What should be added to my equipment for portraits.

Seventen · Nov 7, 2014

Something very exciting just happened, got a message that a friend of a friend wants me to do some images for them for making a calender for gifts. Its just some fun family shots, dressing the children up in like Easter bunny suits and Santa suits etc.
I can't charge them for this for a couple of reasons, 1) I am not a registered business and 2) I am currently on a long term sick leave. So the exchange of money can not happen for legal reasons.
But I told them I am new to portraits and my equipment is not that of a professional and my images still need a come along a lot. They said the images they saw of mine seem plenty fine. So we agreed we wont exchange money but what I would like from this is to have the use of the images for a portfolio and to maybe upload to the internet. They agreed to this but only after Christmas they don't want people seeing the images before the gift is passed on as we have common friends here.

But to the point I want some very nice looking images here and if there is any suggestions on some lighting or something that could be of use for a mobile portrait shoot would be very handy. Even looking at the big picture if its something that one day could be of use in a mobile photography situation would be handy. A upgrade to the D7100 is happening over the next couple of months so items must also be compatible for this.

Current items that use.
Nikon d5100
Nikkor 1.8 35mm
Tamron 90mm VC USD
Tamron 70 - 300 VC USD
SB 700
42 inch reflector
a tripod to mount the flash on

Some images may be taken outside if weather is fine but we have a lack of daylight now so will be dull. Unless the snow hangs around and then that helps light up a little.

So if there is anything that could be added here to help me with lighting please let me know. I have been looking at all kinds of constant lighting, triggers, stands, diffusers, back drops and just seeing the amount going up I needed to ask for help as my budget is rather limited and also I want a some what portable session, not a full studio

I would like to keep it as low cost as possible maybe no more than 500 euros.

Hope the information I gave was enough for some advice if not please tell me what Information I need to give.

Thank you.

JustJazzie · Nov 7, 2014

It sounds as if you need some sort of light modifier for your flash. An umbrella would probably work well with your speed-light, and is very inexpensive.

runnah · Nov 7, 2014

A positive attitude!

Rick50 · Nov 7, 2014

A book about posing like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Doug-Guide-Po...id=1415371930&sr=1-1&keywords=guide+to+posing

tirediron · Nov 7, 2014

I would say that really all you need is, as Jazzie mentioned, a modifier. An inexpensive umbrella would be fine, especially if all you're doing is single children.

KmH · Nov 7, 2014

Impact Convertible Umbrella - White Satin with Removable Black Backing - 45"
You can use the umbrella in reflected light mode, or remove the black backing and use it in shoot-through mode.

You need a device known as an umbrella bracket that will hold your speedlight and the umbrella on a light stand.
Impact Umbrella Bracket

A decent light stand
Impact Air-cushioned Light Stand (Black, 8')

The umbrellas in this kit are only 32" but eventually you will want different size light modifiers, including some bigger than 45".
Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit
For more control of where your light goes you may want to get a softbox or a brolly.

A softbox
Westcott 2348 50-Inch Recessed Mega JS Apollo (Black)

A brolly, which is part umbrella, part softbox.
Photek HSD-50K Umbrella, Hot Shoe Diffuser, Shoe Mount Adapter & Velcro Kit

Seventen · Nov 7, 2014

Thank you some great feedback here and a lot less items than how it was seeming when I was trying to search.

The book I will be purchasing looks quite interesting! thanks for that.

The photo shoot will mainly be 2 children but there will be a family shot in there. That is where my concern of not having enough light came from.

Designer · Nov 7, 2014

For portraiture, skip the idea of continuous lighting. If you want another light, just get another speedlight. Some inexpensive ones out there.

When you start looking at umbrellas, you will probably see a package deal that includes the umbrella, a light stand, and the bracket. You will probably see a deal offering two complete setups like that. I bought the double deal for about $75. Avoid buying a kit that includes continuous lights, as you will be paying for something that you won't end up using.

Put your camera on the tripod, not the flash. Purchase an inexpensive ($3 for mine) cable shutter release. The flash may be fired using another cable from the camera to the flash if it is fairly close (3 feet). If you wish to invest in RF remote triggers, they do make some inexpensive ones.

Outdoors, you can use the 70-300, but indoors that lens will probably be too long unless you have a really long room.

I wouldn't bother with a backdrop at this point. Outdoors, just get the group well in front of the background, and the BG will mostly be OOF. Indoors, just find a blank wall, and still keep them well away from the wall if you can.

I'm kind of wondering about the camera upgrade. Suppose you didn't purchase a new camera just now and use the money you would have spent on lights, modifiers, light stands, and remote triggers. That to me would make more sense than blowing a wad on a new body.

