Cake Smash - Indoors - Assistance with Lighting

kirbym2 · Aug 15, 2013

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to do a follow up. Photoshoot was, well... challenging. The baby was great, and mom was great too. That said I found it very difficult to light the background with one light. Fortunately for me, wifey came along for the adventure with my daughter to keep the older sibling occupied. She saw first hand the limitations of having one flash. Thinks it may be a good idea to get a decent lighting kit.

Would love any suggestions for a portrait lighting setup. Thinking a two light AB800 kit. Any recommendations/must haves? Very new to portrait (studio) lighting.

Back to the shoot. Basically positioned the baby near a wide sliding glass door. East exposure in the afternoon... so not very bright. Used the flash off camera as suggested to light the background triggered with CLS. Found it difficult to trigger without angling the flash. Result - baby decently exposed by the window light, background lit in some areas. My PS skills are lacking, but I'm left with trying to even out the background in post. The lack of additional lighting has made separation of subject from background pretty difficult. Feel like I overpowered the flash resulting in some light wrapping around the baby.

Ah well... definitely a learning experience.

Would love any feedback for "next times" and suggestions for a decent (read reasonably priced) 2 light kit.

Thanks all!

Mike

Derrel · Aug 15, 2013

I think the AB800's are over-powered for most portraiture needs with modern digital cameras. I think having MORE LIGHTS is vastly preferable to having two lights that are, in my opinion, very deceptively named, and marketed with non-standard specifications, using lumen-seconds instead of something that's "REAL", like an actual Guide Number, stated honestly, and plainly.

The AB800 is a 320 Watt-second flash unit. The Adorama Flashpoint 320M is a 160 Watt-second flash. I would say, buy FIVE of these, and still have money left over for a couple umbrellas. Flashpoint 320M 150 Watt AC/DC Monolight Strobe FPML320M

I've been into studio electronic flash since the mid-1980's. I've seen the Buff marketing machine in action. It's still offshore made stuff that is replaced fast when it breaks down. Why not just pay what offshore made is WORTH, which is $99 per flash head, from Adorama? The AB400 is $224. A LOT of that is both profit, and built-in insurance for the frequent customer service issues that seem to toally dominate the AB world.

Let's look at this: Adorama Flashpoint 320M is 160 Watt-seconds. Alien Bee 400 is 160 Watt-seconds. It's a pretty simple matter of naming one's products higher than the competition, to create a perceived "superiority" in the minds of first-time customers, which is who the AB's are targeted at. And since they are "more powerful" by model number (but the SAME in reality), they are worth more than twice the price in the minds of customers.

Mach0 · Aug 15, 2013

Derrel said:
I think the AB800's are over-powered for most portraiture needs with modern digital cameras. I think having MORE LIGHTS is vastly preferable to having two lights that are, in my opinion, very deceptively named, and marketed with non-standard specifications, using lumen-seconds instead of something that's "REAL", like an actual Guide Number, stated honestly, and plainly.

The AB800 is a 320 Watt-second flash unit. The Adorama Flashpoint 320M is a 160 Watt-second flash. I would say, buy FIVE of these, and still have money left over for a couple umbrellas. Flashpoint 320M 150 Watt AC/DC Monolight Strobe FPML320M

I've been into studio electronic flash since the mid-1980's. I've seen the Buff marketing machine in action. It's still offshore made stuff that is replaced fast when it breaks down. Why not just pay what offshore made is WORTH, which is $99 per flash head, from Adorama? The AB400 is $224. A LOT of that is both profit, and built-in insurance for the frequent customer service issues that seem to toally dominate the AB world.

Let's look at this: Adorama Flashpoint 320M is 160 Watt-seconds. Alien Bee 400 is 160 Watt-seconds. It's a pretty simple matter of naming one's products higher than the competition, to create a perceived "superiority" in the minds of first-time customers, which is who the AB's are targeted at. And since they are "more powerful" by model number (but the SAME in reality), they are worth more than twice the price in the minds of customers.

I've have and own both. Only thing I like more about the alien bees are that they are smaller , lighter, and the tightening mechanism works better. When i used to mount my 60 inch octa box, i would keep having to retighten the flashpoint because it kept slowly pointing down. On my ab800, when its tight, its tight. I do have a flash point that took a dive and broke and no longer works. I haven't dropped my ab's but I will say this, dollar for dollar, I find the flash points a better value for the budget conscious. Maybe my copy wasnt up to par? Who knows but I WILL STILL RECOMMEND. Heck, I'm thinking of picking up a couple more 320's and one 620.

kirbym2 · Aug 16, 2013

Thanks for the insight! I took a look at the link you provided for the Flashpoint 320M lights. I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed at the thought of a 5 light setup, and not overly comfortable with my existing light stands. Was thinking about the two light kit (for Flashpoint). Don't anticipate leaving home with this, so thinking I could purchase the battery packs at a later time if needed to help the budget.

Is there a big learning curve with these? Do they work on a GN principle (pardon my ignorance - just starting to comprehend how to correctly expose with flash). Is there sort of a distance/aperture ratio to work with? My goal would be to learn correct exposure first, and then adjust output based on the effect I'm looking for (high-key, low-key, etc.)

Thanks for the help!