Basic studio setup - lights, flashes questions

[James79]

Sorry if this is in the wrong area, it said lighting on the description so here goes ...

I'm thinking of buying some proper lighting for taking portraits / still life shots indoors. Partly just to make nice pictures, partly to provide images for article writing. I'm on a bit of a tight budget, so I want to make sure I do my research and get this right.

For the still life stuff I've been told a light cube is a good idea, to get a more even distribution of light on the subject, so I've come across this :

http://www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/photo_light_tents_cubes.html

If bought with one of these, obviously I'd need some decent lighting to go with it (bit new to the concept of colour temperatures etc.) - how do these look ?

http://www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/daylight_fluorescent_lighting_set_triple_bulb_T75P.html

Is continuous lighting suitable for portraits or do I need a good quality off camera flash ? If so, has anyone got any suggestions for these, and how are they controlled ? I have a Nikon D70s, and I am told this can be used to control off board flashes, but beyond that I'm stuck. Would one of the Nikon speedlights help (e.g. SB-600/800 ?)

A lot of confused questions there I know, any help appreciated.

 

[jimiismydaddy]

You can make a light tent dirt cheap, just use a box and tissue paper.

 

[benjikan]

Sorry if this is in the wrong area, it said lighting on the description so here goes ...

I'm thinking of buying some proper lighting for taking portraits / still life shots indoors. Partly just to make nice pictures, partly to provide images for article writing. I'm on a bit of a tight budget, so I want to make sure I do my research and get this right.

For the still life stuff I've been told a light cube is a good idea, to get a more even distribution of light on the subject, so I've come across this :

http://www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/photo_light_tents_cubes.html

If bought with one of these, obviously I'd need some decent lighting to go with it (bit new to the concept of colour temperatures etc.) - how do these look ?

http://www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/daylight_fluorescent_lighting_set_triple_bulb_T75P.html

Is continuous lighting suitable for portraits or do I need a good quality off camera flash ? If so, has anyone got any suggestions for these, and how are they controlled ? I have a Nikon D70s, and I am told this can be used to control off board flashes, but beyond that I'm stuck. Would one of the Nikon speedlights help (e.g. SB-600/800 ?)

A lot of confused questions there I know, any help appreciated.

Can you tell me what your budget is and perhaps I can assist you.

 

[Alpha]

Strobes are an absolute must if you want to shoot quality portraits. I don't know how you're planning on shooting portraits with a light box unless you're going to cram someone into the box...

Continuous lighting can be uncomfortable for your subject. It gets very, very hot. Invest in an inexpensive monolight kit, and a couple white umbrellas.

 

[James79]

Right, sorry I should have made myself more clear. There's really two setups I'm talking about here, but with the potential to share equipment between them - so I thought I'd mention them both. The tent is more to provide a completely neutral, featureless background for recording still lifes / collections of objects. This I think I would use with continuous lighting.

The portraiture setup would be a separate thing, but I was wondering if the continuous lighting could be used for this also, to save buying extra equipment (as I think this could get expensive quickly). I was not thinking of putting people in the tent ! Well, only if they're rude

Yes, I had overlooked the heat issue - I have no idea how hot those lights would get on the link I included but I bet it wouldn't be much of a picnic.

Budget ... well I'm not totally sure. I was kind of hoping to make up my mind on that depending on what I see But for a rough guide ... I could probably run to £300 (ap. $600) for some basic lighting, and adding other bits and pieces when I can. Realistic or not ?

Er ... so I guess I should rephrase this as "tell me about basic strobe setups and costs please".

Thank you !