What do you want to hear about?
List your questions about setting up and working in a home studio. I'll do my best to cover these questions as well as the live audience questions during the workshop. Thanks for participating, I'm really looking forward to this!
John
Hi John, I watched both days of your seminar which was great, thanks!
I missed however maybe 1/2 hour during which I think you may have talked about how to light up the eyes on the model. I wonder if you could comment on this? I absolutely love how beautiful the eyes are in your photos. I believe part of it has to do with putting a reflector under the face to throw light into the eyes and the other part is perhaps a grid on the strobe to direct the light. Am I on the right track? Thanks!
Your class was wonderful.. very excited to see I have many of the same props.. I didnt catch and the class has not been uploaded yet so I can got back and relisten to what you said was the material used for the backdrop on the last group shots, where you purchased it and what was the approximate cost for this. Durable is something I would think to be important. I live out in the country so paper would not last long with people walking on it. Thanks John.. You are awesome! Michelle
Thank you John for the information. I am in california so I am guessing the price should be somewhere close to the same. I will have to go and get some. Do you have any ideas as an alternative to the paper background? I live in the hills and have no photography stores within a 2 hour drive. I do have a Lowes Hardware store.. any ideas? Thanks again you have inspired me to get my house set up!
I enjoyed watching the live session today.
Question: Who did your website? I love the look of it and I need a new website. Who do you use to host your website, how was it designed and....drum roll....how much does it COST??
Thx bunches.
What is the brand/model of the hand strap on the camera you used in forays broadcast? I want one for my NIKON D3 and haven't seen one online like you have...too many choices to spend hours looking through. Thanks. Very enjoyable day with you John.
Re: budget
What about the inexpensive continuous photo quality florescents?
I find I get multiple color casts with hot lights. Like green in one image and magenta in the next, even when I don't change any settings.
how high is the ceiling in your space
hey, you guys cheated!! in the promo video i saw the old Speedotron heads, and i got excited cause i use them too. but in the photo there is the newer one!! Boooo
Studio strobes are very expansive, what about some cheap chinese models like Jinbei or Menik for a beginner with not a lot of money available ?
And what are the most importants things to look at when choosing a strobe (cooling, power, etc) ?
Thanks,
Pierre
My question for tomorrow: For a new photographer, what is a basic, inexpensive home studio set up (backdrops, props, light set up) that could also be portable and used on the go? Thank you!
I have slowly morphed into the unoficial "OFishal" family photographer. Since you've said that the audience for this seminar is greatly hobbyist photogs, it would be nice if you could touch on what lighting gear you might take with you to a family holiday celebration. One of my family's houses has a mixture of fluorescent and tungsten lighting in various colors. Of course, the problems that arise from the mixed colored lighting can greatly be fixed by shooting in raw and post-processing. However, one of the issues that remails is hot spots created by the imbalanced lighting. An interesting subject for the hobbyist photog/"ofishial" family photographer is how one might use home studio equipment to compensate/counteract severely imbalanced home indoor lighting.
I'm currently doing portrait photography part-time--in my home or in the client's home--using three Speedlites (2 x 580exii, 1 x 430exii). I'd love to add strobes that have modeling lights and more power. Are monolights the best, most cost-effective way to go--and what should I consider? Any recommendations on brands/models? What about mixing strobes with Speedlites? And, what about controlling all of these?
I am so happy you are doing this course John. Finally you get your very own spotlight!
1.) What would be the very minimum investment for a portrait & child photography home studio to achieve excellent results. I currently have a Nikon SB600 and would love to start there if it would get reasonable results with a mixed (window) light environment.
2.) What would be a good travel lighting kit for a weakling woman without an assistant? By the way - that's me :)
Thanks. Looking forward to tomorrow's class.
Rima Berzin
New York City, NY
This course comes at a perfect time for me. Right now my husband is in the process of turning our 2-car garage into a photo studio for me! Cool huh?
I have three burning questions and your input will be very important...
1) What COLOR should we paint the walls, ceiling & floor?? I've had other photogs tell me white (to bounce the light), others tell me black (so as NOT to bounce light), still others say to paint it 18% gray. But what do you say John?
2) How do you deal with clients using your other personal space? For example, my garage will be my studio, but the bathroom is in my personal residence (which I share with my husband and son). I have had other friends with home studios say that clients will trash your bathroom and generally invade your personal space and my family will lose all privacy. Any insight you have on this topic will be most appreciated.
3) Your website is cool. My website is a hot mess. I have a pro-level SmugMug account but their customizing is not easy and still looks awful. I don't want to pay a monthly arm-n-a-leg fee for another website, but I realize I need to make a move. How do I get a great looking website like yours, and at what price?
Thanks for everything. I'm looking forwrd to tuning in tomorrow!
