Need help in selecting ligthing for in-home studio

[photobugd80]

Hi, I am new to this forum as I just found it in hopes of finding something like this to answer my questions.

My name is Donna and I have been shooting with a Nikon D80 for over a year now. I have done nothing but portfolio building over the past year. I do not charge for my photo shoots at this time because I do not feel the time is right yet. Up till now, I have only shot outdoors/on location which is great. I do like this but I am trying to expand on that and over studio type shots too. There are times when outdoors/on location is just not possible and would like to have this as a second option. I have over time collected a few things like backdrops, backdrop stand along with other odd and end pieces knowing that I would eventually go for lighting. Well that time has come and I am now shopping in hopes to purchase a set within the next month or two. But for now I am just trying to figure out what I have to have to start that I can build on later but will be enough of a kit that I can do studio shoots. I have things in mind that I want but am not sure if I am getting the right things. I would hate to spend the money and get it all and find out after the fact that I bought the wrong things.

So this is why I have come here for advice/input.

My normal photo shoots consist of: Maternity, birth/newborn in the hospital, infants, toddlers, small children, small groups no larger than 3 people, seniors, and engagement photos.

I am not really looking for a lighting kit that I can take with me, I am trying to setup an in-home studio that my clients can come to my home. I do want to be able to build on this in time but currently I do not have the space to handle the B1600 lighting. I think at this point my master lighting will be the B800 with B400 as a fill. Over time I would like to expand on my space and switch my master lighting from B800 to B1600 as I would incorporate that B800 along with my fill lighting.

Now do realize that I am new to studio lighting but have been trying to research and figure out what I need based on what I want to do.

I have questions about how what I want to get will work with my Nikon D80. What substitutions will I need or special adapters? I have the Nikon SB600 but I am thinking that I don't "have to" use that. At least I was hoping that I did not have to. I would prefer to keep that along with my Gary Fong light sphere for on location shoots as needed.

Here is my equipment that I have:

Nikon D80
Nikon 35mm f/2, main lens - LOVE this lens.
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, used mostly for infants and toddlers.
Nikon 105mm f/2 VR Macro, used for macro photography and for portraits - mostly head shots.
Nikon 70-300mm VR, casual lens
GF Lights Sphere Clear, used as needed for on location shoots.
Expodisc Digital White Balance (Neutral), used for my terrible in-home lighting.
Backdrop stand, 5 backgrounds: 1 9x10 blue stonewashed muslin, 1 small white, 1 small black, 1 9x10 black muslin, 1 10x12 white muslin.
Tripod (bogen name brand)

Current Studio working space: 12 x 13 feet.
Target price range: $600 - $1700

Here is the equipment that I want to buy:

AlienBees B800-Deep Space Black
10-foot General Purpose Stand
Large Softbox (with LGSR)
CyberSync™ Trigger Transmitter (wireless - if do able)
CyberSync™ Trigger Receiver (wireless - if do able)
Hot Shoe Adapter - (I am pretty sure I will need this for the Nikon D80)
5-in-1 Reflector Kit
Reflector Kit Mounting Arm

What is the better shape of softbox? rectangular or octabox. I tend to want the rectangular but I was just curious as to how the octabox differed. Should I consider it?

Here are some other items that I want but not so sure I will need now or later:

AlienBees B400-Deep Space Black
Medium Softbox (with LGSR)

So there is my story, as you have read I am just starting out with an in-home studio and do want to leave room to expand over time. I am also not looking for an over kill as to what to start with but do want something that will give me the results that I am looking for based on the type of photo shoots that I do.

So any advice and support would be greatly appreciated at this point. Thank you in advance for you time and opinions.