Lighting and Flash Gear???

[gryffinwings]

Alright, I was asked by a friend to take pictures for them, I'll be doing this for free.

So I was wondering if I should have any lighting for outdoor photos, other than a flash?

Is lighting mainly a studio thing?

If I needed lighting for indoors, could I get away with properly positioned lamps?

Are there certain type of bulbs that provide better light than others?

Take note, that I'd prefer to do this on the cheap for now until I get more knowledgable.

 

[KmH]

Lighting is mainly a photography thing.

Lamps are constant lighting and usually to slow for lighting people.

A 100 watt constant light delivers the 100 watts over a one second time period. If you use a shutter speed of 1/100 your exposure only uses 1/100th of the 100 watts, or just 1 watt.

A hot shoe flash unit set to full power delivers all it's light in about 1/1000 of a second.

 

[ewick]

a reflector should be handy for outdoors and they go for about 20 bucks. if you are shooting in the shade an OCF should be enough.

 

[MLeeK]

If you are shooting outside in the full sunlight? You'll need flash. If you are shooting in the shade against trees or grass? You'll need flash to keep the subject from turning green. You can shoot natural light, but it's pretty damn hard, to be honest with you. There are a few photographers who can do it and do it well, the rest use it as coverup for "I don't know how to use lighting." I know I can't do it well. I end up with spotted, green people or blown out highlights or darks...

Constant lights are an option, but as Keith explained above one 100W bulb isn't a whole lot of light caught while the shutter is open. You would need to spend MEGA BUCKS in 100W bulbs in order to get as much light as one flash. They're also pretty darned hot for the model and for the shooter in the summer! There are cool ones out now, but they are pretty expensive driving your costs up even more.

 

[gryffinwings]

a reflector should be handy for outdoors and they go for about 20 bucks. if you are shooting in the shade an OCF should be enough.

What is an OCF?

How effective would a reflector cost? Where can I get these? Can they be portable?

Would a flash be more effective for what I need?

So the gear I use is what is in my signature, for my Nikon EM, I prefer shooting ambient lighting, or lighting that is always on. For my Nikon D5100, all I have is the popup flash, for this I already know that I need a dedicated flash, but I'm not sure which to get. For the Nikon F-801s (N8008S), I'll likely be looking for a Nikon SB-24, which look to be pretty good.

 

[Mach0]

What is an OCF?

How effective would a reflector cost? Where can I get these? Can they be portable?

Would a flash be more effective for what I need?

So the gear I use is what is in my signature, for my Nikon EM, I prefer shooting ambient lighting, or lighting that is always on. For my Nikon D5100, all I have is the popup flash, for this I already know that I need a dedicated flash, but I'm not sure which to get. For the Nikon F-801s (N8008S), I'll likely be looking for a Nikon SB-24, which look to be pretty good.

I like the sb28 more. Smaller, more adjusting, and the price difference is minimal.

OCF- off camera flash

 

[gryffinwings]

What is an OCF?

How effective would a reflector cost? Where can I get these? Can they be portable?

Would a flash be more effective for what I need?

So the gear I use is what is in my signature, for my Nikon EM, I prefer shooting ambient lighting, or lighting that is always on. For my Nikon D5100, all I have is the popup flash, for this I already know that I need a dedicated flash, but I'm not sure which to get. For the Nikon F-801s (N8008S), I'll likely be looking for a Nikon SB-24, which look to be pretty good.

I like the sb28 more. Smaller, more adjusting, and the price difference is minimal.

OCF- off camera flash

I'll look into it.

If anyone has any more answers to my questions, the help will be appreciated.

 

[MLeeK]

I gave you a few things to take a look at in your other post.

 

[Buckster]

a reflector should be handy for outdoors and they go for about 20 bucks. if you are shooting in the shade an OCF should be enough.

What is an OCF?

Off Camera Flash

How effective would a reflector cost? Where can I get these? Can they be portable?

You can go even cheaper with a white foamcore poster board or two from Walmart. You'll need someone to hold it, or a way to prop it up and aim it to reflect light onto your subject.

Or you can get white rip-stop fabric pretty cheap (Amazon, among other sources), build a cheap frame from pine strips to attach it to, and use it as a diffuser panel. Again, you'll need an assistant to hold it, or find a creative way to get it into place.

Would a flash be more effective for what I need?

That depends on the flash and the available light you happen to be dealing with on any particular day, and any particular time of day, etc. It can vary quite a lot.

Dean Collins used to use flexible mirrors to reflect and focus sunlight onto frames of white rip-stop nylon acting as very large softboxes to light his subjects outdoors - no artificial lights or power needed - and the results were awesome. Of course, Dean Collins was a master at lighting. Just saying, it CAN be done.

 

[Village Idiot]

What's cheap? $50, $100, $500? At some point you may have to spend some money to get the results you want.

This was done under the shade of a building around noon with a speedlight and one of the fold up velcro soft boxes. Lumopro or lastolite I think is the brand.