# Studio Setup Practice on a Budget



## MichaelHenson (Oct 1, 2014)

I'll start by saying that I know this flies in the face of convention and that I may get flamed for even suggesting it...

That being said, I've seen a post or two on TPF where others have worked out a studio lighting setup on a budget using a wide range of lighting equipment from OLD school strobes, etc. to hardware store lighting. This is kind of what I have in mind...I would like to practice my lighting techniques but not break the bank/budget with true "studio quality" gear quite yet.

I'm looking at purchasing a couple hardware "clamp lamps" as I've seen others use these with decent results. My question is, are there any bulbs in particular that I should avoid? I know that studio lighting is going to give me the best possible results but, at this point, I'm most interesting in learning the light while producing "decent" photos.

I'm looking at a couple incandescent lights in the 75 watt to 150 watt range. Would these give me an approximation (doesn't have to be close) to studio lighting? Will an incandescent bulb give me "clean" light? 

Sorry for the newbiness of the question/concept. Thanks!


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## sscarmack (Oct 1, 2014)

Try and find bulbs in the range of 5500k (temp).


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## astroNikon (Oct 1, 2014)

What's your budget?
what will you be practicing on ... objects or people ?


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 1, 2014)

Okay. So, in theory, I could purchase one of those clamp lights that have the reflector and pair it with a 5500k bulb and have a decent approximation of a studio light that I can practice with?


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 1, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> What's your budget?
> what will you be practicing on ... objects or people ?



Well, budget really like the $10-20 combo I mentioned above (clamp light + bulb). Depending on what I could get for a bit more than that I might consider expanding it.

Practicing on objects first, then progressing to self-portraits, then eventually begging the wife to sit-in...


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## Scatterbrained (Oct 1, 2014)

MichaelHenson said:


> Okay. So, in theory, I could purchase one of those clamp lights that have the reflector and pair it with a 5500k bulb and have a decent approximation of a studio light that I can practice with?


The thing you want to be mindful of is the amount of light the bulb is putting out relative to the ambient light.  For working with a 150w bulb you'll need to have a dark room, otherwise the ambient will pollute the shot.   You can pick up some of the 500w work lights for cheap.  I've even seen sets of LED work lights for sale that put out quite a bit of light and don't cost much (relatively speaking).      

Check out LearnMyShot.com, they have several studio shooting tutorials that cover basic studio lighting set ups using continuous lighting and basic diffusion materials.


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## tirediron (Oct 1, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> MichaelHenson said:
> 
> 
> > Okay. So, in theory, I could purchase one of those clamp lights that have the reflector and pair it with a 5500k bulb and have a decent approximation of a studio light that I can practice with?
> ...


 ^^This^^ 

It's going to be very difficult to do anything with lighting like this.  If you can push the budget just a little bit (maybe not even), head around to local pawnshops and pick up a couple of old speedlights.  Doesn't matter what brand, or anything else, as long as you can manually control the output.  That should cost you $20-30, then spend another ~$20 on a couple of cheapie optical triggers, and the  whole mess can be triggered from your pop-up flash.


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 1, 2014)

tirediron said:


> ^^This^^
> 
> It's going to be very difficult to do anything with lighting like this.  If you can push the budget just a little bit (maybe not even), head around to local pawnshops and pick up a couple of old speedlights.  Doesn't matter what brand, or anything else, as long as you can manually control the output.  That should cost you $20-30, then spend another ~$20 on a couple of cheapie optical triggers, and the  whole mess can be triggered from your pop-up flash.



See?!?! That's why I love you guys! 

I'll try that first! Maybe I can find a gem or two on eBay two...Thanks!


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## Designer (Oct 1, 2014)

MichaelHenson said:


> Practicing on objects first, then progressing to self-portraits, then eventually begging the wife to sit-in...



There's a problem with that idea.  Using continuous lighting is fine for still life, but when you start substituting humans you're going to need a faster shutter.  Going from 1/2 or even one second on a tripod to cutting the exposure time way down to 1/100 of a second or even less you won't have enough light with those clamp lights.  

Whatever the point of your practice with continuous lighting may be, you'd be money ahead in the long run if you just get some flashes.  Either speed lights or studio strobes and a few modifiers will set you up nicely.

BTW: if you are going to use incandescents, you will have to make an adjustment to your white balance to compensate for the color cast.


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 1, 2014)

Gotcha. I think I'm going to go the speedlight route for now. That will give me some portability while saving me some $$ for now. Once I'm more confident and doing more "in-house" shooting I'll look into a continuous lighting and/or strobe option to be added to what I have. Planning on checking out some pawn shops on the way home!


