What im working with

[Derrel]

Im Pretty sure I have read every post in this forum that has to do with lighting and I still don't know what I should get! I would like 3 lights I already have the nikon sb-700. I can spend $500. What would you get?

I have a lot of lighting equipment.I have used a lot of different types of modifiers. For the beginner, I have believed, for a long,long time, that MODELING LIGHTS HELP tremendously. Modeling lights allow the beginning shooter to SEE, literally, what the lights are doing. He whole Strobist thing is great for shooters who have experience and a feel for what light does,and how it behaves. Beginners do not. So...I would buy three Adorama Flashpoint 320M modeling lights, the on-sale 2-way barn doors, and the on-sale 40 degree grid for the barndoors, three 9.5 foot light stands, and three umbrellas. I would also buy one of the $59 Adorama softboxes for the 320M's. Three, identical, 150 watt-second monolights, and three identical light stands.

The next accessory I would buy would be the biggest beauty dish I could get, and a grid. And a white nylon "sock" diffuser.

 

[MTVision]

I have a lot of lighting equipment. For the beginner, I have believed, for a long,long time, that MODELING LIGHTS HELP tremendously. Modeling lights allow the beginning shooter to SEE, literally, what the lights are doing. He whole Strobist thing is great for shooters who have experience and a feel for what light does,and how it behaves. Beginners do not. So...I would buy three Adorama Flashpoint 320M modeling lights, the on-sale 2-way barn doors, and the on-sale 40 degree grid for the barndoors, three 9.5 foot light stands, and three umbrellas. I would also buy one of the $59 Adorama softboxes for the 320M's. Three, identical, 150 watt-second monolights, and three identical light stands.

Thanks Derrel. I know I'm not the OP but everybody has always recommended the strobist to me. I think I'm going to follow your advice and buy the lighting you suggest!

 

[cccott3]

I am also going to look into this thanks

 

[bazooka]

I know when I started strobist I had zero experience with lighting, either on or off the camera. Learning strobes (without model lights) didn't seem too difficult. You just have to pretend that the light is always on and visualize in your head what is happening.

You already have one light, an umbrella and stands. If you're not experienced with light, i recommend you stick with that light until you become comfortable with it and you can get it to do what you want it to do, or can predict what it will do in a certain situation. Buy a set of radio triggers with the appropriate connector (depends on what the sb-700 has, I've never used a Nikon flash). The cybersync's that I use are about $120 for a receiver and transmitter. There are cheaper alternatives like cactus (and much more expensive alternatives like pocket wizards of course).

Really, all you need is a set of triggers right now. You can add a light once you become comfortable with one (shouldn't take long at all if you go through strobist Lighting 101).

The ones I use....
Paul C. Buff - CyberSync Trigger Transmitter
Paul C. Buff - CyberSync Receivers (The CSRB, the battery powered one)