area I live in doesn't have a baby photographer I sorta think that's how I'm getting the clients that I have they see their friends pictures and love them and come in for their own I think that's the way things start to happen lol I live in a small city with a population of aprox. 43,282 no advertising just word of mouth I've only been having new clients and reoccurring clients now for about 4 months so as you can see I'm new new new the soft boxes I was thinking of adding are only to be used as a fill if i need to do a shoot after the sun goes down my other lights are fine. I like the pictures you see where the babies are full of life and light lol everything is well lit. and around here their is no course I can take or photographers to shadow or I would this is a small community were these people feel threatened lol AS IF! I'm not out their to do that to anyone I started taking pictures of my kids and my friends kids with film and now just bought a good digital cam and a few things. Thank you for all the reviews I really do appreciate it

For me that room is not big enough to get a nice white background without light reflecting back onto your subject, if i was shooting there i would only be about 7 foot from the subject

 

[MLeeK]

White is actually the hardest to shoot. If you don't have the equipment or the space or the knowledge to do it it always ends up in editing nightmares. Until you get some experience and a "feel" for things steer clear of white.

What it boils down to is that you have a LOT of light for what you want to do in the lights you already own. I RARELY use more than 1 strobe at less than 160WPS power for a newborn or single child/person.
You just need to learn how to use it and modify it. Studiolighting.net has some great information there. Strobist.com is aimed at using speedlights, but the setups, ratios and basics are the same.

While you are trying to learn get a doll, bear, something that doesn't move. Set it up as your subject and play with your lights and the websites tutorials. You'll learn a lot by accident even!

 

[terrilyn]

yes Mike I am set up properly as my husband owns multi companys, that part is nothing new to us and thank you! for all your info thats what i was looking for.

 

[KmH]

KmH - you need to update your Zak links - his blog has moved home (and redirects might not last forever).

White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space • Photography By Zack Arias

 

[terrilyn]

the room is bigger than that meaning I can move farther but i wouldnt move past the lights whitch is around 15 feet. every thing lights nicly i just think i need more fill lights like big mike was saying thats what I'm looking to get outta my pictures and i so swear the room isnt beg enough lol i want my hubby to build me a glass house lol I love natural light but at the same time im here to learn some tips about lighting since i cant get anyone around here to teach me lol i have watched a few online samples that i have learnd some things too thanks again