Need to purchase some lights... any suggestions?

[auggiefrog]

This is my third year photographing weddings, and I need to purchase a new lighting kit. I currently only book a few per summer, and do not have a lot of extra cash to invest in an expensive kit right now. I was looking at purchasing a continuous lighting kit, probably a tungsten with some softboxs, and eventually replacing the lights with strobes when I have the available funds. Is this a good plan? Does anyone have any suggestions of a good yet economical lighting set.

[Photo-John]

Have you looked at the AlienBees monolights? They are, by far, the most popular inexpensive studio strobes available. If I were shooting weddings and portraits, I'd choose strobes over continuous because the speed counts with people pictures. You can shoot people with hot lights. But you really have to watch your shutter speeds and pump up the ISO if you want your subjects to be sharp.

[jetrim]

Another advantage w/ AlienBees in your situation is the Vegabond battery pack, which is small and light enough to let you move about without having to worry about extension cords or whether a location has adequate electric. As far as packs go, it's fairly cheap at $299.00, powerful enough to power more lights than you'll ever use (up to 10 IIRC) and light enough to carry in one hand. Other options that are a few dollars more but even more compact and better quality are the Elinchrom Rangers, or the Quantum T4d or T5d heads - both are also battery pack setups.