JohnE wrote:
Thanks for the nice compliment and the encouragement Forrest. Kortney and I would love to produce a book someday. We have been talking about doing one on the recreated pinup works of Alberto Vargas (but that's just a dream.)
I'd purchase your book when you get it done. I just found this forum/site and I'm looking forward to learning more. I'm more of a video person expanding out to photography so I have bit of eyes for pictures but there's lot to learn about studio lighting and techniques. I love your photots.
visionworksmn wrote:
I'd purchase your book when you get it done. I just found this forum/site and I'm looking forward to learning more. I'm more of a video person expanding out to photography so I have bit of eyes for pictures but there's lot to learn about studio lighting and techniques. I love your photots.
Thanks for the compliments. I'd love to be able to have time to write something... problem is I'm still learning so much!
JohnEBongo wrote:
I guess I am kinda late into the game but I just finished my studio conversion. The room was formerly a sports bar themed pool/darts etc room. I painted the walls 18% gray and the ceiling white. I also ripped out the carpet and laid the Pergo floor. The lights are Alien Bees(1 800 and 2 400) and the backdrop support is from Amvona. I am pretty new to all this but am having a blast!!
No wonder your having a blast...Nice studio and very nice images. Thanks for sharing.
Good stuff of what you have done here. You effort (and others on this thread) is much appreciated. A lot of useful info. here. Keep up the good work. : )
Hey JohnE,
If I could intern with you I would but life has other obligations.
Couple of questions for you. I'm trying to find a good way to have a small set up. What would be some things I have to have for a small set up? Obviously I have a camera, not the best but useful. I have to continous lighting from video stuff, I don't know if they'll work. Two 250W lights with softbox, these can be adjusted to 1/8 power level. Couple of lowell 200W lights all with stands. One 42 inch 5 in 1 reflector. Backdrop support set with couple of polycanvas backdrops. I'm in process of getting some seamless papers after reading all the comments here.
I would like your advice. How did you get started? If I need to, I can sell all the stuff on ebay and get new things but I still want to have enought things for video. I'm involved in some indi film and music video project that'll be shooting in mid spring or so. That's probably around May here in Minnesota. I'd appreciate anyone's comment. I'll post some pictures when I get some.
James
Edited by visionworksmn on Feb 17, 2005 at 05:50 AM GMT
The garage idea sounds great. I'm in the process of converting mine right now. It's 15x22 and I'll have to make it work. I usually shoot on location or outside, but the weather wasn't too nice to me last year with my shoots getting canceled several times. So, I decided to make my own place to shoot and not be tied to the whims of the weather.
I'm going to post some before and after pics when I get done.
"The garage idea sounds great. I'm in the process of converting mine right now. It's 15x22 and I'll have to make it work. I usually shoot on location or outside, but the weather wasn't too nice to me last year with my shoots getting canceled several times. So, I decided to make my own place to shoot and not be tied to the whims of the weather.
I'm going to post some before and after pics when I get done. "
Please do. Those dimensions are great !
I miss the width.
Do you have any plans on what you are going to do ?
netimages wrote:
Hi John !
In this area here is your studio 8'6" ?
You seem to have an awful lot of room for that hair-light ? http://www.eckertphotoimaging.com/WebImages/Studio-Layout-Diagram_00122.jpg
I'm looking at building a permanaent studio in my garage.
The dimensions are 11'6" wide, 20 feet long and 9'6" high.
What do you think ?
thks again,
Barrie/Netimages.
Hi Barrie
Yes, they really are 8' 6" ceilings... so I use short models (Kortney is 5' 3" and Heather is 5' 6" (so the ceiling is 3' overhead.)
I think the dimensions for your area are good, however minimal. (I do wish I had 9'6" ceilings. I shot a 6' model last weekend and it was a bit challenging.) 11'6" width may be a bit challenging (before I took over all three garage bays, I used one that was just shy of 12' wide. It was a bit difficult working with large light modifiers.) The 20' length is just great.
David-D wrote:
JohnE,
Good stuff of what you have done here. You effort (and others on this thread) is much appreciated. A lot of useful info. here. Keep up the good work. : )
Thanks David.
