Studio portraits advice with lighting

Stustaff

Morning I love taking candid portrait shots and now want to progress to some home studio portraiture.

I have the space and a few bits I need but my big missing is lighting.
I would really appreciate some advice.

I have about £200 to spend so I appreciate I may not get everything initially but want something to start with so i can build up from that.

I have seen a couple of options.

First Continuos options
#1 @ £199
The kit features two Tungsten Halogen bulbs, two 250 w/s continuous light digilights with stepless 1/8 to full power setting options, two 50 x 70 softboxes, two light stands and one adjustable, foam-padded protective carrying case.

#2 @ £165
COMPRISING: 2 X FOTOLITE TUNGSTEN 500 WATT CONTINUOUS LIGHTING HEADS WITH ALUMINIUM REFLECTORS.
2 X PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING STANDS OF MAXIMUM EXTENSION TO 10.5FEET HIGH.
2X WHITE TRANSLUCENT SHOOT THROUGH UMBRELLAS,
ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN HAVE 2 X SILVER REFLECTOR
UMBRELLAS, OR YOU CAN HAVE ONE SILVER + ONE WHITE.
2X500WATTLAMPS
2 X 275 WATT LAMPS
THE TUNGSTEN 500WATT LAMPS OPERATE AT A COLOUR TEMPERATURE OF 3,200K


Or Flash lighting

#1 @ £129
Two strobe lights, two 2.1m light stands, two 36 white umbrellas, two swivel adaptors/umbrella holders, a sync cord and a carrying bag.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Specifications[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Flash Power[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2 x 45 WS[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Guide No (ISO100)[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]28m[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Recharge Time[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8-10 sec[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lighting Range[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]55 deg[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Flash Duration[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1/1000 sec[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Triggers[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Slave & Test[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Colour Temp[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5600K[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Slave Effectiveness[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10m[/FONT]


#2 @ £199
Two strobe lights with full and half power setting options, two 75W modelling bulbs, one 36" silver umbrella, one 36" white umbrella, two light stands, two extra long flash cords and one protective carry case with foam padding and adjustable sections.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Output (each)[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]110W/S[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Recharge Time[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1-3 sec[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Beam Width[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]55 deg[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Flash Duration[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1/1000 sec[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Triggering[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Slave, Synch Cord, Test[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Power Settings[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1/2 and Full[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Model Lamp (each)[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]75W[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Colour Temp[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5600K[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Weight[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7.5kg[/FONT]

ziggy53

The biggest problem with multiple lights is their ability to produce repeatable results consistantly. If you have two lights with a variability of 1/3 stop per light between shots, you can be up to 2/3 stop difference between the lights during a shot. 2/3 stop difference is more than enough to be visible. A lot of the cheaper monolights are like this.

The least expensive lights I have tested are the FlashPoint lights from Adorama. Comparing these to some pricey Bowens lights I used at work, these are at least as good.

You can get a 2 light kit, 2 - 300WS heads (FP 620), GN 192 feet, with follow-along modelling lamps, 40" umbrellas (bounce, bounce with black cover and shoot-though) and 2 - ten foot air-cushioned stands, for $550USD.

I have the FP 1820 heads and can vouch for their reliable, repeatable performance. The power steps are also accurate with the power markings, except going from 1/2 to full is not a full stop, more like 2/3 stop.

Alien Bees are also well rated, and you can get a similar 2 head system for around $600USD. I did not test these units personally, but the web is littered with pleased customers.

If you can't afford these units, I would suggest some portable battery powered flashes, that have suitable manual power settings. You can use these with the same light stands and umbrellas, via an adapter, and trigger them via slave. Anything from the venerable Sunpak 383 through some really powerful, and expensive, handle mount flashes from Sunpak and Metz can be used. Most are pretty accurate and repeatable if you give them enough time to "fully" recycle before the next shot. Obviously, you don't have modelling lights with this setup.

ziggy53

kapalua

go with strobes
continuous lights are fine for still life or product shooting, but you'll find yourself needing wide open apertures and long shutter speeds due to their low output. Maybe something like 4.0 , 1/30 sec. Not really optimum for shooting studio portraits. (unless you're willing to spend tens of thousands of $$ on movie-quality HMI lights!)

With my mid-range Alien Bee B800 I shoot f9 - f16 at the max syc speed of my camera (1/250 sec).

this is an example of a shot taken in my tiny home studio with a single alien bee (f16, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, Canon 20d, 100mm f2.8 macro lens):



best of luck!

athos

may i ask why you want such high apertures as f16 to shoot a headshot portrait?

kapalua

athos wrote:

may i ask why you want such high apertures as f16 to shoot a headshot portrait?

hi Athos,
in my case, the Alien Bee flash is so powerful in my small basement that even at 1/4 power I need to shoot at f16 in order to keep the shot from going overexposed. to get to - say - f8 I would need to put a neutral density filter over the stobe head. I don't mind shooting head shots at f16 - for a basic shot like this I want the entire head in focus anyway.