Question (Basic I Hope) re: starter studio lighting

[jdanvers]

Hey folks...

I would really like to start doing some portrait shooting (learning using family & friends for starters!!) but have a question about intro level equipment / kits that I have seen available for sale.

Consider a 3 light setup - 2 on the side and a 3rd that could be used as a backlight / highlight or perhaps extended up to shine over the top at 6.5 or 7'...

Continuous light - self explanatory and the equipment used is pretty easy to figure out how to use / setup / figure out. You light up your subject and shoot (and don't use any flash on/off the camera?)

Strobes - whats the difference??? Obviously these are fired in synch with the camera but I guess that my question(s) are: Can you "pre-light" the subject? (is this what "modeling lights" are?) Advantages / disadvantages between the two - either for the myself as the shooter or from the point of view as the subject? ( continuous lighting blinds subject where strobes just light them up for a brief "flash"... ? )

Obviously I have no experience and am just trying to learn a little before purchasing a kit...

Appreciate any feedback people!

-=- jd -=-

[jorgemonkey]

A couple words of advice that I learned while learning (and still learning!) studio work:

Consider a 3 light setup - 2 on the side and a 3rd that could be used as a backlight / highlight or perhaps extended up to shine over the top at 6.5 or 7'...

I'd start off with just one light. It could be a north facing window and a reflector. You can check out the poster Alison for the stuff she's done with just window light, its really great. And its free, which is great for learning.

Continuous light - self explanatory and the equipment used is pretty easy to figure out how to use / setup / figure out. You light up your subject and shoot (and don't use any flash on/off the camera?)

Works good, but those lights can get hot. When I started off doing product photography they worked really good shooting still life stuff, you can see what the light does & everything else. But those lights got hot, not just the equipment, but the light output can get you or your model sweating!

Strobes - whats the difference??? Obviously these are fired in synch with the camera but I guess that my question(s) are: Can you "pre-light" the subject? (is this what "modeling lights" are?) Advantages / disadvantages between the two - either for the myself as the shooter or from the point of view as the subject? ( continuous lighting blinds subject where strobes just light them up for a brief "flash"... ? )

Yes, modeling lights allow you to "see" where the light will fall on your subject when it fires. They also are a lot cooler, and in a way they're just over powered flashes that you'd use on your camera. You'll either need a cord to go from camera -> strobe, a radio slave (pocket wizards are $$$, but there are other other cheap triggers people have used that work well).

I use both small camera flashes that are off camera (Nikon SB-800 & SB-24 flashes) into an umbrella or other stuff that is my "on location" shooting gear. I also have a couple 300ws studio strobes that I use for my product photography and a fair amount of my indoor work.

Obviously I have no experience and am just trying to learn a little before purchasing a kit...

We've all been there! Starting off with 1 light will help you learn lighting, and is much cheaper than spending $$$ on a setup and overwhelming yourself trying to learn everything at once.

[Don Kondra]

Just a suggestion re continuous lighting...

Tried the halogen work lights and even with quartz bulbs I didn't like the color, they are HOT but that wasn't an issue for my set up... I might try blue glass on them yet??

I've had pretty good results using CF bulbs, the color temperature is 4100k and you can "see" what you've got.

Cameron light stands and 65w bulbs... 200w equivalent, had to go to a wholesaler to get them that big...



And I'm waiting impatiently for a four head CF x 27w x 5100k light stand, that will give me a little more power and I have transluscent and silver with black back umbrellas to fool with..

This is cloudy daylight and two 65w CF side lights...



This was just a test with a wrinkled sheet and shame on me, didn't notice the double shadow, sigh...

But a little work in Photoshop...



Keep in mind for some reason I'm not a fan of off camera flash or strobes and I don't really have any experience to justify this. Just stubborn and working on making continuous lighting work I guess, shrug...

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Don

[prophotolife]

That's some really good advice. It's certainly inexpensive to get started with continuous lighting (tungsten or cf lights) to learn technique, but it in the long run it might not be the best choice for photographing people. Strobe (flash) lighting allows you to freeze fleeting moments. The tungsten model lamp on the strobe will show approximately the lighting effect you'll get from the flash. I agree with jorgemonkey, get one light to start with and grow from there. Just make sure whatever you buy belongs to a system that allows for expansion if you get totally hooked on studio lighting.

I hesitate to mention this because I don't want it to come across as shameless self-promotion, but I do post instructional videos on my website that address learning studio lighting. They might be a help in making decisions.

[Don Kondra]

Hi Jim,

Thank you for the link... seeing is believing.

I have to say your video's are the best I've seen so far.

You are articulate, you speak clearly and Pack the information in.

For instance, no waiting for you to walk from changing the set up to the camera.

Good summary at the end. Options clearly defined.

One unsolicited bit of advice if I may?

I would like to have seen you interact more with your model, use her name and perhaps suggest how to encourage expressions from her?

Perhaps a little out of the scope of the purpose of the video but easily encorporated... and ultimately the purpose of the final product.

Cheers, Don