Home Studio for First Time Help!!

[ThornleyGroves]

Hi everyone, im thinking of buying the Bowens Gemini 400w Kit... including backdrop... but i want to know about the bowens, do they flash when you take a photo? and also how do you sync it to your camera (nikon d90) it's these that i want Photographic Flash Lighting: Bowens Gemini 400 Studio & Location monolight and i was just wondering exactly what i can do with them! as i really want a studio set up, thanks alot.

 

[ghache]

they have a build in optical trigger and will trigger with other flash or you can use your build in flash (you need to set it on manual)
or you can use a sync cord but since your camera dosnt have a pc port you will need a hot shoes adapter.

i ran into the same problem couple weeks ago playing with a strobe and 2 sb-600.

 

[ThornleyGroves]

ahhh okay... well i could use my sb900 on the camera to trigger the two bowens then couldn't i? my settings always on manual anyway

 

[ThornleyGroves]

would two of these, be better instead of the bowens? if i buy my own umbrellas/softbox/stand as i have around 1,170 dollar to play with

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

 

[Big Mike]

do they flash when you take a photo? and also how do you sync it to your camera (nikon d90)

There are a few options for triggering the lights. One would be to use a cable from the camera to the light (you only need to trigger one, the others should go off automatically). I don't think the D90 has a flash sync socket, so you would need a hot shoe adapter like THIS.

Alternatively, you could trigger the studio lights optically (with a flash). You could use your camera's flash, but only if you can put it into 'manual' mode (no pre-flash). This may not be idea because your camera's flash will add light to your photo, which you may not want.

A third option would be a radio trigger set. The industry standard is to use TWO of THESE. But at $170 each, that is pretty expensive.

A less expensive (but less reliable) option would be THIS.

 

[ThornleyGroves]

do they flash when you take a photo? and also how do you sync it to your camera (nikon d90)

There are a few options for triggering the lights. One would be to use a cable from the camera to the light (you only need to trigger one, the others should go off automatically). I don't think the D90 has a flash sync socket, so you would need a hot shoe adapter like THIS.

Alternatively, you could trigger the studio lights optically (with a flash). You could use your camera's flash, but only if you can put it into 'manual' mode (no pre-flash). This may not be idea because your camera's flash will add light to your photo, which you may not want.

A third option would be a radio trigger set. The industry standard is to use TWO of THESE. But at $170 each, that is pretty expensive.

A less expensive (but less reliable) option would be THIS.

thanks alot i'll look into that... also as alien bees dont ship outside the us, i could get it sent to my dads place in miami... but are alien bees the better option?

 

[ghache]

yup. what i did,

i was using a strobe as a main light, 1 sb600 as a back ground light and 1 sb 600 as a back light,

i was using my popup flash in commander to trigger both sb-600 but i couldnt sync the strobe to fire at the same time as my sbs because in commander mode, camera is shooting a pre flash and this pre flash was triggerring my strobe too soon.

to resolve the problem, i added 2 optical trigger to my sb-600s (on manual) and used my pop up flash on manual.

everything fired perfectly.

a friend of mine is using these triggers and was telling that they work really good.
cant beat them for the price.

CTR-301P Wireless Flash Trigger + 3 Receiver for NIKON on eBay.ca (item 270517332515 end time 17-Feb-10 05:03:24 EST)

 

[Big Mike]

would two of these, be better instead of the bowens? if i buy my own umbrellas/softbox/stand as i have around 1,170 dollar to play with

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

The B1600 is rated at 640 Watt seconds, while the Bowens light you linked to was only 400 Ws. That is significantly more power, but you may not need that much power in a home studio.

Alien bees are very popular, a lot of people love them. But they also have a lot of people who don't like them, if only because the owner of the company is a bit of a space case. There are many, many threads around here about Alien bees, so you can do some reading if you like.

Have you ever shot in a studio environment before? Do you know what equipment & accessories you will want/need? What are you planing to shoot?

You may want to start with a simple set up of just one light...maybe adding a reflector. You might want to buy a flash meter, like the Sekonic L-358.

 

[ThornleyGroves]

would two of these, be better instead of the bowens? if i buy my own umbrellas/softbox/stand as i have around 1,170 dollar to play with

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

The B1600 is rated at 640 Watt seconds, while the Bowens light you linked to was only 400 Ws. That is significantly more power, but you may not need that much power in a home studio.

Alien bees are very popular, a lot of people love them. But they also have a lot of people who don't like them, if only because the owner of the company is a bit of a space case. There are many, many threads around here about Alien bees, so you can do some reading if you like.

Have you ever shot in a studio environment before? Do you know what equipment & accessories you will want/need? What are you planing to shoot?

You may want to start with a simple set up of just one light...maybe adding a reflector. You might want to buy a flash meter, like the Sekonic L-358.

okay, i'll have a read into it, no never done studio stuff before, because i'm mainly a concert/performance photographer and fashion runway photographer, but i want to move on to proper fashion - in the studio style. so therefore im looking at that type of glamour, portrait type.

 

[Big Mike]

Since you are not in the US, you might want to look at a brand that will ship directly to you, and can be serviced closer to you.

Elinchrom is a Swiss company that makes lights. Their D-Lites are their entry level studio monolights.