Basic 'studio' photography tips wanted

On a whim I have purchased this link

I appreciate some people will think it was a horrible waste of money, but I see it as a cheap starting place to dip my toe in. I have a couple of friends with babies and my sister is a dancer always needs portfolio shots, so should come in handy.

Any tips I can pick up from your guys about how to get the best from it would be greatly appreciated. I also have a basic Metz flash for my K5 if it will come in useful?

You may find that the 105W lamps are rather dim without upping the ISO a bit.
For people who can sit still and don't mind having continuous lights right on top of them, they would be OK.
For babies, and other "fast moving" subjects, they probably will not do very well.
I'd have to say 500w lights are barely getting into useable territory if you want to keep the ISO low.

I didn't see a price, so I can't say they are a waste of money.
They may very well be a good starting point.
Probably a better choice than spending $1000 for a good set of strobes, then finding out you're not into them.

Still, I'd look for higher wattage lamps if you don't quite want to go to strobes.
You may be able to re-use the modifiers (umbrellas), but be careful about how much heat they can handle!!!!
You can almost certainly re-use the stands later as you expand your setup.

Using the set and replacing the lights with your Metz flash might be a better idea for the set.

. . . is probably a mistake when choosing a lighting setup.

Spending some time researching your options is always worthwhile.

That said, the kit you have purchased will be OK for some situations, and no use at all for others, but the bulk of the kit can be re-used with different light sources.

My own preference is to use radio/infra-red triggered hot shoe flash units rather than mains powered monoblock heads as a very portable and usable option.

Good luck and be sure to show us some results please.

The price was £75

I take it these are actually very basic flash heads rather than tungsten lights as the '105w' description suggests? If so they would properly be described as 105 watt/second output which isn't very much at all.

TBH the stands, brollies and backgrounds are probably worth £75 but you have set-up which will provide illumination but certainly not 'lighting' ie. you will have virtually no control over where the light goes. 'No skill, just fill' as the saying goes.

The green background is intended for chromakey work.

Calumet's own brand studio flash heads are good budget heads.

I almost bought that on a whim as well but thought better of it - not based on any knowledge, just that I have enough stuff acquired this way!

I guess you saw the link on TP bargain section

When I previously got a similar kit it was continuous lighting with fluorescent bulbs like these - so you get the equivalent of about 1000W.

With 105 W. you get the equivalent of about 425 W. tungsten lighting.