new "studio" lighting and backdrop

cminus · Feb 18, 2012

I purchased some continuous lighting from adorama, the flashpoint series. Well my wife did for me lol. She also got me a portable backdrop thingy w 2 small muslins, white / black. I love it but of course, since its continuous its hard to capture light @ low iso / decent shutter speed, soo I was going to add my speedlite which fires optically, does anyone else run continuous/speedlite as a setup in their home studio? Any suggwstions on set up?Also, its quite a small room...so I am on the back wall to fit full frame...any suggestions to make this easier? Lol prob not other than get a bigger room

..Anyway, chk out thepic! My speedlite isn't pictured, but it too has a softbox.

New lighting by cminusphotos, on Flickr

Bossy · Feb 18, 2012

There's no point in using continuous and flash at the same time. Take a pick of your set up at the settings you would have for flash. Black screen right? Thats how much the continuous is helping your situation. You're going to have a mess with white balance also, btw. And ideally the subject will be at least 5 feet from the backdrop, and then you further still, so I'm not sure how to help you there.

Mach0 · Feb 18, 2012

I don't think many people use them together... I hear it's possible if you have all lights set to the same color temp and set the white balance manually.... I would be of no help here. IMHO, I would do one or the other.

2WheelPhoto · Feb 18, 2012

might be best you leave the continuous off unless you're doing video

KmH · Feb 18, 2012

What will you be shooting, and how far away from the backdrop can you get your subject?

How high do the light stands go, and how high is the ceiling?

Try and get the creases out of the backdrop. If you wash the backdrop, put a cup or so of white vinegar in the washing machine water to set the color.

MLeeK · Feb 18, 2012

Which adorama continuous lights did you get?
Continuous in a softbox makes me a little uncomfortable, although that doesn't look like their mega powerful continuous that gets really hot.
Adding to Keith on the washing-hang to dry also helps with keeping it from fading. Press/starch then roll to store instead of folding. You can often get left over flooring tubes at home depot, etc to roll things on if you have the space for it.

Bounce your speedlight off the ceiling/wall and set a custom white balance. See how it works!

cminus · Feb 19, 2012

ok here are the lights i got:

FEBK50701 Flashpoint Two Light Softbox kit with Fluorescent Bulbs, Stands and Carrying Casei will be shooting still life and people. ceiling is only 8 ft but i can set up in another room that has 12 ft ceilngs and is approx 2x wider and longer on a temp basis since these are so easy to move. the light stands said 6 ft but they actually go to approx 7.5 ft and i can get the subject 4 to 5 ft from background and get them portrait in whole pic.

great tips on the muslin, i had planned on washing but it honestly never occurred to me to roll it up! (puff puff giiive ... lol totally jk, ahhh high school...) also great suggestion on white vinegar, i will use/do that to tonight!

i think next up in may..birthday.. is going to be a single alien bee! for now is this and a speedlite tho!
sorry for the grammar and punctuation, tablet typing fails.
thank u everyone!

cminus · Feb 20, 2012

Soo, after not listening to KmH in a previous post...*sigh*..and my wife purchasing these lights...*double sigh*

I am thinking of sending these back and exchanging for this FP320SB1 Flashpoint II 320 Monolight Kit, 150 Watt Second, One Monolight Kit with 9.5'black Light Stand and 24" x 24" Softbox

Since I have a speedlight already, do you folks think this would be better suited towards taking pictures of a small family or singl person in conjunction with said speedlite? Plus the portability factor really apeals to me (battery pack).

I plan on getting a more powerful Alien Bee to be the key light eventually for larger setups an such..

Did I just really show how n00b I am at lighting there? lol....any feedback on this is appreciated....

cminus · Feb 21, 2012

TTT, anyone?

Mach0 · Feb 21, 2012

I have the 320. I like it. I didn't get the kit since I wanted a larger soft box. I got a 60 inch octa and I already had an extra light stand. The light works good though. You will like it if you choose to get it.

MLeeK · Feb 21, 2012

cminus said:
Soo, after not listening to KmH in a previous post...*sigh*..and my wife purchasing these lights...*double sigh*

I am thinking of sending these back and exchanging for this FP320SB1 Flashpoint II 320 Monolight Kit, 150 Watt Second, One Monolight Kit with 9.5'black Light Stand and 24" x 24" Softbox

Since I have a speedlight already, do you folks think this would be better suited towards taking pictures of a small family or singl person in conjunction with said speedlite? Plus the portability factor really apeals to me (battery pack).

I plan on getting a more powerful Alien Bee to be the key light eventually for larger setups an such..

Did I just really show how n00b I am at lighting there? lol....any feedback on this is appreciated....

Excellent choice. The lights you have-you'd need about 15 of them to equal one basic flash. The flashpoint monolights are excellent choices for budget monolights and have been extremely favorably reviewed. I have a couple that I use with my WL setup and I am extremely impressed with them for the price.

cminus · Feb 21, 2012

Whew, ok..i was thi nking, man...no replies, these people are like.."what an idiot newbie" lol.....

I also entertained the thought of the socket eexpansion Adorama sells, makes the continuous lighting I have liook like a Wescott Spiderlight with 4 or 5 bulbs out of one socket....but even then, im not sure it will work lol and thats more orderinng, and by THAT time, I could have purchased s trobe and been done..

Ill be sending these back and paying the difference for the strobe , and adding a cheapie reflector....

Seriously, thank you for the replies!

Corey

MLeeK · Feb 21, 2012

You'd still need 15 bulbs or more.
For each stop of light you have to double the number of bulbs you are using. So, if you start with one bulb you double that to 2, double that to 4, double to 8, double to 16. That's only 4 stops and you are starting with very low amount to begin with...
Continuous watts are for a full second. So it puts out 70W in one second. You are shooting for a fraction of that second. Maybe 1/160. That means you are getting only 1/160 of that wattage or less than a watt of light.

cminus · Feb 21, 2012

True that sister....now I can't wait to get this strobe

Derrel · Feb 21, 2012

cminus said:
Soo, after not listening to KmH in a previous post...*sigh*..and my wife purchasing these lights...*double sigh*

I am thinking of sending these back and exchanging for this FP320SB1 Flashpoint II 320 Monolight Kit, 150 Watt Second, One Monolight Kit with 9.5'black Light Stand and 24" x 24" Softbox

Since I have a speedlight already, do you folks think this would be better suited towards taking pictures of a small family or singl person in conjunction with said speedlite? Plus the portability factor really apeals to me (battery pack).

I plan on getting a more powerful Alien Bee to be the key light eventually for larger setups an such..

Did I just really show how n00b I am at lighting there? lol....any feedback on this is appreciated....

Yes!!! send the continuous lights back, and get the studio flash 320M models....yes, it will make life sooooo much easier for you. In smaller spaces, the 320M lights are just about the power output a person really WANTS to have. Lots of features and power per dollar spent.