Need help with my first lighting kit

kylehess10 · Nov 7, 2010

I do outdoor portrait photography in the Atlanta area and I'm looking to use a real lighting kit. I love my Nikon SB600 flash and it's great for bounce lighting in tunnels and places like that, but I've been getting into a lot of situations where I could use something better than just a SB600. I'd like to learn more about lighting kits because I see so many on eBay but I don't know much about which ones are worth it so I'm looking for opinions on what you guys think.

Would a single softbox work? Should I use more than that? I don't have an unlimited budget, so I'm not trying to get every high-dollar bit of lighting, but just whatever could be helpful to my outdoor portrait work. Any opinions of what I should use or just any help in general will be greatly appreciated!

BuS_RiDeR · Nov 7, 2010

Disclaimer: I am NOT a pro...

However, I am planning (saving my pennies) for a lighting kit as well. Mostly for indoor/outdoor portrait shoots.

I was planning on, two 60" (ish) umbrella lights... one in front and to an angle of the the subject(s) or whatever works best after some testing. And something to illuminate the background/backdrop. And perhaps a softbox in the front center (directly in front of me).

Maybe I have the wrong idea.... This may be overkill or maybe not enough... I really don't know. But its what I have in mind.

Village Idiot · Nov 8, 2010

What is your budget?

All you people post on here asking for suggestions and don't give any type of budget. OK, it's not unlimited and you don't want the most expensive lights out there?

What about 3 Elinchrom Style RX 600's and a Tronix explorer. That's about $3,200 for lights and a battery. You still need stands and such. They're not the top of the line professional lights, but they're not crap either.