How many lights?

[adamhiram]

I currently have 3 monolights and have been considering picking up a 4th. It's that time of year when everything is on sale and I am on the fence whether I will get much use out of another one. I also thought this would be a good opportunity for a broader discussion on how many lights people typically use for various studio shoots.

My most common lighting setup for portraiture uses 2 lights: a key light and a background light, typically with a reflector for fill. Occasionally I will use 3 lights: 2 on the backdrop to cross-light more evenly, or very rarely, I will add a hair or rim light for darker backgrounds. However only on maybe 1 or 2 occasions have I wished I had an additional light, and just used a speedlight to make it work.

How often do you use a 4th light (or more), and what do you use it for? I'm happy to add another strobe to my home studio, but not if it will just end up collecting dust on the shelf!

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

-

In all, I have 7 and rarely are they all used at one time. That said,
during a shoot, it is better to have one too many than fall short.

Reflectors are greatly useful but sometimes may not be enough.
Often, I will set two heads beside another. An extra plus for mo-
re heads in my operation is that my sons may be shooting on lo-
cation and there are still some available for studio works.

More also means you can extend your possibilities… like with a
portrait. That may improve substantially the diversity of solutions.

Have a good time!

 

[Trever1t]

I have a full studio of equipment with lighting and modifiers, stands, reflectors, etc.... I only use 1 light for my shoots if any. Rarely do I need to use 2. If I'm shooting a paid gig I'll bring double redundancy for everything.

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

If I'm shooting a paid gig I'll bring double redundancy for everything.

On any set, that something fails is normal but it is not
acceptable that one did not take preventive measures.

 

[smoke665]

All told I have 6 monolights, and reflectors ranging from small to 4x8 flats. Rarely do I use all of them. Typical setup is a Key, Fill, Kicker, and a background (if needed). Of late I'm really loving the 72" umbrella with diffusion, If I had the headroom I'd get an even bigger one. The light is so soft.

A 4th light wouldn't hurt, but you also need modifiers, be it soft boxes, umbrellas, grids, etc., to shape and modify.

 

[adamhiram]

I have a full studio of equipment with lighting and modifiers, stands, reflectors, etc.... I only use 1 light for my shoots if any. Rarely do I need to use 2. If I'm shooting a paid gig I'll bring double redundancy for everything.

Same here - for location shoots I'll often bring a single light, for studio shoots I rarely use more than 2. I don't do any paid work, so redundancy hasn't been a major concern, and I have a handful of speedlights with S2 brackets to use in Bowens mount modifiers in a pinch. Thanks for sharing, my observation has been that people seem to stick to 1-2 lights, or go all-out with 3-5.

 

[adamhiram]

All told I have 6 monolights, and reflectors ranging from small to 4x8 flats. Rarely do I use all of them. Typical setup is a Key, Fill, Kicker, and a background (if needed). Of late I'm really loving the 72" umbrella with diffusion, If I had the headroom I'd get an even bigger one. The light is so soft.

A 4th light wouldn't hurt, but you also need modifiers, be it soft boxes, umbrellas, grids, etc., to shape and modify.

Thanks, William, I was hoping you would reply! I think I might just go ahead and pickup a 4th light to have when I want it. I have a good sized collection of modifiers, from umbrellas, to reflectors, grids, and barn doors, to small and medium rectangular and square soft boxes, to large octoboxes and striplights. I mean you can never go wrong with more options, but I think I'm in good shape there!

 

[ac12]

I think it comes down to what YOU want, or what is needed for the effect that YOU want.
Different lighting call for different number of lights. Look at the various portrait photography books, and you will see what the lighting requirements are for the various types of lighting.

Example, If you want the traditional lighting, then it is four; key, fill, background and hair. And coincidentally, my packs are made for four heads.
Today, I've seen it down to two lights, umbrella or softbox and background.

Decades ago, I recall seeing a light in a studio which had four heads, one above the other. I think it was for vertically even full length lighting, like for a bride. I think it can be somewhat duplicated with a strip light,
I never asked the photographer what and how the various lights in his studio were used for. Dumb kid, that was a great opportunity to learn, that I let slip through my fingers.

 

[mrca]

Can't be too skinny, too rich or have too many lights. As McNally said, I can nuke shot. I have 5 einsteins, 5 hot lights, 4 speedlights. Let there be light. Just have to be careful with the circuit breakers.

 

[ac12]

Can't be too skinny, too rich or have too many lights. As McNally said, I can nuke shot. I have 5 einsteins, 5 hot lights, 4 speedlights. Let there be light. Just have to be careful with the circuit breakers.

The last sentence is a major consideration for many people.
In my house, I only have 15 amp circuits. And except for the kitchen, no room has more than ONE circuit.
If I need to use more power, I have to run a high current extension cord from another circuit in another room to the room that I am shooting in.

 

[mrca]

AC, exactly. When I am on a location shoot with hot lights, I always have a flashlight and before starting I locate the breakers and check what amperage the circuits have. The flash light is there if the breakers trip and everything goes dark. With strobes, put 5 strobes on a 15 amp circuit and you could be kicking breakers regularly even if not at full power.

 

[smoke665]

The last sentence is a major consideration for many people.
In my house, I only have 15 amp circuits.

When we built the house, I tried to consider all the contingencies. We have 400amp service to the house. My dual purpose garage/studio, has a separate 20 amp circuit. If that doesn't cut it I have a PB Vagabond pack, and if that still isn't enough a 3500watt inverter/generator, or I can hook up another breaker. Haven't been low on power yet. LOL

 

[ac12]

When we built the house, I tried to consider all the contingencies. We have 400amp service to the house. My dual purpose garage/studio, has a separate 20 amp circuit. If that doesn't cut it I have a PB Vagabond pack, and if that still isn't enough a 3500watt inverter/generator, or I can hook up another breaker. Haven't been low on power yet. LOL

Drool

I think my main panel is only 100 amps.
I've been considering upgrading the service and putting in a new breaker box.

One reason is to get rid of the half size breakers. My electrician recently moved a circuit from a half-breaker to a full-size breaker, because the half-size breaker it was on was failing every couple of years.
The second is to do like yours, a separate 20amp circuit for the garage.
And I want a circuit under the house, so that I can make a darkroom.

 

[adamhiram]

When we built the house, I tried to consider all the contingencies. We have 400amp service to the house. My dual purpose garage/studio, has a separate 20 amp circuit. If that doesn't cut it I have a PB Vagabond pack, and if that still isn't enough a 3500watt inverter/generator, or I can hook up another breaker. Haven't been low on power yet. LOL

When we bought our house, it came with a 10'x20' finished office space in the basement with 96 outlets. I figured it was a DIY job and would need to be rewired, but it turns out it was 100% up to code with 4x20A circuits coming from a dedicated subpanel. Apparently the original owner used it as a server room and ran a 20A circuit to each wall. Unfortunately the ceilings are too low down there, so I do most of my photography in the living room above. Fortunately my strobes are all monolights that run off of batteries.

 

[smoke665]

@ac12 the cost to overpower is not that much in the big scheme of things, labor is the same, slightly higher (sometimes). Just redid the electrical at our Lake lot. A 200 amp panel was the same price as a 100 amp?????

@adamhiram do you get much color variation as the batteries draw down?