netimages wrote:
Lets not let this thread die
Ok, yet another studio update. This time I added a boom setup.
Its a long story but finally ended up with this.
I spent 2 hours on another solution which didn't include the newly acquired boom. It didn't quite work out so I went with this.
Now THAT is one impressive boom and stand! I'm envious. Yeow!
JohnE wrote:
Now THAT is one impressive boom and stand! I'm envious. Yeow!
John
Haha, and that made my day.
Yours looked quite large also ?
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In any case it passed the "tightening test"...
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I was wondering , maybe I should use a longer half-dome to cover a bit more area ?
Was also thinking that 10 lbs of weight will never be enough , how much does it take ? 20, 30 lbs ?
thks
Barrie
ps: I guess the effect here is much more subtle that a "real" hair light ?
Large yes, but not a tough as I would like. Its a few years old and it won't tighten down enough (plastic peices) to hold the large softboxes in some of the strange attitudes I put them in.
I have a 10 pound weight block that bolts to the end of the boom and I have another 15 pound wieght bag down on the bottom of the stand, just for safety.
As for size, I think its the perfect size for a single person hairlight.
This is the same speedring Balcar, White Lightning and Alien Bees use as well. I bought two used from Lensandrepro in New York City for about half the new price.
DukeK wrote:
JohnE,
Would you mind walking me through the steps you use to blur the background in PhotoShop.
Thanks,
Using the lasso tool in photoshop, roughly/quickly draw a line around the area that you want blurred,staying close to the model. Set the feather to 10 pixels. Create a new layer via Copy Layer. From the Filter menu, choose Blur, then Gaussian Blur, set the radius to 80 and press OK. You will notice that some of the blur will go into unwanted areas (i.e., the model's skin or clothes.) Now select the Eraser tool, make it large enough with a soft edge. Go around and erase the bluring in the unwanted areas.
Okay...so I don't really have much of a studio...I kinda cart my lights around the house or a location to whatever looks good. Here are a few setup shots and a few pics:
It's been awhile since I visited this post, glad to see it is still going (lots of useful info). On the post that John E put up about the curtains...I found that Ikea now sells the rail system along with the hooks (or clamps) to attach to your curtain. Don't know if is as robust as a hospital one but I am to try it out because of cost and I hate waiting for mail order items.
I'll post some photos of my photo cubicle that used to be my garage a bit later.
JohnE wrote:
Using the lasso tool in photoshop, roughly/quickly draw a line around the area that you want blurred,staying close to the model. Set the feather to 10 pixels. Create a new layer via Copy Layer. From the Filter menu, choose Blur, then Gaussian Blur, set the radius to 80 and press OK. You will notice that some of the blur will go into unwanted areas (i.e., the model's skin or clothes.) Now select the Eraser tool, make it large enough with a soft edge. Go around and erase the bluring in the unwanted areas.
Hope this helps.
John
I have been using the Lens Blur to get a more natural style DOF.
people buy alien bees because theyre a great deal for the money. i was thinking about buying (2)400watt lights for background, kicker or hair lights. personally i like Profoto. Speedotron(blackline) is also very nice.
ReptileFX wrote:
I'm wondering, why do I see so many ppl in this topic using Alienbees.
Are they "better" than Elinchrom or Bowens (or even Falcon Eyes) ?
I live in Europe and I want to get a proper studio setup. Seeing those Alienbees setups makes me wonder.
Can anyone tell me if it makes any difference what I get.
Thanks
You are new FM-er. Alien Bees are semi pro stuff rather cheap in US. But for us Europeans very expensive because cost of freight (same price as the unit). Stick to Elinchrom, wonderful units and their Digital BX series very reasonable priced. Moreover Alien Bees advertise with so called effective watt/sec. Don't be fooled. These are not the w/s Elinchrom uses.
Ed te Pas wrote:
[You are new FM-er. Alien Bees are semi pro stuff rather cheap in US. But for us Europeans very expensive because cost of freight (same price as the unit). Stick to Elinchrom, wonderful units and their Digital BX series very reasonable priced. Moreover Alien Bees advertise with so called effective watt/sec. Don't be fooled. These are not the w/s Elinchrom uses.
Weird, because I can get a four flash-set Alienbees set for 1600 euros (including shipping, customs and taxes).
A simple Elinchrom set (2 flashes, small softbox) costs 1400 euros.
How about Bowens. I just can't wait to setup my own studio
I use Alienbees and find that they work fine for the portrait work I do. The studio owners I know use White-Lighting which is the parent company of Alienbees. The strobes work well and are more affordable than many of the other brands. The way I see it is, if a guy and build a brand new studio with all the bells and whistles and he uses White-Lighting instead of Broncolor or Elinchrom, what's the need?
In the end, these products are tools, and until you start having customers as what brand of lighting you use, don't get too worked up about it.
gshannon wrote:
I've just come across one for sale in Australia; the description is as follows:
"bowens esprit 11 500/500 hd kit 60x30 sbox so x03 ho 5 studio light kit"
I'm guessing this means... two 500w lights; a 60x30 softbox... I do not understand what "so x03 ho 5" means though... any help?
Would this be an adequate setup to start off with?
I'm looking at that kit too. I'm into studio work (yet), but some friends of mine are. If I get such a set, I will get a bigger softbox too.
But I think 2 lights will be a great start with. I might consider the Elinchrom kit instead.
