Portable strobe lighting....

Raian-san · Jul 1, 2011

I'm doing a 2nd engagement photoshoot and recently found out she and her fiancee love nighttime and would want shots at night. I've been searching but mostly seen indoor set up. KHM said his set up is 9 Vivitar 285HV Auto Professional Flash, and a few others. I know strobe lighting you shouldn't go with the cheap route, so I'm not considering the cheap set up. I want an affordable set up but does the job. Is there any possible way to have one lighting set up to shoot? I know most of the time you need at least 2 lighting set up. KHM also said that hot shoe flashes are not powerful enough so buying a few hotshoes flash and set it up behind umbrellas is not a good idea? The battery pack is pretty expensive so I don't think I'll go with that set up. What are some good alternative that I can start off with without costing more than $500 or that's not possible? I will get the Cactus wireless flash trigger. Thanks ahead.

kundalini · Jul 1, 2011

The Vivatars will certainly do the trick as good as a branded flash for much less $$$. Save money there and use the rest for light stands, boom & reflector arms, light modifiers (umbrellas ?, softboxes, snoots, grids, reflectors, scrims), clamps, counterweights, gels and such. For light stands, I wouold have a variety from 3' (or can get down to) up to 13' with a few being heavy-duty.

Raian-san · Jul 1, 2011

But do I have to get 9 of them? or can I get 2 for now then some more later? Definitely light stands, and the whole nine. Which one do you recommend that's affordable but good. And those flashes are manual right? So i will need a light meter as well. And then the cactus flash trigger and I'm set to shoot?

jusejuse · Jul 1, 2011

I've heard YN560's do a good job too, based on Amazon and YouTube reviews. I was considering the Vivitar 285HV, then I came across the YN560. I can't recommend it to you just yet but I'm just giving you an option.

Two of them are coming in the mail for me, hopefully it goes well. And hopefully you get your lighting set up soon. I also got the same brand for triggers (came in the mail last night) Yongnuo RF603 (for Canon 60d's and other cameras).

kundalini · Jul 1, 2011

Hmmmm, well, one is better than none. For portraits, I like three as a minimum, but 5 is a good number for different uses. But the trick is to learn how to light your subject with only one speedlight first, then add on. Of course, you can do this with two sitting on the shelf for their turn. :biggrin:

There is a horde of light stand manufacturers. Right now I am using Manfrotto, Avenger, Interfit, PCB, Bowens, a no-name Chinese..... and something else. I recently got another 13' heavy-duty stand in the used bin of my local camera shop for $40.

Yes, the Vivatars are manual. Mind you, I don't have any personal experience with them.... I have Nikon's (, but in hind sight.....) A hand held light meter is not required, but I like using mine.

I use Cybersyncs for triggers, somebody else will have to advise on the Cactus.

Raian-san · Jul 1, 2011

Thanks for the info guys, I just met with the client and I guess the person that's doing the wedding photography is doing their engagement as a package so one less thing for me to worry about. I also found out I'll be filming the wedding reception and not the engagement ceremony. Need to start buying some more gears for video since I got the deposit for the event.

But this is definitely helpful so I won't need to ask much questions later on when I want to buy a lighting set up. I've heard lately about the YN-560 as well, I will check it out. So many things that I want to buy, but so little money. Thanks for the replies guys.

Village Idiot · Jul 5, 2011

****. For $500, I'd buy a B800 and a Vagabond mini. Not as portable as the speedlights, but a ton more power and you seriously could bungee the mini to the B800 head and have a short electrical cable running between the two as a self contained unit.

That opens up the option for shooting in more unforgiving light and using any modifier you want.

joealcantar · Jul 5, 2011

Village Idiot said:
****. For $500, I'd buy a B800 and a Vagabond mini. Not as portable as the speedlights, but a ton more power and you seriously could bungee the mini to the B800 head and have a short electrical cable running between the two as a self contained unit.

That opens up the option for shooting in more unforgiving light and using any modifier you want.

2nd this idea.
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Shoot well, Joe

gsgary · Jul 5, 2011

One of these will definitely do the job and last you years ELINCHROM - Quadra S Head - Flash & LED

Raian-san · Jul 5, 2011

Village Idiot said:
****. For $500, I'd buy a B800 and a Vagabond mini. Not as portable as the speedlights, but a ton more power and you seriously could bungee the mini to the B800 head and have a short electrical cable running between the two as a self contained unit.

That opens up the option for shooting in more unforgiving light and using any modifier you want.

Oh nice, a mini portable battery back. That's a great option, let me read on it some more. I want to know how many shots I can pop off before it drained the battery. With that route, I'll only have one strobe? I guess maybe I can get a cheaper 2nd one to use as a fill light and the alien bee for the main source of light right?

If I'm able to sell my MBP, I'll have around $800ish to buy new gears. I'm currently an unemployed college student at the moment trying to find a job. It's definitely a tough time starting my small business with limited gear but I just bought some gears for videography.

gsgary - I'll look into that as well, I'm at the website. Depend on the price between that and other strobe and of course the durability.

P.S. I know this might be asked at a video forum but do you guys know a good LED continuous lighting that's very bright? I want to get one to film the Wedding and Engagement to have more lighting shine on the couple from kinda far away.

Edit: So the vagabond can give 200-250 power flash so that's pretty good. But I read it's all work for their part, or maybe they only advertise their product but can work with other strobe company?

ghache · Jul 5, 2011

IMO, B800 + vagabon mini and a beauty dish, perfect setup.

catwalk.hudson · Aug 11, 2011

You might as well check the Tronix Explorer Mini. It has a wider compatibility range to brands of flashes, from analog, digital and bi-voltage.
I have seen , and was amazed on how fast it recycles for 2 600Ws monolights. This is the 115V model though.

Village Idiot · Aug 15, 2011

Raian-san said:
Village Idiot said:

****. For $500, I'd buy a B800 and a Vagabond mini. Not as portable as the speedlights, but a ton more power and you seriously could bungee the mini to the B800 head and have a short electrical cable running between the two as a self contained unit.

That opens up the option for shooting in more unforgiving light and using any modifier you want.

Click to expand...

Oh nice, a mini portable battery back. That's a great option, let me read on it some more. I want to know how many shots I can pop off before it drained the battery. With that route, I'll only have one strobe? I guess maybe I can get a cheaper 2nd one to use as a fill light and the alien bee for the main source of light right?

If I'm able to sell my MBP, I'll have around $800ish to buy new gears. I'm currently an unemployed college student at the moment trying to find a job. It's definitely a tough time starting my small business with limited gear but I just bought some gears for videography.

gsgary - I'll look into that as well, I'm at the website. Depend on the price between that and other strobe and of course the durability.

P.S. I know this might be asked at a video forum but do you guys know a good LED continuous lighting that's very bright? I want to get one to film the Wedding and Engagement to have more lighting shine on the couple from kinda far away.

Edit: So the vagabond can give 200-250 power flash so that's pretty good. But I read it's all work for their part, or maybe they only advertise their product but can work with other strobe company?

It should work with any non digital non power switching strobe or anything that the Vagabond II works with. The big issue is strobes that do automatica power switching.

catwalk.hudson said:
You might as well check the Tronix Explorer Mini. It has a wider compatibility range to brands of flashes, from analog, digital and bi-voltage.
I have seen , and was amazed on how fast it recycles for 2 600Ws monolights. This is the 115V model though.

Normally I'd recommend Innovatronix gear over AB, but in this case, You could physically attach the battery to the head and have an ultra portable setup. Plus, I believe the VML is cheap which would be a definitely plus for a poor college student.