Flash or lighting kit?

[Pete'sGirl]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

I would definitely go for the lighting kit. Alien Bees makes solid products that are relatively affordable. And no, your on camera flash wont matter when using a lighting kit, as a lot of photographers use no on flash camera when doing shoots, due to the fact that they are using wireless triggers in the place of a flash. But yea, if you can afford it, I would for sure go for the lighting kit.

 

[MissCream]

I would do a lot more research on lighting if I were you. It would be almost useless for you to go and buy a lighting kit if you don't know if your on camera flash would be better or not because it seems like you don't know much about your camera.

What kind of lighting kit are you talking about, continuous light or strobes? Strobes you would need to know if you plan on using a slave flash or a sync cord. Which in turn you would need to know your sync speed and a lot of other things, I'm sure someone with more experience will tell you on here...

There is a lot to learn about studio lighting, you can't just set it up, shoot pictures and expect the results you see in google. Keep experimenting with your camera and learn to shoot manual then maybe think about putting money into some studio lighting. Good luck

Edit: are you talking about your on camera flash or an external flash?

 

[chito beach]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

Search Strobist on Google and learn :thumbup:

 

[Village Idiot]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

Flash = strobe, strobe = flash. A flash would be part of a lighting kit. Are you talking about small speedlights that can be mounted on the camera as a flash and larger monolights like they use in a studio as a lighting kit?

Each can be used and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart in photos. What are you shooting, what can't you shoot, and what do you want to be able to shoot?

That and a budget are two of the most important things for us to know before we can even begin to recommend equipment.

Search Strobist on Google and learn :thumbup:

This Strobist?
Strobist: Lighting 101

 

[chito beach]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

Flash = strobe, strobe = flash. A flash would be part of a lighting kit. Are you talking about small speedlights that can be mounted on the camera as a flash and larger monolights like they use in a studio as a lighting kit?

Each can be used and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart in photos. What are you shooting, what can't you shoot, and what do you want to be able to shoot?

That and a budget are two of the most important things for us to know before we can even begin to recommend equipment.

Search Strobist on Google and learn :thumbup:

This Strobist?
Strobist: Lighting 101

Yep lots of good info on that blog

 

[Blake.Oney]

Do you mean flash or continuous lighting? I would definitely recommend flash. You can get monolights like the Flashpoint 320m at Adorama, or speedlights like the Vivitar 285hv, The difference is monolights are larger studio flashes while speedlights are smaller battery powered flashes that can go on the camera's hotshoe or on a stand.

 

[Pete'sGirl]

I mean a better flash to attach to my camera - I guess this is a speed light, OR the 320m monolights. I do not have a large budget, so it is one or the other for now. Not going over $350. So whichever one would help me to take better portraits.

I want to shoot portraits, mainly of my son. I am sick of spending $$$ to have his portraits done and want to give it a shot myself. I took photography classes in college 15 years ago and have forgotten most of what I learned!

 

[flyingember]

since you mention portraits I'll show you some examples I took with different lighting setups (look in the eyes and you can see the lights in some photos). I take good portraits with everything

I have 2x alien bees and 1x sb-600 with 3x pocket wizards. I broke my second sb-600 at one point. I want another speedlight to have a pair again for outside

on camera, bounced off the ceiling
DSX_0588

two studio lights
DSX_8499

bounce flash on camera
Sara age two 5

1x sb-600 with an umbrella
Alice

2x studio lights
Ashley 10
DSX_8499

I'd say you should buy a speedlight type of flash (attaches to the camera) for the portability. better photos outside is worth it.

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

since you mention portraits I'll show you some examples I took with different lighting setups (look in the eyes and you can see the lights in some photos). I take good portraits with everything

I have 2x alien bees and 1x sb-600 with 3x pocket wizards. I broke my second sb-600 at one point. I want another speedlight to have a pair again for outside

on camera, bounced off the ceiling
DSX_0588

two studio lights
DSX_8499

bounce flash on camera
Sara age two 5

1x sb-600 with an umbrella
Alice

2x studio lights
Ashley 10
DSX_8499

I'd say you should buy a speedlight type of flash (attaches to the camera) for the portability. better photos outside is worth it.

No offense, but I'm not sure these are good examples... None of these images are sharply focused, and they all look like shots that could be done with a single speedlight... Nothing special here as far as the images go.

 

[Pete'sGirl]

So I am guessing the 320m lights would be better than buying a speedlight?

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

for what you are looking for, the speedlight would be just fine. Even a single speedlight can drastically change the lighting of your photos.

 

[Pete'sGirl]

for what you are looking for, the speedlight would be just fine. Even a single speedlight can drastically change the lighting of your photos.

Dustin, you told me to get the lights, now the speedlight! LOL!

 

[chito beach]

In studio portrait photography, which is more important for taking professional looking images? A good flash or a good lighting kit? I want to get one or the other, but cannot afford both right now. My camera, a Sony a350, has a built in flash, but it stinks, for lack of a better word. I don't want to invest in lights and find out that my flash renders them useless. Or do the lights improve upon a lousy flash? Help!

I would suggest a good speedlite (flash) and expand as you gain experience. Practice, experimentation, and knowledge base will get you professional shots. with or without expensive hardware.