A DIY Portrait Studio for 500 USD?
Nov 29, 2019 13:34:46 #
nikonnate
Loc: Woodbury MN
A reposting from the main forum:
Hey folks. Feel free to link other threads here, I did a search for a few terms and came up dry but likely missed as few so I won't be upset with an "already discussed this, moron" response.
Getting in to this:
I have a 10 month old son (actually today is the exact 10 month mark) and a niece 8 days older. My daycare provider has a photographer come in quarterly and on holidays for "school photos" which is nice, but my wife dropped 80 bucks on the first set, got them back, frowned and told me "your photos are better." Fast forward to this past week, she sent in 60 bucks, then asked if it was too late to have them touch out a few shiny spots. "Yup." "Well dang it!"
So I want to set up my own portrait studio to do holiday and yearly photos of the kids and maybe the families (only 3 people per). I forecast a budget target of about 500 bucks USD. I don't know that I 'need' 3 lights, but I expect 2 for sure, so how would you spend roughly 500 bucks on lights, stands, triggers, modifiers, backdrop/ backdrop supports, etc? I'm completely cool with making my own reflector boards or using slightly unconventional sources for reflectors (ex. sun reflectors for your car) if necessary. [Edit: I expect to need/favor a high-speed sync to keep up with potentially mobile kids.]
Looking forward to your suggestions and I will answer questions as I can.
Hey folks. Feel free to link other threads here, I did a search for a few terms and came up dry but likely missed as few so I won't be upset with an "already discussed this, moron" response.
Getting in to this:
I have a 10 month old son (actually today is the exact 10 month mark) and a niece 8 days older. My daycare provider has a photographer come in quarterly and on holidays for "school photos" which is nice, but my wife dropped 80 bucks on the first set, got them back, frowned and told me "your photos are better." Fast forward to this past week, she sent in 60 bucks, then asked if it was too late to have them touch out a few shiny spots. "Yup." "Well dang it!"
So I want to set up my own portrait studio to do holiday and yearly photos of the kids and maybe the families (only 3 people per). I forecast a budget target of about 500 bucks USD. I don't know that I 'need' 3 lights, but I expect 2 for sure, so how would you spend roughly 500 bucks on lights, stands, triggers, modifiers, backdrop/ backdrop supports, etc? I'm completely cool with making my own reflector boards or using slightly unconventional sources for reflectors (ex. sun reflectors for your car) if necessary. [Edit: I expect to need/favor a high-speed sync to keep up with potentially mobile kids.]
Looking forward to your suggestions and I will answer questions as I can.
Dec 1, 2019 10:48:32 #
Hi Nate!
So...I read your post carefully and I think you may have some potential for a good portrait photography business but some marketing considerations are more important than the equipment issues before you invest in gear. Of course, you do need decent, reliable and appropriate lighting setup but FIRST, you need a BUSINESS PLAN.
Your story is very familiar to me, the part about your wife spending money on "school pictures" that are not all that great but the parents buy then anyway because the are kinda better that their home-made cell phone pictures but the certainly ain't masterpieces BUT the moms and dads want pictures of the kids as they grow up, progress for daycare through high school and on special holidays and special occasions.
60 or 80 bucks is not a fortune of money but it seems to like a lot for "school pictures, especially if the quality is not all that impressive. If a small there is only a small profit per sale, there is not all that room for a decent profit when you consider all the work and expenses.
The big school photo operators can achieve profit in that the makeup for the small margins in volume- the do hundreds of kids and many daycare facilities, kindergartens, dance and music schools, and public and private elementary and high schools.
In my own business, in the portrait side, I am NOT a high-volume operator, si if I am asked to photography a daycare, elementary school class, etc., I do it with the concept that I am (1) going to provide a very high-quality product future family and child portrait business for satisfied customers.
I offer a plan where they can have their kids photographed at my studio over years at special reduced sitting fees. This ongoing plan is not my invention, nor is it new, but it is not all that prevalent theses days so it works well for me.
QUALITY: I don't know at what level your portrait photography and lighting skills are presently at. Since your photographs were superior to those of the school photographer, I would like to know in what ways there were perceived as better, is it the lighting, image quality, and I'd bet on perhaps POSES AND EXPRESSION. If you can post an image or two, it will help me advise you! (OK- EDIT: I say you shot after posting this). We'll talk!
So...if you are interested in starting up a business please consider your marketing approach and let me know what your thinking is. You will also need a price list with the various options, individual portraits, packages, etc. This has to be based on your costs pf sales and overhead expenses. If you are goi to operate on daycare or school premises, you should have a comprehensive liability insurance policy as well.
Back to gear: I don't know what existing gear you now own.
