Lighting help?

christulk

Hi there,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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Mods if this is in the wrong section, I'm sorry so please feel free to move it.<o:p></o:p>
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I am looking at getting 'some lighting' in order to start creating a home studio. I've never really used studio lights before and as such have no clues as to what to get. I intended shooting portraits etc, as that is what interests me the most (hence placing this in the people section).<o:p></o:p>
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I was hoping that those of you who use studio lighting might be able to give me some ideas as to the type of equipment a beginner should have as a 'starter kit'.<o:p></o:p>
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The lights will be a gift for my mid-life crisis birthday -40:( , so would look at lighting etc in the $500 (Australian) dollar mark - perhaps a bit more if I can convince family a friends on 'one' present <o:p></o:p>
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Any help would be greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p>
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Thanks and happy shooting!<o:p></o:p>
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Chris <o:p></o:p>


Seeing I haven't posted in AGES here is a recent photo of my boys:

James: slight focus issues


Matthew: (First skiing lesson)

Scott_Quier

I can heartily recommend Alien Bee - I have used 4 of the B800 units in both portraits (not all four at the same time) and to light wedding receptions. NEVER had a moments worry with them. For a small home studio, I would think the B400 strobes would do you just fine (there's only 1 stop difference between them). A couple of those and a softbox or two (or shoot through brollies) and you're set.

Oh, and you'll need a couple of light stands as well.

Finally, I think I would stay away from the various "starter kits" that a lot of retailers try to sell. I've never heard anything good when that happens.

anonymouscuban

I will second the Alien Bees. I purchased two AB400's used from a member of Dgrin and have been very happy with them. I don't have any experience with other brands but can say that these have done everything I've wanted them to do so far, without breaking the bank.

Nikolai

What Scott said

ABs get my sincere recommendation for performance, large variery of inexpensive modifiers and, last but not least, excellent customer service.

My only serious concern is you budget. When it comes to lighting, nothing is cheap. My very first (portable, not even studio) two-lights setup was about $1,500US. Luckily I still use it, so it was a money well spend.

FWIW Lighting/Studio gear has rather low resell factor (unlike glass), hence if you make a wrong choice you will probable get stuck with it for a long time.
So plan wisely!

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote: »

... I purchased two AB400's used from a member of Dgrin ...

..glad you liked them... rofl

Jeremy Winterberg

Alien bees all the way. I have two B800's and love them! The other day one of em tipped over onto cement from about 8 ft off the ground cause the wind knocked it over. Still works perfectly! Note to self: buy heavy duty light stands and sand bags..

divamum

hi Chris.

Great advice so far, but it's also worth reading The Strobist for some other (and possibly less expensive) options that would fit into your budget. A lot of people prefer the portability and versatility of a speedlight setup over studio lights, depending on how and where they plan to use their setup. Check out his "Lighting 101" section - it will give you a lot of information and, regardless of whether you go speedlights or strobes will definitely give you lots to think about...

Jeremy Winterberg

David hobby aka the strobist is a great resource to learn lighting techniques for any budget. Definitely check out divamom's link.

reyvee61

Interesting, i learned something here today.
I've always thought AB's to be up there as far as pricing goes but I see they offer a very nice beginner kit for just 599USD.
Two B400's and shoot thru brollies
I guess I didn't do my homework as good as I thought I did but I've had the Elinchrom D-lite 400's with softboxes and I'm very happy with them but at my purchase price of just over 700USD I could have saved money with the AB's.

I'm sure the quality is the same if not better.....

Will have to look at these for additional lighting needs
Thanks guys

reyvee61

divamum wrote: »

hi Chris.

Great advice so far, but it's also worth reading The Strobist for some other (and possibly less expensive) options that would fit into your budget. A lot of people prefer the portability and versatility of a speedlight setup over studio lights, depending on how and where they plan to use their setup. Check out his "Lighting 101" section - it will give you a lot of information and, regardless of whether you go speedlights or strobes will definitely give you lots to think about...

Diva the link is dead, maybe just server issues?

Hackbone

My go is for three Bees. ( main, fill, bkg or kicker ). You don't need alot of power for now. A couple of umbrellas or one umbrella and a softbox. Remember for ladies the bigger the light source the more flattering the light.

christulk

Wow, what a great response! Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer my question.

Now for a bit of surfing and I'm set........

Thanks again everyone:D:D

Nikolai

reyvee61 wrote: »

Interesting, i learned something here today.
I've always thought AB's to be up there as far as pricing goes but I see they offer a very nice beginner kit for just 599USD.
Two B400's and shoot thru brollies
I guess I didn't do my homework as good as I thought I did but I've had the Elinchrom D-lite 400's with softboxes and I'm very happy with them but at my purchase price of just over 700USD I could have saved money with the AB's.