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## Village Idiot (Oct 2, 2014)

MichaelHenson said:


> Gotcha. I think I'm going to go the speedlight route for now. That will give me some portability while saving me some $$ for now. Once I'm more confident and doing more "in-house" shooting I'll look into a continuous lighting and/or strobe option to be added to what I have. Planning on checking out some pawn shops on the way home!


 
Yuongno has several speedlights starting at $43 listed on their website. That's the new price.

YONGNUO photography online store


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 2, 2014)

Village Idiot said:


> MichaelHenson said:
> 
> 
> > Gotcha. I think I'm going to go the speedlight route for now. That will give me some portability while saving me some $$ for now. Once I'm more confident and doing more "in-house" shooting I'll look into a continuous lighting and/or strobe option to be added to what I have. Planning on checking out some pawn shops on the way home!
> ...



That's kind of where I was leaning...but I was looking at the 560III that has the built in wireless receiver that will work with the Yongnuo triggers I already have. That way I'm purchasing something that will streamline things a bit and cut down on all the extra little plug-ins/accessories that I have to keep track of along the way.


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## Scatterbrained (Oct 2, 2014)

Bear in mind that there is a downside to using speedlights: no modeling lamp.  You can't see what your light is doing until you take the picture, which makes fine tuning the lighting. . . .er. . . somewhat difficult.


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## tirediron (Oct 2, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> Bear in mind that there is a downside to using speedlights: no modeling lamp.  You can't see what your light is doing until you take the picture, which makes fine tuning the lighting. . . .er. . . somewhat difficult.


Modelling lamps are highly over rated.  In most cases they're not really bright enough to accurately 'fine tune' your lighting and if we're talking 1-2 light set ups how much 'fine tuning' are you likely to need to do anyway?


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## Scatterbrained (Oct 2, 2014)

tirediron said:


> Scatterbrained said:
> 
> 
> > Bear in mind that there is a downside to using speedlights: no modeling lamp.  You can't see what your light is doing until you take the picture, which makes fine tuning the lighting. . . .er. . . somewhat difficult.
> ...


A lot depending on what you're shooting.



Diesel: Square Chronograph by tltichy, on Flickr​
  Turn the room lights off and use the modeling lights.  How else are you going to know if you've got enough light coming back from a reflector?  How else are you going to know if your shadow transition is where you want it? How else are you going to know if your highlights are right?


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

I just used the disagree button for the first time ever. I feel that modeling lights are the key to helping beginners learn how to position their lights. I think learning how to light using speedlights is just fumbling around in the dark, and is a huge handicap for the beginner. The MORE experienced you are, the less you need modeling lights, based on lots of experience and work with specific lights.


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 2, 2014)

Derrel said:


> I just used the disagree button for the first time ever. I feel that modeling lights are the key to helping beginners learn how to position their lights. I think learning how to light using speedlights is just fumbling around in the dark, and is a huge handicap for the beginner. The MORE experienced you are, the less you need modeling lights, based on lots of experience and work with specific lights.



I can certainly see the benefit. Any suggestions on what to look for in a modeling light? Again, looking for budget friendly initially since this is more hobby than anything else at the moment.


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## tirediron (Oct 2, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> ... Turn the room lights off and use the modeling lights.  How else are you going to know if you've got enough light coming back from a reflector?  How else are you going to know if your shadow transition is where you want it? How else are you going to know if your highlights are right?


 Perhaps the modelling lights on my equipment just aren't good enough then.  I've never found them them to be especially useful, even when the studio is almost dark, they don't seem to give me the information I want.




Derrel said:


> I just used the disagree button for the first time ever.


I feel honoured! 



Derrel said:


> I feel that modeling lights are the key to helping beginners learn how to position their lights. I think learning how to light using speedlights is just fumbling around in the dark, and is a huge handicap for the beginner. The MORE experienced you are, the less you need modeling lights, based on lots of experience and work with specific lights.


I think if you're talking complex, multi-light setups, sure.  But for the OP, we're talking keylight and fill.  Set-up, shoot a test, fine-tune, shoot.


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## astroNikon (Oct 2, 2014)

I don't know if this is true across the board for other brands or nikon models, but my Nikon Speedlights have a feature loosely similar to modeling lights.  You press the function button (with a custom menu option turned on) and the speedlights go into continuous mode and provide a "modeling-like" feature until you release the button.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

Set up shoot, chimp, re-set,re-shoot,chimp,re-set,re-sshoot,re-chimp. What could be done without firing a single frame requires a lot of steps, and is only good on static subjects that do not move.

My feeling is that the exact placement of catchlights and shadows is the secret to good studio lighting. 

