Home Studio Lighting

dandaluzphotography · May 2, 2011

Hi Guys,

I've begun to play around with taking portraits at home of my family. I picked up a couple of softboxes (500 watts each) and a canvas backdrop. This whole concept is pretty new to me and I've been reading some things online about it, but I have a quick question about lighting for a home studio. Constant light versus flash lighting.

Aside from the heat produced by the constant light, is there any other thing to consider when choosing between the two? The way I see it, light is light. I'm probably missing something so I figured I would ask you guys.

Thanks,
Danny

Derrel · May 2, 2011

Light is light...and yet it is not that simple... the source of the light varies tremendously; we have fluorescent, incandescent, and flash light available. Light varies in both color temperature/spectral makeup, and duration. Flash is brief, and runs cool. Continuous lighting often runs hot, and often demands slow, lengthy exposures.

Christie Photo · May 2, 2011

Derrel said:
Continuous lighting often runs hot, and often demands slow, lengthy exposures.

Yup. And that's not something you want when photographing people.

-Pete

analog.universe · May 2, 2011

Derrel said:
we have fluorescent, incandescent, and flash light available.

And now LED too!

Also, continuous lets you see exactly what you're going to get before you snap.. in terms of shadows and balance etc.

Big Mike · May 2, 2011

Firstly, a softbox is not a light source, it's a light modifier. So when you say "I picked up a couple of softboxes (500 watts each)"....it's like saying you picked up a couple 500 Watt lamp shades.

When talking about lights, we first talk about the type of light and/or bulb....the modifiers are another issue.

So when we compare constant type lighting to flash/strobe...there are many difference. The obvious one is that a flash/strobe releases it's light in a short pop or 'flash' of light....and constant lights are left on 'constantly'. To put it another way, strobes put out much more light/power but only for a very short amount of time.
This is important because time is one of the ways that we control the exposure of a photo. Hopefully, you are familiar with the concept of shutter speed. The longer the shutter is open, the more ambient light can get into the camera and be recorded by the sensor/film. The shutter speed (exposure time) also controls how motion is captured. A longer exposure time will show more of the movement of either the camera or subject...and a shorter exposure time will show less movement (sharper photo).
As you may know (or have seen), if your shutter speed is too slow (long), you will get blurry photos if either the camera or the subject are moving.
So why not just use a faster shutter speed? Well, you still need to let in enough light for a good exposure...and while you can compensate with the aperture and/or ISO, you may still be hard pressed to get a fast enough shutter speed. More powerful lights will help, but then you have to deal with things like heat etc.

So here is where strobes have the advantage. The burst of light (flash) is much shorter than your typical shutter speed. So essentially, the flash is what controls the exposure time and the shutter speed becomes irrelevant. This allows you to get nice sharp photos much easier than when using constant type lighting...without having to cook your subjects with really powerful constant lights.

So when choosing between constant lights or flash...I'd first ask what you plan to shoot. If it's still life, product shots etc., then constant lights (camera on a tripod) would be fine as there is no movement to worry about. But if you are shooting people, especially kids, then I'd suggest strobes because they will 'freeze' the movement of the subjects and give you nice sharp shots.

dandaluzphotography · May 2, 2011

Thanks for the explanations Guys. I get the whole shutter speed/aperture/ISO triangle. You guys made me aware of the constant light versus flash differences. It sucks to get cooked. I will be picking up a strobe with wireless connectivity (I have an XSI so I have to research if that will even work. I would think that it would.). I plan to shoot my family and friends.

Another question. Are there any caveats with using strobes? Do I need to have more than one? Most of the setups I have seen utilize two. I suppose it depends on the space you are you shooting in. Like i said before, I am just starting to get into this.

Any chance this is any good? Even to start off with?

Amazon.com: CowboyStudio 2 Photography Flash Strobe Studio Lighting Light Kit with Stands, Umbrella, Wireless Trigger, Receiver and Carrying Case: Camera & Photo

Thanks again.

Danny

dandaluzphotography · May 2, 2011

analog.universe said:
Derrel said:

we have fluorescent, incandescent, and flash light available.

Click to expand...

And now LED too!

Also, continuous lets you see exactly what you're going to get before you snap.. in terms of shadows and balance etc.

True. Thanks!

redtippmann · May 2, 2011

You can do a whole lot with one light. But the second light you see is probably there as a fill light to help lighten the shadows. If you don't want to buy another light you could grab a piece of white foam core ($5) you can use that as a reflector to be a fill. (I prefer that for quick setups because a reflector is normally a stop or two below the key so you don't need to meter as much to get a decent ratio)

kundalini · May 2, 2011

analog.universe said:
Also, continuous lets you see exactly what you're going to get before you snap.. in terms of shadows and balance etc.

As do monolights........

Now I'll read the remainder of the replies.

rateeg · May 2, 2011

how do you mix your camera settings when you only have strobe lights?
I mean isn't it dark in the room and your camera doesnt pick up the light thru the lens until the strobe flashes?

kundalini · May 2, 2011

rateeg said:
how do you mix your camera settings when you only have strobe lights?
I mean isn't it dark in the room and your camera doesnt pick up the light thru the lens until the strobe flashes?

More times than not, your strobe light in combination with sync speed will kill any ambient light. Meaning you can play with the ambient light filtering in by adjusting your shutter speed.