A 3 light setup will be sufficient - excellent portrait can also be done with one mono-light in a soft-box and a reflector if you know exactly how to do that. A complete mobile "STUDIO" would require a background, at least 3 lights, at least 5 stands to support the lights and the background, at least 1 adjustable posing stool, perhaps a posing table (kind of an adjustable leaning post), some umbrellas or softboxes, a reflector and stand, a good fast operating tripod and head, and some miscellaneous props and accessories. $500. U.S.D. might be cutting it thin unless you go to used lights. Mono-lights are best in that they are equipped with modeling lamps so you see your lighting as you adjust the position and power. You will need lights that can accommodate a long duty cycle because you will be shooting long days and fast. Sort recycling times are an asset as well.
You will not require super-powered lights because you are working close to the subject and you don't need to stop down to tiny apertures- mostly your background can be out of focus. ELECTRON FLASH is best for kids- it freezes action especially when kids are very active.
So...How do you get along with little kids?- some of them can be more "difficult" than others. Some will ham it up for the camera, some will put on a fake smile and look like a jack-o-lantern! Many will be perfectly cooperative as long as you know how to get a good natural expression from kids of different age groups. A few will cry, have tantrums or even throw-up, and some are OK but have difficult parents!
Attached are a few very basic lighting schematics and an example of the same kid from kindergarten through middle school and still going! All of theses images are made with basically the same lightg gear configured in different. A suggestion letter is issued to parent in advance that indicated the best colors of clothing and othere creative costume ideas. Perfectly crafted portrait can be rejected by parent because of sloppy dress so I alway try to avoid that on "picture days" Some will bring a favorite outfit, hat, toy or wahtever. I do take more than one "pose". Shoot an entire class or worse, an entire school, is kinda mass-production, but I try to work fast and efficiently but still give each kid special attention. Working with an assistant helps!
So...I read your post carefully and I think you may have some potential for a good portrait photography business but some marketing considerations are more important than the equipment issues before you invest in gear. Of course, you do need decent, reliable and appropriate lighting setup but FIRST, you need a BUSINESS PLAN.
Your story is very familiar to me, the part about your wife spending money on "school pictures" that are not all that great but the parents buy then anyway because the are kinda better that their home-made cell phone pictures but the certainly ain't masterpieces BUT the moms and dads want pictures of the kids as they grow up, progress for daycare through high school and on special holidays and special occasions.
60 or 80 bucks is not a fortune of money but it seems to like a lot for "school pictures, especially if the quality is not all that impressive. If a small there is only a small profit per sale, there is not all that room for a decent profit when you consider all the work and expenses.
The big school photo operators can achieve profit in that the makeup for the small margins in volume- the do hundreds of kids and many daycare facilities, kindergartens, dance and music schools, and public and private elementary and high schools.
In my own business, in the portrait side, I am NOT a high-volume operator, si if I am asked to photography a daycare, elementary school class, etc., I do it with the concept that I am (1) going to provide a very high-quality product future family and child portrait business for satisfied customers.
I offer a plan where they can have their kids photographed at my studio over years at special reduced sitting fees. This ongoing plan is not my invention, nor is it new, but it is not all that prevalent theses days so it works well for me.
QUALITY: I don't know at what level your portrait photography and lighting skills are presently at. Since your photographs were superior to those of the school photographer, I would like to know in what ways there were perceived as better, is it the lighting, image quality, and I'd bet on perhaps POSES AND EXPRESSION. If you can post an image or two, it will help me advise you! (OK- EDIT: I say you shot after posting this). We'll talk!
So...if you are interested in starting up a business please consider your marketing approach and let me know what your thinking is. You will also need a price list with the various options, individual portraits, packages, etc. This has to be based on your costs pf sales and overhead expenses. If you are goi to operate on daycare or school premises, you should have a comprehensive liability insurance policy as well.
Back to gear: I don't know what existing gear you now own.
A 3 light setup will be sufficient - excellent portrait can also be done with one mono-light in a soft-box and a reflector if you know exactly how to do that. A complete mobile "STUDIO" would require a background, at least 3 lights, at least 5 stands to support the lights and the background, at least 1 adjustable posing stool, perhaps a posing table (kind of an adjustable leaning post), some umbrellas or softboxes, a reflector and stand, a good fast operating tripod and head, and some miscellaneous props and accessories. $500. U.S.D. might be cutting it thin unless you go to used lights. Mono-lights are best in that they are equipped with modeling lamps so you see your lighting as you adjust the position and power. You will need lights that can accommodate a long duty cycle because you will be shooting long days and fast. Sort recycling times are an asset as well.
You will not require super-powered lights because you are working close to the subject and you don't need to stop down to tiny apertures- mostly your background can be out of focus. ELECTRON FLASH is best for kids- it freezes action especially when kids are very active.
So...How do you get along with little kids?- some of them can be more "difficult" than others. Some will ham it up for the camera, some will put on a fake smile and look like a jack-o-lantern! Many will be perfectly cooperative as long as you know how to get a good natural expression from kids of different age groups. A few will cry, have tantrums or even throw-up, and some are OK but have difficult parents!
