studio lighting help

[megz1234]

Hello, new to the forum and excited!!

I have been photographing commercially for a company using their equiptment and have started to do outdoor portraits now that the weather allows.
I have been looking into doing more freelance work and am in need of a lighting kit. So basically I want to be able to do table top product and indoor portraits.
I know I want strobe lighting and not continuous. I would like to be able to travel with the lights to clients homes or other locations. What I hav been searching for is a reliable, portable lighting kit that I am able to add all different accessories (umbrellas, soft boxes, barn doors, grids). Not sure if I wouldwant these run off a power pack or monolights??? I have used both kinds of lights, but unaware of what woudl work best for what I woudl like to do with them. Any advice of any kind woudl be greatly appreciated. I also do not know what brand out there is good ( I do know that is definetely a relative opinion)
thanks much!!

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

What is your budget? And are you looking for higher end 'professional' equipment or is 'good enough', good enough for you?

Have a look at AlienBee Lights...or their higher end cousin White Lightning.

Elinchrom makes a nice line of lights. Their D-Lites are their entry level monolights and seem to get good reviews.

As for monolights vs pack lights. That's up to you. From what I can tell, Monolights are much more popular right now, especially on the lower end of the market.

Another option would be to use 'hotshoe' flash units. The benefits are that they are very portable and run on AA batteries. You could have your whole kit fit into one bag/case. They don't have as much power as studio strobes though. You can build yourself an inexpensive kit pretty easily though. MPEX Strobist Kits

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I went with monolights for the simple reason that there are fewer cords running everywhere. I was dealing mostly with people and there's enough stuff for people to trip over in a studio (or in a home) without more cords.

As for brands, I went with top quality equipment (Broncolor) simply because I believe in getting the best tools possible and because I had a dealer/repair center in town. Not cheap but all equipment is tax deductible if yu make income from this business.

Check out your area to see what is sold locally. It is always nice to be able to run to the store when you find you need an accessory at the last minute. Plus it is good for your area economically to spend your money locally.

Cheers.

 

[JerryPH]

Battery powered strobes are good for 99% of the jobs, especially when you are talking indoors. About the ONLY exception to that is when you need to light a huge area or need to overpower the sun.

As far as accessories, 90% of what you can use with studio lights have their equivalent functional entity for speedlights.... and at often much lower prices or even free (read: DIY).

When you get to the point and while doing things like weddings and stuff... can properly light a group of 20 people with 3 simple speedlights... it makes one's eyes open a little.

Strobist for the win.

 

[Christie Photo]

I went with monolights for the simple reason that there are fewer cords...

As for brands, I went with top quality equipment...

Check out your area to see what is sold locally.

All three points very good advice.

Since you're at the starting point, I would definitely recommend a solid, long-standing, quality system. "Getting by" has never worked out for me over the years. It can actually end up costing more in the end.

-Pete

 

[c.cloudwalker]

"Getting by" has never worked out for me over the years.

Agreed. I've given the strobist's link a few times but to me it is good only to learn and for people who will only do a little studio work. Frankly I don't need a bagful of flashes. I own two of them and have very rarely had both on cameras at the same time so why would I want more.

Flashes are not designed for someone doing studio work day in and day out. And they just don't deliver the power of strobes.

If the budget is not there for quality equipment, look at Alien Bees. They are not that much more that flashes and will allow you to do much more. Then, when the money starts coming in, get into a better system and keep the Bees as a back up or sell them.

I don't recommend mixing brands (I personally like to have all same lights) but in a pinch you could use a Bee with your new system when you need that one extra light.

What it really comes down to is how much work you intend to do with the lights. Only you know the answer to that.


Edit = Alien Bees seem to be pretty good for their price btw but they seem to be sold only direct from the company. That means no local dealer to run to in case of need.

 

[Big Mike]

Edit = Alien Bees seem to be pretty good for their price btw but they seem to be sold only direct from the company. That means no local dealer to run to in case of need.

Yes, they are only sold directly from their facility (in Tennessee I think). However, their customer service is top notch.

 

[JerryPH]

About Alien Bee:
Service = top notch.
Quality of the lights themselves = best budget setup... *far* from best quality.
The owner of the company = IMHO is close to being a whack job guy on a massive power trip.

Elinchrom are of higher quality than Alien Bee, but more expensive. For me, it is Photogenic (a company over 100 years old) or nothing else. I chose them after spending a day playing with 5-digits worth of Profoto gear at a strobist meet.

If money was no object, Broncolor is all I would own, but Photogenic stuff is really not that far behind in quality and performance, and is a lot cheaper.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Elinchrom are of higher quality than Alien Bee, but more expensive. For me, it is Photogenic (a company over 100 years old) or nothing else. I chose them after spending a day playing with 5-digits worth of Profoto gear at a strobist meet.

