Starter Umbrella lighting kit?

photobug · July 1, 2006

I've been asked to shoot about 50 portraits (with some compensation) at a school event and would like to get a basic umbrella set for that. I have 580ex and 420ex strobes I could use, or I could use regular tungsten studio lights. Picking DGrinners' collective brains/experience --

Keeping the cost manageable (for something I might only use 2-4x per year), would something like this Photoflex First Studio Portrait Kit be a reasonable kit to consider? Other suggestions?

And if so, would I be better off using the studio lamps that come with the kit, or using my portable strobes? (probably with remote trigger)

thanks for any suggestions!

ziggy53 · July 1, 2006

Is this going to lead to more events to photograph?

Is your compensation enough to justify spending more on equipment?

What are the expectations of the clients? These are just tungsten lamps, with no apparent way to vary output. Is that going to give desirable results?

What is the ambient light like at the venue? Will you need to overpower it or add to it?

Lights which run continuously will usually yield smaller pupils in the subject's eyes than instantaneous lights. Is that a desirable quality?

If you use adapters to allow this system to use your portable flashes, will the lack of modeling lights hamper your ability to gauge the shot? (Another way to think about this, do you have the experience to know what lighting you need without modeling lights?)

Is this a cookie-cutter, shot, shot, shot scenario where you set up one basic light arrangement which will work for all shots, or will you have to vary the setup? Sitting and/or standing?

So many questions, only you can answer.

If this is your first gig, you really need to get some working experience beforehand.

Setup something similar in your garage or basement (or someone else's garage ...). The umbrellas can me substituted with any reflector of similar size. The lights can be substituted with shop lights or reflector floods of similar rating. Try some things and see what works. You will be surprised what you will learn. This will let you answer some of your own questions at little cost, and give you valuable experience at the same time.

Don't worry so much about color for these tests, you are mostly interested in ratios, distances, angles and results. Color control follows basic understanding of light and shadow.

I would recommend at least 3 lights (four is better). You need a main/key light, a fill light and a background light. A fourth light is often used for the hair as a hair-light or rim-light.

Sometimes, two equal intensity lights are used as key lights, for very flat lighting. You need to try both methods to understand relative merits and problems.

Sometimes two lights are needed for the background.

Sometimes a separate light is needed for spot control, either a spot light or a snoot.

If you have more than one individual, watch shadows carefully. Plan and learn how different positions of both subject and light affect each other.

There's lots more, but don't get frustrated or discouraged. It can all be overcome, but experience will tell you if you want to pursue it.

ziggy53

Andy · July 1, 2006

Yah have a look here:
http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/730399

PS: Zig, great stuff man, great stuff.

photobug · July 17, 2006

Ziggy, thanks for your detailed, very helpful response! Apologies for my long "absence" here ... I was out on vacation for almost two weeks,- including an incredible 5 days in Yosemite (wow!).

Is this going to lead to more events to photograph?

Maybe. I'm currently not trying to make it into a large "second job" (due to family commitments), but I wouldn't mind establishing some "credentials" for occasional additional jobs.

Is your compensation enough to justify spending more on equipment?

Yes, I'm guessing that I'd get $500-$1K for this job, so if I got some eqpt plus had a few dollars left over, that would be fine for this job.

What are the expectations of the clients?

I don't think they're all that high. From what I've heard, the last photographer just shot the portraits (a father-daughter dance) just using on-camera flash (hopefully it was at least not a pop-up flash). Regardless how informally it was shot last time, I'd want to do a good job, myself.

These are just tungsten lamps, with no apparent way to vary output. Is that going to give desirable results? What is the ambient light like at the venue? Will you need to overpower it or add to it?

Darn good questions. It seems clear that I'd better use flash, not tungsten lights. I need to decide whether
(1) I can just add stands and umbrellas to my existing 580EX + 420EX, or
(2) in addition to (1), should buy an ST-E2 or another 580EX, or
(3) should bite the bullet and pop for studio lights/umbrellas.

If you use adapters to allow this system to use your portable flashes, will the lack of modeling lights hamper your ability to gauge the shot? (Another way to think about this, do you have the experience to know what lighting you need without modeling lights?)

Honestly, no, I don't have that experience. If I used the portable flashes, I'd need to do some dry runs at home to "get it right" (although you're right, that still wouldn't allow me to factor in the on-location lighting, but that's not likely to be too bright)

Is this a cookie-cutter, shot, shot, shot scenario where you set up one basic light arrangement which will work for all shots, or will you have to vary the setup? Sitting and/or standing?

I believe it would be fairly cookie-cutter, although there would be slight variations, like in some cases a father plus two daughters, or variation based on the daughter's age (ages could range from 6 to 12, which means a large variation in heights).

If this is your first gig, you really need to get some working experience beforehand. ... Set up something similar in your garage or basement). The umbrellas can be substituted with any reflector of similar size. The lights can be substituted with shop lights or reflector floods of similar rating. Try some things and see what works. You will be surprised what you will learn. This will let you answer some of your own questions at little cost, and give you valuable experience at the same time.

Definitely what I plan to do.

I would recommend at least 3 lights (four is better). You need a main/key light, a fill light and a background light. A fourth light is often used for the hair as a hair-light or rim-light.

That's certainly getting complicated! I've used on-camera 580EX (w/Omnibounce) plus the 420EX as a hair/rim light before, with good (but not great) results. I definitely want to do something better if I do this gig.

If you have more than one individual, watch shadows carefully. Plan and learn how different positions of both subject and light affect each other.

Thanks, that's an excellent point.

Starter Umbrella lighting kit?

Comments