I'm sure the quality is the same if not better.....

Will have to look at these for additional lighting needs
Thanks guys

IMHO AB-based solution is the best ROI (or "bang for the buck":-) bar none.
If you get any cheaper, you'll start losing quality fast.
Getting 15% better would cost at least twice as much (if not more).

Scott_Quier

Hackbone wrote: »

My go is for three Bees. ( main, fill, bkg or kicker ). You don't need alot of power for now. A couple of umbrellas or one umbrella and a softbox. Remember for ladies the bigger the light source the more flattering the light.

This is good advice, but not within budget. And, it's usually better to start simple and add to the kit as one runs into situations where the equipment on hand doesn't quite fill the bill. This also provides incentive to experiment and improvise. When it's not on a job, this learn as you go and experimentation tends to help one really learn how light behaves.

Like I said, good advice, but better to start slow and build up. Oh, and you may read where some advise to get all the same strobes. This is good when you are working where time is money and/or impression with the client. But, when you are just working in a home situation and learning - all the same is not so important.

Jeremy Winterberg

diva's link isn't correct. it should be just http://strobist.blogspot.com/ <- that is where diva meant to link you to. I was on my droid when I replied earlier so I didn't check her link I just saw strobist..

Nikolai

Scott_Quier wrote: »

This is good advice, but not within budget. And, it's usually better to start simple and add to the kit as one runs into situations where the equipment on hand doesn't quite fill the bill. This also provides incentive to experiment and improvise. When it's not on a job, this learn as you go and experimentation tends to help one really learn how light behaves.

Like I said, good advice, but better to start slow and build up.

Same here. It's important to plan the whole kit and then start slow and add as you go. Two lights + reflector can cover a LOT of situations. I myself often find shooting with a single light, two at most - despite the fact I have more than 10 and am not afraid to use them all if need be..;-)

Oh, and you may read where some advise to get all the same strobes. This is good when you are working where time is money and/or impression with the client. But, when you are just working in a home situation and learning - all the same is not so important.

Respectfully disagree.
I found out through a bitter personal experience that different lights behave differently. This may not be the case for the VHE (Very High End) class (I'm not planning to pay $7K+ for the juice box only any time soon), but for entry/mid level units you can expect some deviation even within the same brand. Different brands will only make things worse.

I know, I'm splitting hair here, and most (esp. novice) users won't even know where to look for a differences, but believe me: there are some, and sometimes substantial, at least when you start pushing your equipment to satisfy certain requirements...

christulk

I am really enjoying reading all the responses/ideas and thank you all for your help. I'll agree with Scott - I think I'll try for one or two to start and build up as/if needs be. I generally try to shoot with natural light (it's free and I don't fully understand artificial light:D) so if I get a couple of lights to start, I'm sure I'll learn.

If you had to use only, say, only two artificial light sources, what would you choose??

divamum

Sorry! Have corrected it in the original post. Mistyped it. It's strobist.blogspot.com

l.k.madison

I'm going to buck the system here...

I have a light source that works WONDERS and it's *free*!!!

A window.

Seriously.

I've used studio lights TWICE, back in the day where I swore I had to have them, and I hated almost every shot they gave me.

I use natural light 99% of the time I shoot, set the camera to *slightly* over expose, bump it up a *tad* in post and viola'.

Obviously, depending on how your studio is set up or the size of your subjects (or amount of subjects) this isn't always ideal, but it works and it's cheaper than ABs My ideal studio is just a room with one wall of windows. That's all I need. The wonderful Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver have a 12x24 room with a sliding glass door that faces west with a small window behind where they shoot that faces south and their shots rock my socks.

side note: I almost always do shoots by myself, especially with babies/toddlers, but my husband usually seconds me when he can if we're shooting teenagers or adults. A few weeks ago, I was delivering canvases to a customer and as soon as we walked in the house, my husband said "Where in the world did you take these?" and I showed him the spot, the small 6 sq ft or so of her living room where I had corner windows. I raised the blinds, set up my bean bag and shot her 3 month shots on mom's living room floor.

reyvee61

l.k.madison wrote: »

I'm going to buck the system here...

I have a light source that works WONDERS and it's *free*!!!

A window.

Seriously.

I've used studio lights TWICE, back in the day where I swore I had to have them, and I hated almost every shot they gave me.

I use natural light 99% of the time I shoot, set the camera to *slightly* over expose, bump it up a *tad* in post and viola'.