All The Best,
Vivian in Mission Viejo, CA.
Hi John! I am so thrilled you are instructing this course, I cant wait to hear all the "tricks" you have up your sleeve.
I am VERY GREEN to todays LIGHTING options, 100% of my work has been outdoor photography. My Father was a Pro photographer for a major airline, and has recently passed away. I inherited ALL his camera equipment. I dont know how to apply 1/2 the lighting equipment I have recvd. - Heck I dont even know what some of these GADGETS ARE! The last class I had in studio lighting was 20 yrs ago - college! I found it WAY TO CONFUSING and chose the path of outdoor photography.
What I do know is: between my Fathers equipment and mine, it is time to setup a studio. I have an extra room which has alot of wood in it with a semi gloss polyurethane finish. Should I be concerned about the amount of reflection? I can also paint the walls from chair rail height up, any color suggestions? I should say this room would be used for my own personal growth.
I KNOW I WILL LEARN SOOOO MUCH FROM YOUR CLASS! THANKS AGAIN!
Thanks!
White background and foreground on a product.
Also, will this be available for sale? Or replayed? I can't be home all day
Thx
Test
I'm really excited about the class! I just purchased and Alien Bee 400 and a 30x60 softbox. Any chance you'll be talking about this type of lighting set up?
I'd like to take a trip through your "tickle trunk." You seem to have a great deal of props that seem to help people become more creative in their poses .
I watched a Kelby Training video on lighting in which the instructor talked briefly about "north light" and "south light." He was talking about window light with "north" and "south" referring to the walls in which the windows were mounted. He suggested that light from north-facing windows (in the Northern Hemisphere) give more consistent light throughout the day whereas the light from south-facing windows changes every few minutes. Is this a concern when setting up a home studio? Are there window treatments (e.g., shear curtains) that can help window light?
Thanks,
-- Sam
I would love to know how to make my backgrounds white....even though I already have a white sheet. I have a small studio in my bedroom and two portrait lights. I sometimes use my flash as well, but mostly thats for outside remote shots.
I seem to spend ages in Photoshop CS5 trying to get the background white and customers especially woman always want me to take away spots blemishes and lines. I never do that to the extreme because it looks so unatural I think.
Basically what I am saying is I want my backgrounds white (unless using my black one) and not spend so long in photoshop.
I live in UK my son lives in NY and sent my your link.
Hope you can help
Jacqui.
I would love to know where to buy a large piece of white fabric (i.e. portable - rolls of paper are not) to use as a background in my living room or in someone else's house. Something that can easily be taped or pinned up so that I can isolate on white or at least have a uniform background. Thanks - looking forward to the workshop!
John, this looks like there is a lot of interest and questions. Good luck fitting it into one day.
I would love to hear about the best products to use in a small space. Also I love hearing about those neat tricks that a pro like you would come up with to save money and make something work for you better (a home project that makes your studio function more effectively that I could do at home). Thanks for doing this John I went to school and got my Masters in Directing for Cinema and have changed a lot of goals in my life to start a family and be a military mom. I believe your knowledge might help me find a business model that works for me as I have to move every 2 or 3 years. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hi John,
If a photographer is setting up a small home studio with the intention of "going pro" and actually making some money, how prepared should he or she be to deal with equipment failure? Do you have recommendations for having spare equipment on hand (e.g., light bulbs) and, perhaps, a borrow arrangement with a photographer friend in case a camera body goes sour? I can imagine almost nothing more frustrating for both the photographer and the client when a session has to be rescheduled because of equipment failure.
And, what about backing up after (or even during) a photo shoot? I suppose that an even more aggravating experience for the photographer and client would be a session lost because of memory card or disk drive failure.
Thanks,
-- Sam
I would love to hear about posing legs/feet, placment of the subject the subject within the frame and group shots. shooting in small places, stuido wall color and using spped lites in big motifyers. Question can you talk about the cool modifyer your sitting next to in the picture above.
I forgot to metion I would love to hear about posing while sitting. Looking forward to seeing you in action!
What about ceilings? Any special treatments or things to avoid? Can you use a low ceiling to advantage? Does a low ceiling present any special challenges?
John! Looking forward to this workshop! I am in the final stages of a complete garage overhaul. New floor with radiant heat, insulation and drywall all around. I would love to hear your ideas on how to organize garage spaces to give it as much versatility as possible. My garage is a double with another 10 feet of length when the cars are pulled in. I am already making sure to make holes in an area in the ceiling to store rolls of savage paper ect... Would love to see photos of home/garage studios that you like. See you next month!
Wanting a set up for my home or out on location that can be put up and taken down fairly easily. Would love to learn if this is feasible.