Attached are a few very basic lighting schematics and an example of the same kid from kindergarten through middle school and still going! All of theses images are made with basically the same lightg gear configured in different. A suggestion letter is issued to parent in advance that indicated the best colors of clothing and othere creative costume ideas. Perfectly crafted portrait can be rejected by parent because of sloppy dress so I alway try to avoid that on "picture days" Some will bring a favorite outfit, hat, toy or wahtever. I do take more than one "pose". Shoot an entire class or worse, an entire school, is kinda mass-production, but I try to work fast and efficiently but still give each kid special attention. Working with an assistant helps!
Dec 1, 2019 21:28:27 #
nikonnate
Loc: Woodbury MN
Thanks Ed, those are good things all to think about. For now, however, I'm not looking about getting a business going - I'm no portrait photographer ...well, yet - give me a year or so to learn lighting.
For this year and the next couple I'm more interested in saving a bunch of cash every quarter! That 60 or 80 adds up fast - those two alone are ~150 in the last 4 months. Extrapolate that out and it's easy to justify putting 500 or 700 in to a small home/personal studio that I can pack up and store in between sessions. You were certainly on the right track with why my wife likes my work over the school's, I capture my kid's expressions and the image quality itself is better. I don't have any external lights yet (THAT is going to be a learning curve) but I generally like the lighting that I do get more than the flat, featureless lighting we pay for.
So having cleared that up, my figure of 500 was kind of a hopeful target. It will be much more palatable to the Home Minister of Finance to have a lower figure that offers a nicely functional studio but yet allow room for growth in the future if this turns in to something that we both like. I hope that directs your guidance a bit.
While not exactly portraits, here are a few candids of the kids I'm looking to shoot first:
For this year and the next couple I'm more interested in saving a bunch of cash every quarter! That 60 or 80 adds up fast - those two alone are ~150 in the last 4 months. Extrapolate that out and it's easy to justify putting 500 or 700 in to a small home/personal studio that I can pack up and store in between sessions. You were certainly on the right track with why my wife likes my work over the school's, I capture my kid's expressions and the image quality itself is better. I don't have any external lights yet (THAT is going to be a learning curve) but I generally like the lighting that I do get more than the flat, featureless lighting we pay for.
So having cleared that up, my figure of 500 was kind of a hopeful target. It will be much more palatable to the Home Minister of Finance to have a lower figure that offers a nicely functional studio but yet allow room for growth in the future if this turns in to something that we both like. I hope that directs your guidance a bit.
While not exactly portraits, here are a few candids of the kids I'm looking to shoot first:
Dec 2, 2019 13:32:56 #
Nate!
For starters, you are not doing too badly with available light, so firstly, try to watch your composition, that is, how you frame your images in the viewfinder and what for details like clothing and distracting objects. Watch your exposure so that your images are not too ligh or too dark. ALSO- consider getting and editing program such as Lightroom or PhotoShop to crop and correct your images. You will have to learn to do these things even when you have a studio-like setup.
Do you have any flash equipment at the present time- like a speedlight? If you do, it can be used as part of more complete studio setup.
Learning and practicing portrait lighting requires that you SEE the lighting effect you are creating as you adjust the lights. Your MAIN light, therefore shod be a MONO-LIGHT type that includes a built-in modeling lamp that provides continuous light for making the necessary adjustment and position of the light to accommodate the subject. A second light is used to provide fill-in illumination which controls the depth of the shadows created by the main light. A second Mono-light would be ideal, however, a Speedlight may suffice for the fill light and other lights which can be used in a fixed position so you can judge the results without actually seeing the effects of the secondary lights.
LIGHT MODIFIERS: Direct flash light can be difficult to control unless you have a great deal of experience. For portraiture, a softer even light is more natural and flattering to most subjects. The use of umbrellas and soft-boxes is popular among many portrait shooters. 2 Mono-lights and 2 umbrellas would be a good starting point. There would be enough spill to illuminate the right kind of portable background.
$$$$- A couple of monolights equipped with umbrellas and sturdy stands can easily exceed your budget without a background and other accessories. You are going to have to research the new and used market to find something at reasonable prices that are reliable. The Paul C. Biff company, for many years, made a series of lights trademarked under the name Alien Bees priced between $225.00 and 359.00 each. They also produce some great umbrellas and soft-boxes as well as stands. The advantages are that they sell directly to photographers, their customer service is excellent and the gear is domestically manufactured in the U.S. (Nashville, Tennessee).
Unless you are experienced with older flash gear, it can be difficult to find good reliable units. There are some lower-priced imports that may be difficult to get service and parts for once the warranty expires and that is if the is any domestic service depot. If you are researching the used market, some brands to consider are Photogenic, Bowens, Dyna Light, Pro-Foto, and Speedotron.
