Lighting Kit for Portrait Photography

[mrwardoser]

I am sure most of the people reading this thread cannot stand such novices like me but I hope someone will be able to spare just a few minutes to help me out with a few questions. If you could I would really appreciate it.

I own a clothing company and at the moment we take all our photos using a model without any lighting. We want to take things to the next level and buy a basic lighting kit.

We want something which is easy to use and reasonaly priced as our lack of photography knowledge makes it pointless spending hundreds on a kit. We are thinking about going for a Tungsten Continious lighting Interfit 3200k Lighting Kit

We are looking on ebay at this one;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INTERFIT-3200K-LIGHTING-KIT-2-x-500W_W0QQitemZ190033520437QQihZ009QQcategoryZ3860QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If this would do the job can anyone recommend what kind of white back drop we should be looking to purchase? Also we would like to upgrade our camera equipment. Anyone recommend a user friendly digital camera?

Thanks for your help,
Adam

 

[Rob]

That would probably do the job, hopefully you've got an area about 20' square to erect the lights at about 45deg to the subject? Hopefully the area is well air-conditioned, cos they chuck out a LOT of heat.

I would say a tripod is absolutely essential as a piece of equipment. It will reduce shake and allow a longer exposure.

As for a camera, it's all about budget really. Here's a few which are reasonable, from £280 to about £1000:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona700/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz50/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscr1/

I wouldn't recommend an SLR for your type of work unless you're going to be spending a bit more on a sophisticated strobe system and a bit more on a suitable lens. The budget will quickly hit about £3,000 following that route, whereas with a compact or a ZLR, you should be able to keep it under £1000ish.

Rob

 

[Rob]

Oh, for background, either buy a builder's drop cloth or have a look for Colorama roll (if you want perfection).

Rob