HI!
I am new to the forum and have been reading a great wealth of information you all have posted on lighting.. I really want the proper lights to do portraits right at home with my Nikon D70. I am in the market and have close to $2000 allocated for lighting and backdrops.
Today in a camera store, the worker said to start out with just one or even a couple of SB800's speedflashes. He claims I can get a great result with them as well as having the convenience of portability.
So I guess my questions are:
Will a couple of speedlights do what I am looking for? Which is to have creative lighting portraits and themed photo shoots of my little baby girl that look 'professional'? (I am total amature who, sadly, only got her first SLR 2 months ago)
Should I get the huge bulky lights like Alienbees? Continuous or Flash?
Should I get a light meter?
Any suggestions would be really appreciated. The pic of my girl below is the first themed shoot I ever did. I used sunlight, built-on flash, and horrible construction Hallogens (as you can tell they are very yellow). I HATE the harsh shadows (oh yea and after effects in PSP)
Thanks so much for any help you can give me! Renee
my little chef