Backgrounds- The best variety, sizes, and prices are at Denny Manufacturing. They have a huge variety. Google all these names and gave a look at their websites. Weh you look at Denny, let me know and I will make some suggestions in there "Old Master" series. The Buff site has some interesting videos.
I'll attach a few quick edits on your images to illustrate what can be done in post-processing. Color and density is improved. The subjects and emotional content are emphasized and the baby shot made for a nice high key portrait.
For starters, you are not doing too badly with available light, so firstly, try to watch your composition, that is, how you frame your images in the viewfinder and what for details like clothing and distracting objects. Watch your exposure so that your images are not too ligh or too dark. ALSO- consider getting and editing program such as Lightroom or PhotoShop to crop and correct your images. You will have to learn to do these things even when you have a studio-like setup.
Do you have any flash equipment at the present time- like a speedlight? If you do, it can be used as part of more complete studio setup.
Learning and practicing portrait lighting requires that you SEE the lighting effect you are creating as you adjust the lights. Your MAIN light, therefore shod be a MONO-LIGHT type that includes a built-in modeling lamp that provides continuous light for making the necessary adjustment and position of the light to accommodate the subject. A second light is used to provide fill-in illumination which controls the depth of the shadows created by the main light. A second Mono-light would be ideal, however, a Speedlight may suffice for the fill light and other lights which can be used in a fixed position so you can judge the results without actually seeing the effects of the secondary lights.
LIGHT MODIFIERS: Direct flash light can be difficult to control unless you have a great deal of experience. For portraiture, a softer even light is more natural and flattering to most subjects. The use of umbrellas and soft-boxes is popular among many portrait shooters. 2 Mono-lights and 2 umbrellas would be a good starting point. There would be enough spill to illuminate the right kind of portable background.
$$$$- A couple of monolights equipped with umbrellas and sturdy stands can easily exceed your budget without a background and other accessories. You are going to have to research the new and used market to find something at reasonable prices that are reliable. The Paul C. Biff company, for many years, made a series of lights trademarked under the name Alien Bees priced between $225.00 and 359.00 each. They also produce some great umbrellas and soft-boxes as well as stands. The advantages are that they sell directly to photographers, their customer service is excellent and the gear is domestically manufactured in the U.S. (Nashville, Tennessee).
Unless you are experienced with older flash gear, it can be difficult to find good reliable units. There are some lower-priced imports that may be difficult to get service and parts for once the warranty expires and that is if the is any domestic service depot. If you are researching the used market, some brands to consider are Photogenic, Bowens, Dyna Light, Pro-Foto, and Speedotron.
Backgrounds- The best variety, sizes, and prices are at Denny Manufacturing. They have a huge variety. Google all these names and gave a look at their websites. Weh you look at Denny, let me know and I will make some suggestions in there "Old Master" series. The Buff site has some interesting videos.
I'll attach a few quick edits on your images to illustrate what can be done in post-processing. Color and density is improved. The subjects and emotional content are emphasized and the baby shot made for a nice high key portrait.
Dec 3, 2019 09:16:38 #
nikonnate
Loc: Woodbury MN
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
Nate!
Agh! What?! Is this good or bad or exasperated!
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
For starters, you are not doing too badly with available light, so firstly, try to watch your composition, that is, how you frame your images in the viewfinder and what for details like clothing and distracting objects.
Thanks. The shots I posted were largely meant to be illustrative of the candids I usually capture, not exactly a portrait by the typical definition. I realize they are more of a full scene vs the close-up nature of a portrait.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
Watch your exposure so that your images are not too ligh or too dark. ALSO- consider getting and editing program such as Lightroom or PhotoShop to crop and correct your images. You will have to learn to do these things even when you have a studio-like setup.
I'm pretty good with Lightroom but haven't really needed to get in to Photoshop yet. It's on my to-do list.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
Do you have any flash equipment at the present time- like a speedlight? If you do, it can be used as part of more complete studio setup.
Nope, that's one big reason I'm here and asking. I might have to just start with a speedlight and bounce it off the ceiling.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
Learning and practicing portrait lighting requires... (show quote)
Okay, now we're getting in to the meat of what I don't but need to know to get things set up.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
LIGHT MODIFIERS: Direct flash light can be difficu... (show quote)
Noted. Time for some shopping! I had been looking at a bunch of speedlights (Godox Yongnuo etc) and thinking I could get away with a few of those and umbrellas. I wasn't sure I was on quite the right path so I had to ask. Glad I did.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
I'll attach a few quick edits on your images to illustrate what can be done in post-processing. Color and density is improved. The subjects and emotional content are emphasized and the baby shot made for a nice high key portrait.
Cool. I hadn't thought to crop them in quite so tight (again, capturing the scene) but I like what you did.
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