Lighting Decisions, Please Help

[Lyncca]

B&H

43" White Shoot through umbrella - $19
8' air cushioned light stand - $25
umbrella adapter - $15

Wal Mart

Reflective window screen - $5

That will give you a good stand setup and help solve needing a 2nd light right away.

Keep in mind, if you're not going to be using Nikon's CLS, then purchasing additional Nikon strobes will be a waster. The Sunpak 383 is a great flash and it's cheap. You can even get them used for really cheap on e-bay.

You Rock. I will start with that first. I have a reflector already, just no stand (unless you count my disgruntled husband), so I will start with that and see how I do. I see no purpose in getting a ton of crap that I'm not ready for. I figure build as I go and learn each bit of equipment the best I can until I NEED more.

 

[SpeedTrap]

Some people will not agree with this.
I do have Nikon Speedlights and I do love them, I think the Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) is Wonderful, But…….
I also have studio lights and I would not trade them in for the world. The idea of being minimalist is great, but once you make the jump into big light it is a whole new world.
Lets face it, there are things I can do with my smallest studio light that I could not even dream of doing with my speedlights. (Think 40” Softbox)

I think a balance of both is great, I use my big lights in the studio and on location and I mix in my speedlights on optical slaves to accent areas.
If you have the means I would pick up one studio light and softbox and one more speedlight and see what you can do then.

 

[Village Idiot]

You Rock. I will start with that first. I have a reflector already, just no stand (unless you count my disgruntled husband), so I will start with that and see how I do. I see no purpose in getting a ton of crap that I'm not ready for. I figure build as I go and learn each bit of equipment the best I can until I NEED more.

Make sure you have a way to trigger the SB. Sync Cable, Optical trigger, blah blah blah.

You can get a couple wein optical slaves that plug into a PC port for like $40, irrc. The mostly unreliably e-bay/cactus remotes are about $30 for a set...another option. Skyports are very reliable, just doesn't have the range of the PW's and aren't as popular with the pros.