Home Studio: First Pictures

It is amazing what you can do with a bit of research (and I'd like to claim a bit of ingenuity but it took me so long how to figure it all out when really it's so simple I'm not sure I can make that claim!).

I have been meaning to try and sort out some decent lighting and make a studio, on a budget, with not much room and not much time...sounds like a recipe for a disaster. I haven't quite got the lighting how I want it yet but I'm really pleased with some of the photographs.

List of equipment I used:

• 1 very big sheet of white paper
• 1 camera
• 1 decent flash
• 1 flash dug out of my Grandad's cupboard and about 30 years old
• 3 pocket wizards (this bit blew my budget but it's well worth it!)

I'll post some more detailed instructions later on how I put it together and where I got the kit. Strobist's Lighting 101, which so many people recommend and link to, is brilliant, but it still took me a while to adapt this for a Canon camera.

Anyway, here are my first results:

This shot showing the contrast of a grown-up's hands around a newborn baby's foot doesn't have the hard isolated white background but I'm pleased with the smooth lighting and the lack of harsh shadows.


These two were some of the first I did with the subject cleanly isolated against the white background and deliberately going for a high key effect. A bit of a classic posey shot but it was fun trying it.