Obviously, depending on how your studio is set up or the size of your subjects (or amount of subjects) this isn't always ideal, but it works and it's cheaper than ABs My ideal studio is just a room with one wall of windows. That's all I need. The wonderful Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver have a 12x24 room with a sliding glass door that faces west with a small window behind where they shoot that faces south and their shots rock my socks.

side note: I almost always do shoots by myself, especially with babies/toddlers, but my husband usually seconds me when he can if we're shooting teenagers or adults. A few weeks ago, I was delivering canvases to a customer and as soon as we walked in the house, my husband said "Where in the world did you take these?" and I showed him the spot, the small 6 sq ft or so of her living room where I had corner windows. I raised the blinds, set up my bean bag and shot her 3 month shots on mom's living room floor.

I had this same attitude until recently when I wanted to shoot at higher f stops with subects that have a tough time sitting perfectly still. (children)
I have always used natural light with f stops of 4 or lower and ISO's as high as 3200 and have had great results with adults or infants but not so well with children.
When I purchased my light kit I realized that I could easily shoot at f/8 or higher at ISO 100 at 1/125 or higher and get great results shooting children. Great detail and color and great depth as well....
It's like having a new tool in hand for more possibilities and creative control

Nikolai

l.k.madison wrote: »

I'm going to buck the system here...

I have a light source that works WONDERS and it's *free*!!!

A window.

Seriously.

I've used studio lights TWICE, back in the day where I swore I had to have them, and I hated almost every shot they gave me.

I use natural light 99% of the time I shoot, set the camera to *slightly* over expose, bump it up a *tad* in post and viola'.

Obviously, depending on how your studio is set up or the size of your subjects (or amount of subjects) this isn't always ideal, but it works and it's cheaper than ABs My ideal studio is just a room with one wall of windows. That's all I need. The wonderful Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver have a 12x24 room with a sliding glass door that faces west with a small window behind where they shoot that faces south and their shots rock my socks.

side note: I almost always do shoots by myself, especially with babies/toddlers, but my husband usually seconds me when he can if we're shooting teenagers or adults. A few weeks ago, I was delivering canvases to a customer and as soon as we walked in the house, my husband said "Where in the world did you take these?" and I showed him the spot, the small 6 sq ft or so of her living room where I had corner windows. I raised the blinds, set up my bean bag and shot her 3 month shots on mom's living room floor.

Well... While I do love a good window light, it's only one lighting pattern.

Besides it's unstable, unpredictable, time dependent and time limited and you can't move your subject more than just a a couple of feet. Studio lights give you freedom; even if it's a single light, you still have a complete control over where it is and what it does.

Window is a great light source. But I wouldn't feel so great about it if I was chained to it.

Just my 0.00002

Jeremy Winterberg

I love ambient light, but like Nik said.. its unpredictable, and extremely difficult to control.

Maybe you didn't like what the lights gave you because you didn't know how to use them properly? You can achieve extremely similar results, if not better, to window light with giant softboxes and the correct settings.

Scott_Quier

l.k.madison wrote: »

I'm going to buck the system here...

I have a light source that works WONDERS and it's *free*!!!

A window.

Seriously.

I've used studio lights TWICE, back in the day where I swore I had to have them, and I hated almost every shot they gave me.

I use natural light 99% of the time I shoot, set the camera to *slightly* over expose, bump it up a *tad* in post and viola'.

Obviously, depending on how your studio is set up or the size of your subjects (or amount of subjects) this isn't always ideal, but it works and it's cheaper than ABs My ideal studio is just a room with one wall of windows. That's all I need. The wonderful Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver have a 12x24 room with a sliding glass door that faces west with a small window behind where they shoot that faces south and their shots rock my socks.

side note: I almost always do shoots by myself, especially with babies/toddlers, but my husband usually seconds me when he can if we're shooting teenagers or adults. A few weeks ago, I was delivering canvases to a customer and as soon as we walked in the house, my husband said "Where in the world did you take these?" and I showed him the spot, the small 6 sq ft or so of her living room where I had corner windows. I raised the blinds, set up my bean bag and shot her 3 month shots on mom's living room floor.

I also love ambient light, but it can produce only a limited number of lighting patterns and there is very little one can do to control the light - it really conforms to "It is what it it is!" And I - Nice large windows, especially north facing windows, can provide some oh so beautiful light. So can open garage doors (just take a look at the portraits Mitchell has produced.

But, that's not what the OP was asking about - he/she was/is interested in a strobe solution. Two lights (and associated lightstands, modifiers, etc) is a good place to start. This allows the photographer to easily experiment with key/fill light combinations. Later, he/she can bring in the rim lights and kickers, and ....

BTW - since the sliding adjusters on these lights can provide only a very crude measure of the amount of light being produced, a decent incident light/flash meter will make experimenting with lighting ratios soooo much easier. I have and use the Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Meter ($380 at B&H), but there are others that are somewhat less dear and do just as well. Not required, just makes life a lot easier!