New home studio

haynie90 · Sep 9, 2012

just purchased a home studio in a box deal comes with 2 backdrops w/b backdrop stand 3 constant lights 1 big main 2 small fills and soft boxes for all i have never done any type of studio shooting before

What advice do you have for using constant lighting

is a stobe going to become a necessity and if so what type how many and all other details that can be provided

i welcome all studio shooting advice and will be posting some pics on this thread for c&c

480sparky · Sep 9, 2012

Make sure your air conditioning works.

MLeeK · Sep 9, 2012

SEND IT BACK! They're junk.
What is the wattage of that constant light? It'd have to be something like 1000 WPS in order to illuminate a photograph.
With constant lights if it says 100W that is 100 watts over one second. So if your shutter is at 1/250 (pretty reasonable for a live subject) you would get 2.5 watts of light. In order to get 100W of light you would have to start with 40each 100W bulbs.

KmH · Sep 9, 2012

* Thread Moved * - To - Lighting and Hardware

Constant lights are for use with inanimate subjects. With inanimate subjects shutter speeds longer than 1 second can be used along with a good steady tripod.

If you are going to be shooting people, you really want to use strobed light (flash), because people move and shutter speeds of 1/100 or shorter are needed to prevent motion blur and/or camera shake if the camera is hand held.

tirediron · Sep 9, 2012

For most photographic work, strobes are preferred, and while it might not seem logical, it's MUCH easier to light a subject with a couple of good strobes. Not all constant lights are junk, but chances are, if it was an inexpensive eBay or Amazon package, then it'll last just long enough to get half-way through your first shoot...

haynie90 · Sep 9, 2012

thanks alot i am now seeing that strobes would have been a more reasonable purchase but i dont plan on returning the constants as i may find some use for them also it would cost almost as much in shipping :/

as far as the strobes or speedlites go what kind? what do i need to look for and how much would i be looking at spending
thanks alot

tirediron · Sep 9, 2012

What's your budget? You can spend $25-50 for used speedlights, and between $100 and $1500/head for monolights. The Flashpoint series from Adorama is well regarded.

haynie90 · Sep 9, 2012

i would say my max budget is 3 to 500

haynie90 · Sep 9, 2012

as far as the speedlights (as far as i know speedlight is nikon compatible and speedlite is canon? just something i read) but which ones would i need the higher end sb 700 800 900 series or are the ones such as the sb 28 and such plenty

KmH · Sep 10, 2012

I've been through Moses Lake a few times.

Have you noticed you're the only one in the thread not making the appropriate capital letters?

Hot shoe flash units (speedlight, speedlite) aren't as powerful as monolights like the Adoroama Flashpoint lights tirediron mentioned. In fact some of the hot shoe flash units you mentioned cost a lot more than a Flashpoint light would. You can get 3 - 150 ws Flashpoints for the cost of one Nikon SB-700 (GN - 28 m/92 ft. (at ISO 100, 35mm zoom head position, in FX format, standard illumination pattern, 20°C/68°F).
Flashpoint II 320M, 150 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe
Or 5 of the Flashpoints for the cost of just one SB-900.

MLeeK · Sep 10, 2012

haynie90 said:
i would say my max budget is 3 to 500

If you can afford it this one Flashpoint FP620MPWK Portrait Wedding Monolight Kit FP620MPWK It's got more power per light
Otherwise this one Flashpoint FP320MPWK Portrait Wedding Monolight Kit FP320MPWK

haynie90 · Sep 10, 2012

Thanks alot!
(Hope the proper capitalization suits you)

haynie90 · Sep 16, 2012

With the use of a strobe or speedlight i will need a trigger as well right? Which ones do you recommend?

MLeeK · Sep 16, 2012

What is your camera and speedlite? Nikon and Canon's newest stuff has a build in trigger system. If you won't have that option there are several cheap ones out there by various different manufacturers.
Here's a cheap option Flashpoint 4 Channel Radio Remote Control, 65ft Range MT04

SixShotEspressO · Sep 16, 2012

Good luck man I hope you continue to post your progress and "lessons Learned" here. I will be making that kind of purchase in the no so near future. As it stands now, Ive got an SB910, 2-SB700s and a black king size sheet set form wall mart. I am REEALY on a budget. LOL.