Portrait lighting

xokm811xo · Jan 25, 2014

Can anyone recommend a good light to purchase for boudoir and portraits? A daylight balanced light perhaps? I want to start doing more indoor portraits but the light is always tricky if your in an unfamiliar area or would like more lighting and limited. I want a light that can act similar to sun light that I can use as a second source of light coming from a different angle.
Literally have no idea where to start or what to buy. I only have an on camera speed light and that's it. I want to start out simple though without breaking the bank. (Under 300)

tirediron · Jan 25, 2014

You don't mention a budget, but Flashpoint is one of the best values in consumer-grade lighting.

Mike_E · Jan 26, 2014

xo, I know that the urge to get something and to get shooting is strong, but..

If you haven't read it might I suggest reading "Light, Science and Magic"? And then start hitting the Youtube tutorials on what you want to do. And then start looking up photographers whose work you like and see if they have videos or a blog.

If you mention a budget then the only thing that will save your bank account is knowledge and you need to get that quick. I say this because the quickest ways to penury in photography are either to go cheap or to go wrong.

Good luck

mike

ShootRaw · Jan 26, 2014

The Ice Light....

Derrel · Jan 26, 2014

I like about a 150 to 100 Watt-second light, or two, or three, and an UMbrella Box, like the Lastolite Umbrella Box, which is an enclosed umbrella, in around the 42-inch size, the "medium" size, not the ginormous size. I think a fellow also needs a standard 7-inch reflector and a 10,20,and 35-degree honeycomb grid set, and also at LEAST two 7-inch mylar diffusers and a 2-way barndoor set.

For Flashpoint, they sell a rather generic, multi-size adapter for the barn doors AND grid attaching device, and it has slide-in grids, and uses slide-in colored filters OR slide-in mylar diffusers.

The 7 inch reflector alone can light a background: add the grid and a diffuser, and you can make a reasonably wide-area hair light or separation light; add the 2-way barn doors, and you can restrict the light to a wonderful rim- or side-light or separation light. Remove the reflector and you have a bare-tubne flash capable of lighting up a backdrop and adding backlighting/rim lighting at the same time.

To me, the CLASSIC honeycomb grid + diffuser + barn doors is an ESSENTIAL tool, which works somewhat like a strip box, but which is 10x more-versatile because you can use ANY kind of grid: 3', 10',20,25,35, 40 degree, whatever, and the slide-in mylar diffusers REALLY change the character of the light. With no mylar, the gridded light can be RAW, all the way down to TAME....adding one, or two, or three diffusers modifies the light significantly.

You do NOT need a lot of power!!!! Three 150 Watt-second Flashpoints and three decent stands will be very useful. Don't be lured by the thought of "300 Watt-second" or higher monolights...that's mostly money down the drain.

Flashpoint 320M's are $99.95 each with the 7-inch standard reflector!!!!!!!!!! My flashtubes alone cost that much.

hirejn · Feb 2, 2014

Generally flashes are balanced to daylight within a couple hundred Kelvins. There's no one right light, but a good place to start until you learn some skill is a big soft light, so a studio strobe with a soft box. You could do a lot with one Speedlight off camera in a soft box, and take the diffuser off (making it less soft) if you need more power. Good boudoir, however, like any portraiture, is more a result of skillful posing and lighting than the equipment itself. You could do good boudoir with window light, for example.