Is it possible to do a section dedicated to newbies who can't afford pro equipment and use continuous lights (like CFLs), along with storage solutions?
How you control reflections (I'm guessing big black drapes or sheets), what you use for props...how you get 5' of distance between the model and background. Most of these fall into the category of how you deal w/ a small space.
Glad to see a Speedotron user...teach these folks what a real pack/head system is like...not those wimpy Profoto packs that blow up on Matthew Jordan shoots ;-)
How to you deal with low ceilings. I always have a problem in a room with a low ceiling, they always seem to affect the amount of light on my scene if I am using a large modifier to create soft light for a couple for example. You see to get the light even on a group I back the light up until coverage is even on all the subjets, then dial the power to achive the look I want but I seem to a wrap effect from the celings. Gridded modifers not such a problem, Shoot thru, large softboxes ect.. It is a problem. God forbid I need to shoot white seamless with a semi gloss floor in a low celing (8feet) room. It is all sorts of problems to control wrap. The celing becomes a huge light source. Looking at that 202vf head on a 68" white umbrella I dont know how toy take that beast in a 8 foot celing room. I have 202 and 206 heads. I had to step down to 805 packs for house shoots, the 1201a and larger I could never dial down or bleed the packs by dumping heads in other rooms to lower the power. As of late I have been speedlighting and less pack stuff at home. SO I cant wait to hear how you tame the big stuff at home!
1. From your experience, what doesn't work well if the ceiling is too low and also when the ceiling is too high.
2. What accessories/props you use a lot in the home studio esp. backgrounds you use most of the time - muslin cloth vs. paper.
3. What are the setups are person should try FIRST in a home studio and what he/she should try LATER?
Hi John,
Please devote a few minutes to discussing the "off stage" parts of a studio such as changing room, bathrooms, a waiting room or something for parents or friends, etc. Also, do you equip your home studios with a music system? And, finally a necessary questions: Do you worry about unchaperoned shoots involving youngsters?
Thanks,
-- Sam
Can't wait for this class! I would like to hear about affordable alternatives for many of the items used in a home studio. Things like pocketwizards are out of my price range currently. What are some good gear options that won't break the bank.
Hi John
Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with others!!
I would love to hear about the backgrounds that you use in your home studio (fixed/portable, colors, sizes, paper/cloth/other materials)
Also would like to hear about the atrezzo that you use in your studio. I see some of it in your shots (figures, chairs, etc.)
Thanks again and good luck with your class!
This is going to be great!
I would like to know:
-the minimum equipment needed to start your own home studio. I really believe I need to learn the basics with the basic equipment before investing alot of money into equipment I don't know how to use.
-what brand name of equipment you recommend. Right now I am having compatibility issues between my my pocketwizards and my strobes. I have a set of 2 Opus strobes and two pocketwizards. My lights do not fire consistently everytime I press the shutter (and it is not related to recharge time). I am thinking maybe I should invest in better lights.
Anywho, enough of my jibber jabber. Really looking forward to this John! Great way to start off the new year!
Would love to hear about electrical setup to avoid blowing fuses constantly and legal matters around setting pu a home studio. Thanks for setting up this class!
Looking forward to the class! Would love to hear about equipment to use for photographing children and food without spending a fortune and what the essentials are for beginners.
John,
I can’t wait to see this seminar!
It would be great to hear about a studio setup that you use in your home studio that can also be packed up and used on location in the client’s home. Even if you don’t operate that way I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Thanks,
Charles Hamilton
Great to see you on CL as an instructor!.
Q)How would you get your clients to be comfortable in a home studio where there is limited space. For eg: if you have to deal with kids and you don't want stiff formal shots but of them moving around .Or if you want certain action shots etc.
q)Practicalities and pitfalls of a home studio.(Though I'm sure you'll already be shedding light on this.
q)Temporary or permanent Situation.(Is the room you consider as your "studio space" set up a temporarily and then it reverts back to a room for normal use? )
q)Dealing with clients who will disregard your standard as a photographer because it is a "home studio" and how to over come this.
There will be many more to the bucket list I'm sure :)
Thanks in advance.
Just wanted to say, that I'm happy to see a course from you, John! :) You've been great in all the workshops I've seen you in so far and you seem to have so much knowledge to share. I'm enrolled and looking forward to watching your workshop. Thanks :)
I would venture to guess this is on the top ten list (if not #1), but I'll mention it anyway. Dealing with limited ceiling height. Most US homes are 8ft high. I've dealt with it for years and made it work.
I can mud and paint, and fortunately, my wife tolerates me screwing bolts into the ceiling, allowing maximum use and not needing floor space for stands and such.
I am looking forward to your class, John! You have always been great at the CLive workshops I've seen (a couple). You have a very common sense approach. Cheers!!!