Lighting Advice

[AmberC]

I am in the process of setting up a home studio. I'll be shooting with a digital SLR and mostly doing portraits (people and pets). I was wondering what kind of lighting would be the best in this senario. I have absolutely no idea what to look at so if you guys could send me in the right direction that would be awesome!

Thanks,
Amber

[MJS]

Welcome to the group. You can learn a lot by reading the threads in this section and then trying to duplicate some of the shots. Trying to do what you see here will help you develope your own sense of style. Getting a few books on lighting and posing couldn't hurt either. First a few questions. 1. How long have you been shooting? Do you understand the basics of shutter speed and aperture and how they combine to make an exposure? Can you manipulate those variables to shoot what you see in your head?
What kind of toys do you currently have? Any training in photography?

Good luck with your picture taking, this is a great place to learn.

[AmberC]

Hi Michael,
I have been shooting for the past 3 yrs. Yes I understand shutter speed, apeture, ISO etc. No, no training. I have my background support system and a few props. Working on backgrounds. But really need to start looking at lighting systems.
What I'm looking for are some brand names and/or models to look for.
Thanks,
Amber

[MJS]

I don't shoot for a living, so I use the alien bees. You could check out their website at www.alienbees.com. They are part of the Paul C. Buff company that also manufacture the White Lightning brand of lighting gear.

[Ianphot]

Lighting is about letting the camera see what you want it to record. Before buying any lights try a simple exercise - take a table tennis ball, a golf ball, a tennis ball and any shiny sphere (christmas tree decoration?) and try shining ordinary lights at them. Use desklamps, slide projectors, maglight torches and soft lights like slide lightboxes. With a digital camera it is easy and inexpensive to explore which light suits each subject (and from which angle) and which does not. Then try the same exercise on other more complex objects with more than one surface texture. Doing this will teach you about creating the correct lighting for the camera to record which is often different from the best lighting for viewing. Once started you can progress on to transparent and shiny objects on different backgrounds.
What lights you need will be dictated by what you wish to photograph. A good inexpensive starting point is one good studio flash head with modelling lamp and small reflector, a translucent brolly and a silver Lastolite reflector.

[AmberC]

Thanks for the input you guys.

[kakashi7]

you said you needed a good lighting system, well the basics of a lighting system would be a key light, fill light and a back light. The key light is just any bright lamp you can find. It should always be in the front of the individual getting their picture taken, but to the side. The fill light is just a white flat surface that you put to the opposite side of the key light so it reflects some of the light back onto the other side of the persons face. And the back light is just a semi bright light a little far from the person, all these are to show the volume, and texture one person has on their face, it really enhances the picture grreatly.