As far as your equipment Tirediron, M90's have three low-powered modeling lights, MW3U's have the 100 Watt quartz lamp, and M11's have a 150 Watt quartz lamp that throws a fairly bright light that has a definite hot spot, a dot, right jn the center of the beam, while Black Line heads have very powerful 250 Watt quart lamps that are super-easy to see by. I use the modeling lights to see where my catchlights are, and where my nose and under-chin shadows fall. The smaller the modifier, the easier it is to see the effects of minor light placement variations; the bigger, and mushier the light modifier, the tougher it is to discern minor movement effects.

Let's talk about a simple, two-light, key light plus fill light setup. I used to work in a portrait studio where the critical factor was setting the precisely right height and angle for the nose shadow, and the key is and always has been to literally MOVE the light through an arc on the floor, to actually determine visually, exactly how the light interacts with the subject's face and body; that is what is lost when using speedlights--there is literally ZERO opportunity to visually observe a myriad of light placements when using a speedlight. The ability to move the light and to literally SEE the effect of multiple light placements is utterly lost when using a speedlight. Instead, the speedlight user takes a guess at the best placement.

Secondly, when shooting with a fill light shooting straight ahead, from camera position, in the classic on-axis fill light placement, when the main light is of the same intensity, but closer, it's easy to visually SEE how moving the main light farther or closer changes the main to fill relationship, as well as to literally see the dual catchlights. I'm used to this two lights, equal power, one at 8 feet, the other at 11 feet (to get a 3:1 lighting ratio automatically) way of working. Two lights of identical power and type at 2.8 and 4 feet; or 4 and 5.6 feet; or 5.6 and 8 feet; or 8 and 11 feet, create a beautifully ratioed light. Notice the way the f/stop scale also works with distance? Mathematics and science are amazing things!

Again, I think for the BEGINNER, the ability to literally see what the lights are doing, continuously, is a huge advantage in learning how to best set the lights up. Modeling lights give a constant, continuous, immediate feedback loop. Shoot/chimp/re-set/re-shoot,re-chimp is an entirely different approach.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

Here is a video that does a pretty good job of demonstrating how modeling lights help the photographer using classic portraiture lighting techniques with studio flash units equipped with modeling lights.
Classical Posing & Portrait Lighting - YouTube

This video was created by the folks at Sekonic, the makers of many fine light meters for measuring flash and continuous lighting. you can see how having the light ON and SHINING on the people helps the photographer achieve the desired posing and lighting in real-time.


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## astroNikon (Oct 2, 2014)

what wattage modeling light is good ?   100 .. 250 ?


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 2, 2014)

Derrel said:


> Here is a video that does a pretty good job of demonstrating how modeling lights help the photographer using classic portraiture lighting techniques with studio flash units equipped with modeling lights.
> Classical Posing & Portrait Lighting - YouTube
> 
> This video was created by the folks at Sekonic, the makers of many fine light meters for measuring flash and continuous lighting. you can see how having the light ON and SHINING on the people helps the photographer achieve the desired posing and lighting in real-time.



Thanks for this!


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

astroNikon said:


> what wattage modeling light is good ?   100 .. 250 ?



Kind of depends I guess. 250s are sooooo bright and hot they must be in fan-cooled heads. 150 quartz modeling lamps generate "some heat", but are pretty easily seen. How bright the lights need to be is in part where they are used. If you have a studio or garage/basement/living room and can turn off all the lights, then 75 Watts is usable, although noticeably dimmer. Also, keep in mind, when the lights are reduced in power, if the modeling lights "track" [proportional dimming] with the power, they will get dimmer and dimmer and dimmer as the power goes down. On other lights, sometimes there are just two levels of modeling light-Full, and Low. When you set up in daylight or well-lighted rooms, 250 Watt lamps like in Speedotron Black Line are still easily seen.

Also, lower-powered lights might be given lower powered modeling lamps, so that WYSIWYG works well when mixing low-powered lights with high-powered lights, like say 200 Watt-second lights paired with 800 watt-second lights. In general, the flash makers pick what they think is the optimal Wattage for the modeling lamps for each,specific type of flash. Unless a unit is fan-cooled, the likely maximum Wattage is 100 Watts or so, perhaps 150 Watts in something all-metal and fairly "open" like a Speedotron Brown Line M11, where the modeling lamp is well in front of the flashtube and has a tremendous amount of "air" around it.


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## Designer (Oct 2, 2014)

MichaelHenson said:


> Any suggestions on what to look for in a modeling light?



Nearly every studio strobe I've seen includes a modeling light as part of the head.  Naturally, some will differ in wattage, etc, but you should expect to find that strobes have that feature included.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

MichaelHenson said:
			
		

> Any suggestions on what to look for in a modeling light?



Type of bulb: incandescent or quartz-halogen, or in newer, rarer cases, LED.

