Can you critique my "studio"?

[TheCheesehead]

Hi,
I recently put this "studio" together, and I wanted to see if anyone could add any other ideas.

So here's a little background: So...I have a career working for the city, but have gotten into photography the last year. I don't intend to become a pro, just pics of family, friends...maybe in a couple years with some practice do a wedding here and there. So, I've had this detached garage with a nice empty second floor for the past 5 years or so, so I thought I'd throw some stuff together and see what happens. So here's the garage.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4792303974_97ec9e9c4e.jpg

Here's one angle of what I set up: The height is 8' from floor to the bottom of the joists. Camera left I have a 4x8 sheet of white melamine wall board from the local home improvement store. Up above, I have a 4X4 sheet of the same stuff. Camera right is a 580 EXII through an umbrella (a zumbrella). The black muslin is hanging on a background stand from Adorama.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4792299710_8389251a58.jpg

Opposite angle:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4792302106_05bc13f666.jpg

Here's a shot of my daughter. Canon Rebel XSi 2.8L 70-200 IS @ 140mm Manual exposure F4 @1/125 ISO 200 FEC +1
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4792305372_8de75e434a.jpg

So, any pointers? Should I lower that top reflector a bit? The 4X8 on the left is on two hooks, hanging from the joists, so I can move it around. Should that be directly to the side of the subject, or more of a 45 degree angle? Thanks for the help!

[ziggy53]

I moved this to "MYOB" since studio design would seem to be a business thing. It certainly has little to do with "Cameras", per se.

[deb22]

Dear CheeseHead, First your daughter is adorable!!! Your eye will develop as you go along and What I like you may not like. You have the perfect subject in your daughter and maybe take 5 pics a day and change your angles until you get the look you are going for. Some like soft focus and some don't, some like strong shadows and some don't so just surf the web and find the look you are wanting to achieve and try different stuff until you get it.Also go to different forums that only let you post if you put in the data which will give you additional help- Red Bubble.com is one but there are many. Good luck to you.

[angevin1]

Congrats on the Studio! Many of us aren't near fortunate to have such a lovely space. :thumb

Thats a great shot of the inside space there. I bet it looks nothing like that in a year, then two years and so on!

With so much room, you'll have little trouble reflecting light however you wish~

[Brett1000]

Hi,
I recently put this "studio" together, and I wanted to see if anyone could add any other ideas.

So here's a little background: So...I have a career working for the city, but have gotten into photography the last year. I don't intend to become a pro, just pics of family, friends...maybe in a couple years with some practice do a wedding here and there. So, I've had this detached garage with a nice empty second floor for the past 5 years or so, so I thought I'd throw some stuff together and see what happens. So here's the garage.


Here's one angle of what I set up: The height is 8' from floor to the bottom of the joists. Camera left I have a 4x8 sheet of white melamine wall board from the local home improvement store. Up above, I have a 4X4 sheet of the same stuff. Camera right is a 580 EXII through an umbrella (a zumbrella). The black muslin is hanging on a background stand from Adorama.


Opposite angle:


Here's a shot of my daughter. Canon Rebel XSi 2.8L 70-200 IS @ 140mm Manual exposure F4 @1/125 ISO 200 FEC +1


So, any pointers? Should I lower that top reflector a bit? The 4X8 on the left is on two hooks, hanging from the joists, so I can move it around. Should that be directly to the side of the subject, or more of a 45 degree angle? Thanks for the help!

you could play around with the angles but it looks pretty good to me - I'm just jealous of that big studio space !

[W.W. Webster]

The height is 8' from floor to the bottom of the joists.Is that high enough to allow a large reflector to be set sufficiently above a standing subject?

[BradfordBenn]

Also I would make sure that you have good curtains for the windows. One of the challenges I have been hitting recently is just the light coming from a window changing what I am trying to accomplish. This can be really bad on a "partly cloudy" day with the clouds moving lots. So you may want to look for some heavy blackout curtains, you will most likely want them to be moveable just so you can let in good light on sunny days.

[TheCheesehead]

Is that high enough to allow a large reflector to be set sufficiently above a standing subject?

I guess I'm not sure of the ideal reflector distance, would 2 feet be too close? I was thinking of lowering this a few feet perhaps for seated subjects.

[TheCheesehead]

Also I would make sure that you have good curtains for the windows. One of the challenges I have been hitting recently is just the light coming from a window changing what I am trying to accomplish. This can be really bad on a "partly cloudy" day with the clouds moving lots. So you may want to look for some heavy blackout curtains, you will most likely want them to be moveable just so you can let in good light on sunny days.

Thanks, I agree, I haven't quite figured that one out yet. There is a window behind the background, I covered it with wallboard/paneling. Maybe I could use blinds on the dormer windows? They are 4 feet across. Thanks!

[TheCheesehead]

Thanks for the comments! One thing I notice is there is low light in the room, and can be tough for focusing. There isn't any electricity on the second floor yet. There is a 100 amp panel on the first floor. Any thoughts as to what would be good lights to use for focusing? Just regular incandesents, can lights, spot lights?

Thanks!