If money was no object, Broncolor is all I would own, but Photogenic stuff is really not that far behind in quality and performance, and is a lot cheaper.

Elinchrom has a wide range of products price wise which I imagine (never worked with that brand) means a wide range quality wise. Not always true but often enough to not forget.

Why would you need Broncolor to do weddings? Don't mean to be offensive or nasty but you seem to want to do mostly weddings and outdoors portraiture. For that type of photography you are not going to use your strobes as much so there is not really any reason to spend that kind of money.

Broncolor and top of the line Elinchrom are meant for day in day out studio work. I can't help but repeat: first figure out what kind of photography it is you are going after. Then get the right equipment for it.

I did not restore my 1920's house with a $2 hammer from the Dollar Tree. At the same time, no reason to spend $50 on one from Lowe's if most of the hammering is going to be done by contractors.

A strobe is nothing more than a tool so, first, be honest with yourself as to what exactly you are going to do with that tool.

Yes, we have plenty of people here who will spend thousands on gear and still shoot the same photos they were shooting with a P&S but those of us who are serious about photography as a business should know better and not necessarily go after the shiniest toy.

 

[Christie Photo]

Ya know.... one brand I NEVER hear about here that has wide acceptance in my neighborhood is White Lightning. I'm told they're very consistent and fairly priced. Anyone here using these?

-Pete

 

[KmH]

Get this book: Amazon.com: Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography (9781584282303): Kirk Tuck: Books

 

[Montana]

White Lightning is made by Paul C Buff, same as alien bees. I have a ton of alienbees stuff and have been 100% satisfied. And as mentioned before, customer service is unbeatable. I have had zero issues with my bees set at any power levels. I suspect those that have problems are very, very technical...or just plain don't know what they are doing. For whats its worth, I never read a darn thing on the strobist site....could care less to either. Studio lights are where its at. Want portable, get a battery pack for a couple monolights. Don't want to carry all the weight....by a point and shoot camera and find a different hobby or line of work.

 

[JerryPH]

If money was no object, Broncolor is all I would own, but Photogenic stuff is really not that far behind in quality and performance, and is a lot cheaper.

Elinchrom has a wide range of products price wise which I imagine (never worked with that brand) means a wide range quality wise. Not always true but often enough to not forget.

Why would you need Broncolor to do weddings? Don't mean to be offensive or nasty but you seem to want to do mostly weddings and outdoors portraiture. For that type of photography you are not going to use your strobes as much so there is not really any reason to spend that kind of money.

Broncolor and top of the line Elinchrom are meant for day in day out studio work. I can't help but repeat: first figure out what kind of photography it is you are going after. Then get the right equipment for it.

I gave my opinion on what the OP should look at (1. Photogenic 2. Elinchrom and a pass on ABs), and then my opinion for me. I do not do ONLY weddings (thats only been happening the last several months becuase it is wedding season), and if money was no object, as I said, heck yeah, I would settle for NOTHING but the best, and that is Broncolor... why not use it even for weddings, lighting up the front 200 feet of a huge church with a dozen 5000 w/s heads in front of it where there are 350+ people would be a fun shot to get at F22 on a bright day... so why wouldn't I? There is no rule anywhere that says that I cannot shoot any brand/type of light I want under any circumstance... is there? I use my 1000 W/s Photogenic studio head on a Vagabond II unit in near EVERY wedding either outside or when I want to light a HUGE room with many guests.

The reason I said to avoid the Alien Bees is that they have a big well known issue with white balance consistency at different power levels. This becomes even MORE evident when you play with more than 1 AB and want to do ratios... like a 3/4 power main and 1/4 power fill. The 1/4 power side ALWAYS looks pinker.

I have no such issue with my Photogenic... at 31 W/s or 1000 W/s the WB stays the same and colours do NOT change. That is the main reason the new ABMax were to have this different power supply... the one that in the end got dumped because they could not make it work.

 

[Don Kondra]

I'm also 100% satisfied with my Alien Bees and have had NO White Balance issues.

Cheers, Don

 

[Montana]

I can never understand why someone that doesn't own a product is always the first and loudest to run their neck. Unless you aer spending tens of thousands of dollars on lighting, there are issues. knowing how to shoot without issue is key. I have only shot one of my alienbees at 1/4 power against another at full as a test to look for color cast issues. That is the only time I had to shoot that way, and I did not see any issue either on the monitor or in print.

I don't know why Jerry is the first and loudest to say they suck when he has never used them. There are thousands of satisfied users out there. And you can darn near bet that if/when alienbee has a better light...they will likey let you trade in your old for quite a discount on the new. Thats how great that company is to work with.

It would be like me saying Nikon sux cause I read it on the canon forum....rediculous. LOL