I'm only one of so many that have contributed to this collective body of threads, knowledge and opinions. Kudos to everyone for sharing thier tips and experiences.
I converted my garage as well and have 15'x20' works pretty good but like john said it gets tight with the light modifiers, espically when you use more than one soft box. With 9' rools of paper it makes the sides tight as well for adding more than a couple lights.
I’ve got a room that is currently just under 8' x 14'. I plan on moving one wall out 2' to make the room 9 ½ x 13 ½. The ceiling is just under 8', but I think it is possible to raise the ceiling during the remodeling. I looked at some of the dimensions of studios in this thread, and don’t see anything remotely as small as what I have to work with. Finished studio will have 3 lights with softboxes, one on a boom, and one umbrella. I’m beginning to think the space I have to work with is unworkable. Anyone have any thoughts?
Well, as for the ceiling, it's 12' 6" up, so height in the room is not a problem. I'm currently getting estimates/plans to hang the drywall and move all the current contents out to a storage shed. I think it will work out well in the end, but I may run into the issue with using the light modifiers (Softbox). I have the x-large Litedome from Photoflex which is 72 inches on it's longest side.
I am planning to shoot mostly low-key stuff, so I don't plan to use too many lights. I'll also be using the area as my office which means I have to have everything arranged in a way that allows it to be an office when it's not in shooting mode.
On one end of the room, I'm going to use a projector to do my proofing. I'll also be adding speakers and recessed lighting in the ceiling to have nice music during my shoots or meetings.
I'm hoping it will end up being a very pleasant place to work.
JohnE I seen that you turned a 3 car garage into your studio. I have about the same. How do you heat and cool? Do you have central air? I noticed a small ac unit in one of your studio shots, if you heat and cool with that isn't your power bill out of sight? Sorry for these weird questions I'm just stuck on all the "little things" that go along w/ the studio.Thanks
Patrick Rollin wrote:
JohnE I seen that you turned a 3 car garage into your studio. I have about the same. How do you heat and cool? Do you have central air? I noticed a small ac unit in one of your studio shots, if you heat and cool with that isn't your power bill out of sight? Sorry for these weird questions I'm just stuck on all the "little things" that go along w/ the studio.Thanks
Hi Patrick,
We were so fortunate with the 2nd contractor that we found (the first one did such a bad job that we had to fire him and the 2nd contractor had to redo most of the work. Sheesh, the guy was even licensed! That set us back several thiousand $$) However, the 2nd contractor actually had a used small-home forced air furnace that he had setting around and which we were able to purchase at a great price and which he installed. The wall unit is just for sumer time cooling and works super for that. The garage seems nicely cool from the insulation, so we've only used the air a few times (once during the FM seminar.)
Make sure you put plenty of electrical drops and that they are sized properly (amps) for all sorts of things running concurrently (lights, fans, computers, etc.)
We also made sure we installed network drops for computer connectivity. (glad we did that.)
Took my all day to read thru this thread but it was well worth it, I'm glad you guys are willing to share your ideas and setups, this help newbies like me know what to due and what kind of equipment I should use,
Also might want to add a WARNING on the thread title. Let everybody know who reads this thread that it might cause impulse equipment buying...
I've just started investigating lighting and am considering the Elinchrom FX400 kit, maybe with an added reflector or two. Thanks to all who so generously share setups and techniques in this thread, it's worth a ton to me for inspiration and setup tips! Brilliant!
This thread has been very informative. Seeing actual photos of home studios is great but is there a good book on lighting that anyone can recommend. I would like to have a better understanding of lighting before I start spending my hard earned cash on studio lighting. Thanks.
Books will offer only a limited perspective on how to setup your space. Follow through this thread, ask questions, and perhaps get some lighting and photography DVD's that allow you to see work being done and what they have done to the space.
Thanks for the compliments. I'd love to be able to have time to write something... problem is I'm still learning so much!
That set us back several thiousand $$) However, the 2nd contractor actually had a used small-home forced air furnace that he had setting around and which we were able to purchase at a great price and which he installed. The wall unit is just for sumer time cooling and works super for that. The garage seems nicely cool from the insulation, so we've only used the air a few times (once during the FM seminar.)