Here we are testing with a fall setup. I was also faking sunlight for a few of them. Ideally you could hide the light behind some tree branches but sometimes that just doesn’t pan out. I also used two strobes on either side with an octagon soft box to act as key and fill lights. As for the subjects, I only went as far as they were willing to go. For example, the one-year-old wanted to run around, so after a few attempts with the setup I just scrapped that goal and went with shots of her running around.
If you want to do stuff like this professionally then you are playing a numbers game. You not only want to get a decent setup, but it also has to be at a price you can afford as well as a price that you can earn back with customers. That’s why it is important to track how much is going into your setup pricewise. After that, if you can estimate how many clients you might have using it, you can spread the cost over several clients rather than getting just one to balk at the price. It is also a good idea to have a general idea of what you want to do and adjust according to what you can get hold of. Budgets also are a nice thing to have.
In terms of budgets and estimating clients – be realistic. Yes, you want to be ambitious, but you can’t say “I am going to have everyone in the world as my client base.” You aren’t going to get everyone on the planet. So, keep the estimates realistic based on your history, who you know, and how enthusiastic your clients are about your work.