Wattage: Indoors in smaller spaces, lower wattage bulbs are adequate. If you shoot in bright light, higher Wattage lamps make things easier to see, and may also allow better video. For example, four x 250 Watts of quartz-halogen is VERY bright!

Bulb replacement costs: Are replacement bulbs $26 a pop, or are they $8? For example, Speedotron Brown Line M90 units use three, screw-in base incandescent bulbs that retail normally for about $8 each from photo equipment dealers nation wide. I bought a bunch of used M90s from e-Bay that had no modeling lamps, so rather than spend 3x3x $8, I went to The Lighting Store here in town to see if maybe they had some of the needed bulbs. The guy told me, "Oh, did you know that these bulbs were developed for heavy duty truck turn signal bulbs in the 1950's? These are truck blinker light bulbs!" I bought a sack full of Chinese-made replacements for $1.49 per bulb. So far, seven years worth of use out of them.

The M90's three, exposed, 25- to 35-Watt lamps allow it to be used as a BARE, un-modified main light, that does not blind models or subjects. Bare, unmodified 150 Watt quartz lamps leave a retinal hot-spot for 20 minutes, which makes quartz-halogen modeling lights much less suitable for bare, unmodified use.

Quartz-halogen modeling lamps throw a MUCH harder,brighter, more crisp light, that makes the modeling light easier to see and evaluate than more-diffused, frosted incandescent bulbs do, especially on longer throws or in bigger rooms.


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## Robin Usagani (Oct 2, 2014)

My favorite is turning off all of the lights in my house except one light in a small room.  Then I open the door of the lit room and use that light to light my subject in the hallway.   You will have almost pure black background with directional light.  You kinda have to shoot it with a pretty high ISO though.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2014)

Robin Usagani said:


> My favorite is turning off all of the lights in my house except one light in a small room.  Then I open the door of the lit room and use that light to light my subject in the hallway.   You will have almost pure black background with directional light.  You kinda have to shoot it with a pretty high ISO though.



Well, it's time to you to move up to the glorious light that emanates from a nice MacBook Pro!!!! it rivals the light from Profoto strobes!!! There's nothing quite like shooting using a single-light setup made from a glowing MacBook set to a blank page of white screen!


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## Mike_E (Oct 2, 2014)

Hell,  I've been known to forget my meter and just up the ISO and shoot with the modeling lights.

You want to figure out how to work lighting?

Fine:  Sew together two 42 inch strips of black felt and mount them onto a 4x6 foot frame then take them outside and then figure out how to shoot your subject.

Don't worry about the darned light, the only thing you really have to work with is the shadows!


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## Village Idiot (Oct 3, 2014)

Derrel said:


> I just used the disagree button for the first time ever. I feel that modeling lights are the key to helping beginners learn how to position their lights. I think learning how to light using speedlights is just fumbling around in the dark, and is a huge handicap for the beginner. The MORE experienced you are, the less you need modeling lights, based on lots of experience and work with specific lights.


 

I do think there is an upside to not having the modeling light as a beginner and that's portability. If you're buying one light to start out with, having a speedlight that you don't need an additional battery or wall plug for is an advantage over using a monolight or pack and head system if you don't have the room to set up in your home or don't want to always drag the heavier lighting gear with you. I know when I first started learning about how to light I would shoot where ever my friends were and that wasn't always in a location where power was available. With a camera bag that easily accomodates a speedlight and triggers, all I had to carry in addition to my normal kit was a small portable light stand and an umbrella. Walla! Portable studio!

And when you're shooting on location with a "studio" light on a battery, most manufactures warn against using the modeling light while on juice.


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## MichaelHenson (Oct 3, 2014)

Village Idiot said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > I just used the disagree button for the first time ever. I feel that modeling lights are the key to helping beginners learn how to position their lights. I think learning how to light using speedlights is just fumbling around in the dark, and is a huge handicap for the beginner. The MORE experienced you are, the less you need modeling lights, based on lots of experience and work with specific lights.
> ...



That's kind of where I am. I can CERTAINLY see both sides of the discussion and they make sense. So, I'm probably going to combine them...I've found (what appears to be a nice) entry level studio strobe with a model light that I'll probably pick up in the semi-near future along with another speedlight (for a total of two), some light stands, and a couple different modifiers. The only reason for me to even be looking into studio lighting right now is in order to be completely prepared should the opportunity arrive to do some headshots or studio portraits.

In the meantime, most of my shooting will be outdoors. So, I've talked my wife into modeling for me so I can practice balancing fill flash with ambient light. 

Of course, that begs the question, to modify the fill or not? Should I use a softbox or umbrella when I'm competing with the sun in less than ideal shooting scenarios?


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