Good Affordable Photo Booth Setup for Large Models?

[seiran01]

Hi folks,

I've been thinking I need to upgrade my photo setup to better capture some of the larger models I've been working on. Can anyone suggest some good lighting/diffusing equipment and maybe a black backdrop that won't break the bank? Only camera I have is my iphone which does a decent job, I can't justify a shiny new DSLR just for some hobby photography. 

 

Thanks for any and all recommendations!

Mike

[Out2gtcha]

Hey Mike,

Take a look around E-Bay for camera lighting setups. I got mine on E-bay for a really great price (cant remember the exact cost atm). A lot of the "cheapie" setups on Ebay from China have a lot of great stuff in them and mine has worked out really well so far. 

 

Mine came with 3 hoods, all the lighting housings with 4 bulbs a piece, as well as a "crane" arm for the center hood with a ballast bag. I simply got a normal sized card table, and then went to my local camera shop and bought 3 rolls of "background material", some hanger clips and a backdrop curtain.  Not sure what its actually called but the rolls are quite wide, and it makes for a great LSP photo setup.

 

A roll of white, black and grey background material:

 

 

After I set up the overhead tube that the kit came with, I placed the card table under it, then  I put one of the rolls on it, so it came down over the card table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I set up the lights and hoods 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pics with even my older smart phone turned out really nice and are a HUGE improvement over anything previous I was doing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know this seems like a lot, but the whole thing minus the 3 background rolls and card table of course was under $200 USD   IIRC. There also were many, many different packages they offer with different prices and different equipment, so it pays to look around.

 

Bottom line for me is don't be afraid of the cheaper setups from China, the one I got was a great deal, and for the cost has worked out about as well as I could have hoped.

 

 

HTH

[ringleheim]

Love the B-25 nose art on the wall!

 

 

[seiran01]

Thanks for all that Brian! And yes cool b25 art