Studio Lighting Question

foto41

I have a small (14x20) office I want to make into a studio for kids / portraits / pets. I need some lighting advice. I have speedlights, but I want something that will show me where the light is going before the flash goes off. I am out of my area here and really just looking for advice so I don't waste money. Portability would be nice, but not a requirement.

Thanks!!

ziggy53

If you want "modelling lights" in addition to the flash, you are generally looking at either "pack" studio strobes or "monolights".

With pack lights the power comes from a centralized power pack, and then the flash heads are connected to the pack. Power to each head is generally adjusted at the pack.

With monolights, each head has its own power and control. This makes each head heavier but it amortizes your risk. If one head goes out, you can keep shooting with the other heads you have available.

I generally recommend (and I use) monolights. At the low end but still very usable are the Alien Bees and Adorama Flashpoint II monolights. The Flashpoint lights have a lesser following but both I and (I believe) Pathfinder, our moderator of the Technique and Finishing School forums, use them.

Alien Bees have a great product and very nice selection of lights and modifiers.

Up from these are units like Elinchrom and Profoto, and they have increased purchase price as well.

For starting out I can easily recommend the Alien Bees and Adorama Flashpoint II monolights. Add some light stands (I recommend at least 10' stands), some modifiers like umbrellas, soft boxes, barn doors, snoots, grids and filters, and you are on your way.

foto41

What do you think about the Ws for a studio my size and how many lights?

Also, what do you call the type of lighting that is constant (no flash) and would that be an option?

Thanks for the response.

Barry

ziggy53

foto41 wrote:

What do you think about the Ws for a studio my size and how many lights?

Also, what do you call the type of lighting that is constant (no flash) and would that be an option?

Thanks for the response.

Barry

If your studio has good control over ambient lighting and if you are using efficient flash modifiers, you don't need terribly powerful flashes. If you have little control over ambient light or if you use inefficient flash modifiers, then you need more power. A very large softbox, as an example, requires a lot more power than a small silver umbrella, but it delivers much softer shadows and softer illumination that most people find a lot more pleasing.

The number of required lights/heads is determined by the lighting setup and desired effect. For a typical setup 4 lights is often required. Sometime you can substitute a reflector for a fill light, but then you need a holder for the reflector and positioning the reflector can get tricky for some setups. You might be able to use smaller flashes, even speedlights, for the background and hair/rim lights.

Continuous lights are the common term for halogen and fluorescent lighting, but most people like the large pupils in the eyes you can get from flash lighting. Halogen lights also have to be compensated more in white balance and may not seem as rich in color tonality. Halogens are also hot and most subjects won't tolerate very long under the lights. Florescent lighting, unless you get extremely expensive fixtures and tubes (into the thousands of dollars for a single light) tend to lack a convincing continuous spectrum and skin tones may be difficult to get smooth and natural looking, as well as the inability to adjust the power of florescent lights (they are generally either off or on, although better fixtures may have "banks" which can be switched on and off.)

If you are unfamiliar with lighting setups I suggest looking at the links RPCrowe suggests:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=742194&postcount=10

foto41

Thanks!! Those are great tips and the reference sites will help a lot.

angevin1

Barry, Don't forget....if you're using your flashguns either mounted or slaved via the commander mode on your Nikon, you can push the depth of field preview button and they'll do just that...show you where the light is going!

tzipple

foto41 wrote:

What do you think about the Ws for a studio my size and how many lights?

Also, what do you call the type of lighting that is constant (no flash) and would that be an option?

Thanks for the response.

Barry

For most things 3 lights are plenty. Frankly, you can do exceptional stuff with one light and good use of reflectors. I would start with 2, no more than 3 lights and save a bit for reflectors and a good soft box. You can always get another light as you find a need.

Stick with strobes. Constant lighting sources get hot and are tough on the eyes. Buy no less than Alien Bees or White Lightning if you can affords it. Look for used gear. It can save you a third. I like monolights and find them easier to position/more flexible.

You can do a lot in a 14x20 space. Bigger is always better but you can have a great small studio in hat space.

rpcrowe

I agree with Ziggy
Although the hotshoe flash route is O.K. for shooting when no A/C current is available and/or when you cannot afford to purchase or lug battery packs for studio strobes; the attempt to modify a hotshoe flash into a studio strobe (the Strobist doctrine) leaves a lot to be desired:

1. The most important lack is a modeling light. Without a modeling light you are "shooting blind" and you cannot "see" what your lights are doing unless you shoot an image and either view it on the camera LCD or on a tethered computer. Using hotshoe flash for studio work is like boiling ice cubes to make tea. It can be done but, it is darned inefficient.

2. The hotshoe flash is not designed to work with light stands and you need an adapter.

3. Light modifiers such as softboxes and umbrellas are not efficient with hotshoe flashes because of the tiny size of the flash reflector.

4. Hotshoe flashes use AA batteries (although some units can be powered by other sources at extra expense) and the AA batteries fade out after a lot of shooting and recycle time increases.

5. Hotshoe flashes, as compared with studio strobes, are generally quite underpowered.

6. Although you CAN set up with less expensive hotshoe flashes, using dedicated Canon Speedlights is generally more expensive than setting up with lights such as the Alien Bees or the Adorama Flashpoint units.

Sure, studio strobes cannot be used in E-TTL or TTL exposure control but, IMO, manual exposure control is the way to go in studio work.

Toshido

If not for the cost of international shipping (I am in Canada) I would be all of this setup.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=158510

4 heads, 880 w/s (roughly), light stands and reflectors all in a nice box for portability. Unfortunately I am looking at $300+ in shipping via UPS worldwide Or a 10+ hour drive each way to pick up. Still tempting though.

I think for now I am going to get a setup for my personal use with 2 Sigma EF 550 super flashes and an old flash that is on 100% at all times. Figure this setup will allow me to learn lighting and improve my on camera flash at the same time (currently have Canon 430EX). End goal would be 2 alien bees for main lights and speedlight (sigma 550s) for background illumination.

Just the route I am going, and not necessarily the best route, just the one that works best for me. Budget and lighting requirements/desires considered