New Garage Studio Setup

Sailor Blue wrote:

Many people use hot-shoe flash units for studio photography. They work but since they lack modeling lights they are harder to use if you are critical about how you light your subjects. Studio strobes with built-in modeling lights are simply easier to use.

Color range isn't a consideration with studio strobes since they all fire at about 5300K-5600K. Of course with the AllienBees you can chose the color of the case.

In a studio you do NOT want to use TTL. When you operate at a fixed subject to lights distance TTL will cause exposure changes if you zoom with your lens or feet and you want the exposures to be exactly the same for every shot. You want to use manual power control of all your lights so that every exposure is the same.

300Ws to 600Ws is a good power range for studio strobes but you can get by with 250Ws for most purposes. If you get a softbox or umbrella with a diffuser surface area much larger than about 1500 square inches then you will need more than 250Ws. I can work at ISO = 100, f/8 with a softbox up to about 2000 square inch with my 300Ws strobes.

Paul C. Buff AllineBee B800 = $279.95, Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT = $629. You can buy two B800's for less than one 600EX-RT, then use the money saved to buy a 64" PLM with the extra money saved. Add $15.95 for a sock and you have yourself a dual purpose light modifier. Buy a second PLM & cover for your fill light. Add a couple of stands and you are set.

Track systems are not cheap. 15" wide is enough space for you to be able to use stands.

Mounting a studio strobe with a gridded strip softbox in the ceiling for a hair light is nice but it does have its drawbacks. You need remote power control and the subject's position is fixed if you want to use the hair light. It is more useful to have the hair light on a stand, especially if you have a boom stand for it.

Are PLMs and stands too much money? Buy a cheap umbrella mount kit for hot-shoe flash units. You can always remove the hot-shoes and use the B800's. Add a 60" umbrella for standing subjects while one of the 43" ones is used for the fill light.

Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit DFUMK B&H Photo Video

Impact Convertible 60" Umbrella UBBW60 B&H Photo Video

You want to get your hot-shoe flash off your camera. Set the power manually and zoom it to the max focal length and use it as an accent or hair light. With the 600EX-RT I would add a simple optical hot-shoe to the flash for use in the studio.

hot-shoe flash optical slaves | eBay

For triggering your studio strobes you can use a sync cable to one light and let the optical slaves trigger the other lights. The problem with cables is that it is easy to trip over them or to accidentaly pull them out of the camera, which usually damages the camera.

Much better than a sync cable is a RF trigger. You can use simple budget priced ones like the Yongnuo RF-603s if you also buy a LS-02/3.5 cable for them. Add a 3.5mm to 6.5mm Mono-Audio adapter to fit into the B800 and you are set for abut $35.

If you want to gain remote control of your strobe power levels right from the camera AND get a flash meter as well then buy the Paul C. Buff CyberSync system. You want the CyberCommander, which has a built in flash meter, and one receiver for each B800. You would still have to set the power of the 600EX-RT manually.

--
Living and loving it in Bangkok, Thailand. Canon 7D - See the gear list for the rest.