Ever thought about setting up your own photo studio? As Andrew Fildes explains, it doesn't have to cost a fortune. He walks you through the basics.
Have you ever thought about setting up your own studio? Contrary to popular opinion, it's not terribly difficult and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Your studio can be as simple or as complex as you like. The National Photographic Portrait Prize in 2011 went to Jaqueline Mitleman who used a mid-priced camera and a room with a big window. Of course she’d set it up as a proper studio, but it's an example of what you can achieve with limited, but cleverly used, resources.
You can do all sorts of things with one light source and a bit of imagination. After all, we live in a ‘one-light’ world – the sun – and we aren’t aware of it most of the time because the light is diffused and reflected. In the studio it's your job to do the same thing, to modify and shape the light, to get the results you're after.
So, what do you need to set up your own studio? Here are some of the options…
WINDOW LIGHT
Don’t discount the allure and cost effectiveness of available light. The trick is to modify the universal ‘one point source’ – the sun coming through the window – and then use reflectors if and as required. The most difficult thing is to find a place that has ‘good light’. My available light mini-studio is a second floor room over a shop – the light not only comes through directly, but also reflects up from the steel roof on the verandah below the window. The result is a very diffuse light, which is then softened more with a thin curtain of rip-stop white nylon. The result is a big, natural ‘softbox’.
HOT-SHOE EXTERNAL FLASH
One of the cleverest ideas recently has been the conversion of normal ‘strobes’ – camera-mounted flashes – into simple studio flashes. This is popular because many of us already own at least one decent flash unit for our camera. But these can cost up to $800 each and come with a bewildering set of features and modes, allowing you to set up multiple flashes in zones with wireless triggering and control. However, if you set up your camera properly, you can get a simple studio rig using cheap manual flashes, a couple of lightweight stands and some simple accessories. Remember, while these flashes are slow and low output compared to a studio flash head, camera sensors are now much more sensitive and lower light allows better depth-of-field control. 
Shoe-mount flashes range in output from 20 to 60GN – the GN or Guide Number’ gives the effective range in metres at 100 ISO with a 50mm lens. A higher GN indicates a more powerful flash, which in turn gives the photographer more options.
The expensive high-end units from the main manufacturers are around 58GN, like the Canon 580EX. They also have less expensive units in the 40s and a simple snapshot flash in the twenties. The built-in flash in many SLRs is very weak – often 10-12GN.
Shoe-mount flash units can be mounted off-camera quite effectively and fired by cable, wireless triggers or optical triggers. No-name manual flashes suitable for our purposes with a GN in the high 50s and variable power output sell for as little as $60 to $80! The big disadvantage with them is that recovering from a ‘full dump’ will take at least 10 seconds compared to two seconds for a monobloc. But there are now plug-in battery power packs that will speed this up significantly. With the advent of rechargeable batteries like the Eneloop, ‘Strobism’ has become cheaper, faster and more convenient.
MONOBLOCS
Monoblocs are all-in-one units which sit on top of a light stand (more powerful professional units have a heavy ‘floor pack’ power unit for extra speed and they’re very expensive). They have a full range of power settings, a modelling light so you can see where the power is going and a front ring which takes a range of light shapers and modifiers. If you’re enjoying using basic strobes, eventually you’ll want to move up to proper monoblocs, but they can be very expensive. Don’t go over the top at first, unless you’ve got the work to pay for them. Elinchrom’s D-Lite RX monobloc sells for around $260 and delivers around twice the power of a typical flash. There are some decent Chinese units around which take standard reflectors and fittings and I rather like the Alien Bees’ range as starter units. Check the prices of replacement flash tubes before you buy – some units have very expensive tubes indeed!
Alien Bee lights are great ‘starter’ units. They come in three power ratings and they’re fast and compact.
TUNGSTEN HALOGEN LIGHTS
Once it was almost the only way: reflectors with hot, tungsten photoflood globes – usually 250 watts. They warmed up the room, the model and the colour temperature so you had to know about colour correction filters and tungsten film. They're out of fashion these days so you'll pay less for new and second-hand gear.
Tungsten light can be really useful in the studio, particularly if you want to work at the wider apertures on your lens. This photo was made using just one tungsten light and a reflector placed under the model’s face. The exposure was 1/125s @ f/1.4, ISO 400. Photo by Anthony McKee. Model: Dalena from LMC models, New Zealand.
LED PANELS
LED panels are the way of the future. They're cheap to run, they don't produce any heat and, unlike flash, they provide wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) convenience. They're still quite expensive
but prices are dropping fast.
DIFFUSERS
There is almost no end to the shape and size of light modifiers. The simplest diffuser is a drop of thin white fabric over a bright window. For flash, an umbrella is the basic accessory, though it’s considered a bit old-fashioned now. People tend to prefer a softbox as they can mimic a window light and they produce a square ‘catch-light’ in the eye. Umbrellas are a little awkward to erect and collapse. A compromise is a ‘shoot-through” umbrella which collapses like a brolly, but acts like a small softbox.
Umbrellas are an older, but still highly effective way to control artificial lights.
Softboxes are the most popular form of diffuser. They come in all sizes and shapes from small squares to huge two metre wide Octo-Boxes for full-length people and group shots. The big ones cost more than a camera. For using shoe-mount flashes, there are small types available with Velcro attachment – or larger ones where the box attaches to the stand and the flash to the box.
Softboxes are excellent for diffusing light. They can vary in size from smaller units which fit over flash heads, to ones as big as people or groups.
REFLECTORS
The most basic extra light is a reflector bouncing light back to the subject to fill the shadows. One of those spring-loaded, circular cloth types is easiest and light enough to take into the field with you to bounce the sun. They are usually white on one side and silver on the other but you can get gold ones as well. For a really big reflector, try a sheet of foam core board (about $20). When it gets too beaten up you can use it as backing sheet to frame your images. And if your assistant is sick, busy or non-existent there are clamps that can hold a reflector to a stand.
TRIGGERS
Little wireless triggers are now very cheap and reliable. They have a transmitter which slots into the shoe on your flash and a receiver. Some receivers come as little brackets which you plug the flash into, and others as a little dongle which can be plugged into the PC socket on the flash. You only need one pair – most shoe flashes and flash heads have an optical trigger built-in so the first flash will trigger a second, third and fourth if you wish (my record is 10!) Remember, they have little batteries in them, so keep spares. PocketWizard has a huge range of triggers – www.kayellaustralia.com.au. A long traditional PC cable is another cheap ‘just-in-case’ back-up option.
Trigger systems allow photographers to control more complex lighting set ups fairly simply.
MOUNTING BRACKETS
These are brackets for mounting small shoe-mount flashes on a stand. The best kinds have a swivel and a hole with clamp screw for mounting an umbrella. I’ve seen new types with a ‘crucifix’ pattern and three shoes for two flashes and a receiver – double the power on one stand!
LIGHT STANDS
These can be quite light for small flashes or continuous lamps and panels. To avoid accidentally knocking them over, try hanging a bag of sand off the base for extra stability and safety.
Edited excerpt from an article first published in Australian Photography + digital (September 2013).