DIY Budget Studio

Thanks to a couple of friends who lend me some flashes. I was able to setup this makeshift studio at a buddy's living room. The support was made entirely out of pvc piping and we used clothes hangers to hold the background to the support. Can you say ghetto?! To make it worst two of the flash units that I borrowed didn't have a foot stand so we got creative and used a clear plastic container from a toy to be used as the flash stand. Hey, it worked. Did a maternity shoot here for a friend, then afterward we screwed around because we didn't want to waste all the effort that was put in in carting up the gear and then setting it up.

The setup:
I used my 580EX w/ diffuser as the master on camera, a 430EX and a 420EX on the ground shooting at the background and another 430EX on that monopod shooting into the reflector.

What I've learned:

• The background is too see thru so the tiles on the ground was visible preventing me from doing full body shoots.
• The white background allows for an easy time to magic wand out the background, but putting back anything but a white background in photoshop will leave a halo effect.

What was done well:

• Got my settings pretty quickly.
• Had just the right type and amount of equipment for the shoot.

What to work on before the next one:

• Bedside manners to allow the models to be more comfortable
• Come up with a DIY hair light