Lighting Essentials

[JeanetteNicole]

I've only had the opportunity to use natural lighting do to financial situations.
However, I have a new job and I'm able to spend some money on the basics.


However I have no idea where to start. I want to be able to have something very versitile, I would like to be able to use it indoors as well as outdoors around dusk.


I want to get the lighting essentials down for now.
I'm not looking to spend $1000's of dollars on it, just something to just allow me to get basic knowledge and practice on.
Something for me to expand my portfolio while in school without being completely horrible. Like the happy medium of crappy and good? Haha.



I had somebody reccomend AlienBee (?) products to me. But I personally haven't heard anything about them.
Should I just buy a kit?
Or would it be easier to buy separates? If so what separates to buy?



What do suggest I buy?

 

[tirediron]

The link isn't working, but I'm going to guess it's probably not the best quality. Alienbees are very good consumer lights, and if you can afford them, worth the investment. I would suggest two 2-300 w/s lights w/ umbrellas, and stands.

 

[Village Idiot]

What is your budget, what are you wanting to shoot, and where will you be shooting?

If you're going to be shooting in places where power won't be available, then you'll need battery power. Bees might not be the best optiong. If you're going to be shooting outdoors without a power source, you're going to need strobe power and battery power, which can end up costing a lot...well, depending on what your budget is, it may see, like a lot.

 

[syphlix]

really depends on what you're doing but from what you're saying, small flashes should be fine for you without getting into the studio strobe type lights like the AB's...

they're more portable and cheaper!

check out the strobist site... strobist.com

 

[JeanetteNicole]

My budget is $1000 for now.
I really like to go lower, but I realize some things you shouldn't skimp on.

I would like to use it for some indoor and outdoor use.

 

[Village Idiot]

Are you going to need battery power outdoors?

If you go with a set olow cost monolights, you can get three Alien Bee B800 320w/s strobes for about $750-$840. That's just lights with no portable power source, no light stands, no modifiers. And at 320w/s, you're not going to be able to kill the sun while using modifiers.

You can go with small speedlights and get a 3 light setup with everything you need that will fit into your budget. Again, they won't be very power outside.

Are you opposed to used equipment?