SO CONFUSED..want to buy lighting for indoor shoots? have no idea what to get

[hollywood09]

I shoot with a canon 50d and have been doing mostly outdoor shoots and I have a 430exll flash..i go to people's houses and do portraits and am looking for some lighting to buy? have no idea what to get. If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it!!

[PWhite214]

My first suggestion is go to Strobist and read. http://strobist.blogspot.com/. You should get some knowledge to help you use the equipment you have.

I recently ordered an inexpensive lighting setup from LS-Photostudio, https://www.ls-photostudio.com/Item.asp?ItemNo=LT29, which hs the basics to experiment without spending too much.

I will be reporting back as soon as I can setup and experiment with the new euipment. It should be here next week.

Phil

[christos]

Lighting is another item that you can spend a ton of money on and the thing is they all do something different.

Now you can certainly purchase couple of additional Canon speedlights and take advantage of wireless TTL for indoor shooting. Now the problem with speedlights is that it may not be enough power to overpower the sun if you are shooting outdoors in midday. But you do gain portability.

Another option is going with Alien Bees, very good price on these monoblocks and they work rather well, I have 2 AB1600's and 2 AB800's. What you lose with them is portability, they are big and heavy to lug around peoples homes plus you either need the vogaband battery pack or run extension cords around peoples homes. The other disadvantage you have with them is if you have to adjust power setting you have to raise and lower the lights to adjust them. This is not the case if you invest in the cyber commander and the expected Einstein series, not yet available.

I'm in the market for new lights as well, my requirement is that i needed a bit more power then speedlights and they had to be portable. I narrowed down my search to Quantums or the Elinchrome Quadra line. I have decided to go with the elinchromes i get a better return on investment for $ per WS. They provide me with 400WS, portability in a small form factor, AC/DC functions, ability to adjust power settings remotely. The only downside is they are not powerful enough to over power the sun, but i have other lights that can.

Sometimes you are not always able to find that all in one product.

Long Island wedding photographer

[Photo-John]

Good advice here. I think adding a second Canon flash is a good place to start. If you buy a 580EX II and the ST-E2 transmitter you'll have wireless flash control for two off-camera flashes. A couple of light stands and some small softboxes or umbrellas and you've got a very flexible and portable lighting kit. You could also invest in a set of radio slaves instead of the ST-E2 unit. Canon's wireless flash control is ok but it can be a bit touchy to set up and control outdoors. If you bought radio slaves you'd be giving up TTL flash control, though. Unless you buy the more expensive radio slaves, flash control is totally manual.

The biggest issue with using Canon or other hotshoe flashes is using them for fill outdoors in bright sunlight. That's where the bigger studio lights like the Alien Bees come in. Studio strobes usually have a shorter flash duration time and put out more light, which makes them better for outdoor portraits. Although, if you take them outdoors, you have to deal with the problem of a power source.

I hope this helps. I'm sure it brings up as many questions for you as it might answer. Don't be afraid to ask more questions. We're here to help

[christos]

Hey, just wondering what you have decided on. Don't leave us hanging like that ;-)

Long Island wedding photographer