Once I gained confidence in my Portrait Photography skills, the logical next step was to look to invest in building a Photo Studio at home. I chose to build it at home as it is logistically convenient and when I looked at the costs involved, economical too. If you are hunkered in at home due to COVID/Corona virus and looking for the next logical step in your photography journey, my experience might help you.
I wanted to share my experience in case you are down the same path and hopefully find my learnings useful for you. (If you have not yet done so, take a look at my previous blog post on how I improved my Portrait Photography skills here). I am assuming that you have some basic idea of studio equipment and have dabbled with flash photography.
Obviously I did a lot of research before buying anything as I did not find a single source which could have helped me make all the decisions (which is why I decided to write this so that you wont face the same problem).
A key decision I had to make was whether to build on iteratively (for example one light source and a modifier to begin with and add over a period of time) or find an optimum option that is a happy medium. I went for the latter option.
Financially, my goal was to stay around $1500 USD but definitely not go beyond $2000 USD at any cost. I wanted the studio to be equipped amply enough to be able to take a wide range of portraits. I figured working backwards from the number of lights would be good idea. Based on my research on lighting (mostly through the books I read, which I mentioned in my previous blog article mentioned above), I figured that a three-light setup gives me the ability to take the widest range of portraits with a limited set of resources.
With the boundaries now set, the following are the various aspects I considered and options I decided to go with. At the end of the article, you will find the summary of costs I incurred, to help you with your decisions.
Space Considerations: I plan to mostly use my 70-200mm Telephoto lens but I might occasionally use my 100mm Macro lens as well for my portraits. This would mean that I might be able to work in tight spaces. You could start with a 14'x10' room that has at least 10' feet height but it would become very tight for a 3-light setup. I considered my guest room (15'x10' with just one window but too tight), garage (ample space but would need to leave cars out) and patio (ample space but cannot use when weather is bad) before deciding to use my kids' game room because I have 19'x15' worth of room although it is a semi open space that lets in light, which I can live with.
Light Meter: This tends to be a contentious topic among Portrait Photographers because there are many who believe you can get started with an exposure based on experience or trial-and-error. Given that I could be using three lights and working in a semi-open space, it is essential for me to have a Light Meter to nail down the exposure every single time. Also, you do not want to be fiddling with your settings in front of a customer!
I went with the Sekonic Flashmate L-308X-U. My key driver to pick this specific model was price because I did not need a sophisticated one. It turned out that it is handy, compact and also easy to operate.
Light Source(s): Picking the type of Light Source, the specific light sources that are appropriate for my needs and match my budget was the most difficult decision, which required a lot of work.
I had to first decide on whether I want to go with Continuous lights or Strobe lights. After considerable research, the pros of Strobes far outweighed the pros of Continuous light sources so I decided to go with Strobes.
There is a lot of choice out there if you go with Strobes. I wanted to pick a platform that is scalable so that I do not have to deal with incompatible transmitters and receivers, etc. At the same time, I did not want something that is bulky either. I was ready to drop my idea of building the studio altogether if I was not convinced of the choices that are out there. Luckily for me, I did find it and I owe it to this gentleman photographer from the UK - Sean Tucker (@seantuck).
Sean is an amazing Street and Portrait Photographer and has an outstanding YouTube channel that you should definitely check out. His YouTube Video - My Portrait Lighting Kit (feat. the Godox AD200) sealed the deal for me. I would urge you to watch the video and Sean does such a great job so I will not repeat the details here.
As I wanted to have my studio equipped for a 3-light setup, I decided to go with 2 Godox AD200s (which Adorama sells as Flashpoint eVOLV 200s ) that would serve as the main and fill lights. I went with the kit option for the AD200s that comes with a Flashpoint R2 PRO 2.4GHz Transmitter for Canon (XPro-C), which helps connect and manage all the light sources from my camera in one go. For the third light source, I opted to go for a regular Speedlight (Flashpoint V860II-C) to serve as the rim light in order to save costs as well.
With most critical decisions taken, I then had to decide on the others which took considerably less time and of course stress :)
Light Modifiers: When picking the light modifiers, I considered both practical needs as well as creative aspects for which I depended largely on Chris Knight's book that I mentioned in my previous blog article.
I decided to go for a Glow EZ Lock Quick Octa Large Softbox With Bowens Mount (36") for the main light, a Glow EZ Lock 24x36" Quick Rectangle Softbox With Bowens Mount for the fill light and a CLAR 7" Reflector For The Bowens Mount for the rim light. The AD200s came with color gels and barn doors so I did not have to buy any for the main and fill lights but did buy a Flashpoint Universal Barn Door Kit with Grid and Gels for 7" Reflectors to go with the rim light.
Backgrounds: You can never have enough backgrounds as it is purely subjective and depends on the client's needs or the demands of the project you are working on. But you have to start somewhere. Ideally, you could paint the wall behind the subject white and have the side walls painted in black but unfortunately I cannot do that.
I needed flexibility in this area so I went with the Flashpoint 10' Background Support System - Cushioned. White, Black and Gray are the most common and basic backgrounds so I went with Savage Seamless Background Paper - (53 in x 36 ft) and got one for each color. My plan is that If a project requires a different background, I can figure out then.
Accessories: Two key accessories I needed to purchase to support the above items were the Flashpoint Light Stand - 7' and the Glow S-type Bowens Mount Bracket for Speedlites and Flash.
In addition to these, you would need some steel spring clamps and weights to hold the light stands. I had these already, in addition to a Gold/Silver/White reflector. I also have a couple of umbrellas that I had purchased a few years back. You should be able to buy all of these for under $100, if need be.
For your benefit, I have compiled my purchases and their prices below. Please note that I made the purchases over a three month period beginning Thanksgiving of 2019 so I might have gotten some discounts which might not be there anymore at the time of publishing or reading this article.
Hope my experience made your decision making easier. There are indeed a lot of things to consider and a ton of options to choose from. I am curious to learn of your choices if you took a different path. Let me also know if there are items that need clarification or elaboration so I can provide more details if needed.
Cheers!
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