Unless you've got a huge budget, then just get everything, including a Nikon SB-910 (or two), several sizes and styles of light modifiers, multiple light stands, several Pocket Wizards, and that backdrop.

Seventen · Nov 8, 2014

Designer said:
For portraiture, skip the idea of continuous lighting. If you want another light, just get another speedlight. Some inexpensive ones out there.

When you start looking at umbrellas, you will probably see a package deal that includes the umbrella, a light stand, and the bracket. You will probably see a deal offering two complete setups like that. I bought the double deal for about $75. Avoid buying a kit that includes continuous lights, as you will be paying for something that you won't end up using.

Put your camera on the tripod, not the flash. Purchase an inexpensive ($3 for mine) cable shutter release. The flash may be fired using another cable from the camera to the flash if it is fairly close (3 feet). If you wish to invest in RF remote triggers, they do make some inexpensive ones.

Outdoors, you can use the 70-300, but indoors that lens will probably be too long unless you have a really long room.

I wouldn't bother with a backdrop at this point. Outdoors, just get the group well in front of the background, and the BG will mostly be OOF. Indoors, just find a blank wall, and still keep them well away from the wall if you can.

I'm kind of wondering about the camera upgrade. Suppose you didn't purchase a new camera just now and use the money you would have spent on lights, modifiers, light stands, and remote triggers. That to me would make more sense than blowing a wad on a new body.

Unless you've got a huge budget, then just get everything, including a Nikon SB-910 (or two), several sizes and styles of light modifiers, multiple light stands, several Pocket Wizards, and that backdrop.

Some great information here,

Sorry I forgot to add I have a tripod for camera and a shutter release (Providing the replacement one don't stop working as quick as last one) so them ones are covered. But the tripod for the flash was just a cheap tripod that I used for A focal astrophotography using a point and shoot so no place to attach a umbrella but had been handy for placing the flash on recently.

The camera upgrade maybe is not so urgent just found myself more recently out growing this and finding it is slowing things down but still a perfect camera. I don't have a huge amount to spend my income pays the bills and that is it. I am just lucky to have a tax returns of 1300 euro and both myself and the wife agreed putting it into photography is a wise choice.
But either way if I get the body or not, we had decided 500 euros for solving lighting issues will be the max. So how much I would like to get a second sb 700 I can't I would rather get many cheaper little bits like the stands, umbrellas and cables to trigger the flashes.

Some questions regarding a second flash. As I can not afford the same flash does it matter if I use a SB 700 along with a cheap yungnuo?

Also I have been triggering my SB 700 when off the camera with the pop up flash, but this is not always very nice, but how do I control 2 flashes off camera? I saw hot shoe extension lines and cheap yongnuo wireless triggers but couldn't work out how to use 2.

Sorry for these being such silly questions. Was something I have been confused about a long time how to make more than 1 flash work without using continuous lighting.

Thank you.

tirediron · Nov 8, 2014

There's no problem using your SB-700 with any other type of flash; a couple of inexpensive Yongnuos will add a LOT of flexibility to your lighting. As for triggers, either the Yongnuo or Cactus triggers from eBay will do fine. You will need one transmitter/transceiver to mount on your camera, and then one receiver/transceiver per flash. This eliminates wires as well as concerns about line-of-sight visibility.

Designer · Nov 8, 2014

Seventen said:
the tripod for the flash was just a cheap tripod that I used for A focal astrophotography using a point and shoot so no place to attach a umbrella but had been handy for placing the flash on recently.

If you are going to use a tripod for a flash, they are not tall enough, so plan to place the tripod upon a table to get the light up higher.

Designer · Nov 8, 2014

Depending on what level of Yongnuo flash you get, it might have the capability to fire as a slave. Nevertheless, your SB-700 will fire as a slave, so put a remote trigger on the cheap flash and fire your SB-700 as a slave. Once you get one flash to fire, you can fire as many other flashes as you wish if they are in slave mode and you have at least one firing with a RF remote or a cable from the camera. They will all fire at once.

Seventen · Nov 15, 2014

Thanks again for all your advice here I made some purchases and awaiting the order to arrive, but have started to worry if the items are correct, am I missing something ?
The items I purchased was:

YONGNUO YN565EX TTL Flash Speedlite for Nikon

YongNuo RF-603/N3 Wireless Flash Trigger for Nikon D7000, D7100, D90, D3100, D3200, D5200, D5100, D5000

DynaSun 2x W968S Professional Set with Holder, Umbrella, Stand and Bag for Cold Shoe Mount Flash Gun Flashgun

If I was correct understanding I only need one wireless trigger on the Yongnuo speedlight as that will trigger my SB 700 when it flashes. The softboxes would have been nice but the price for them was rather high and hoping for now the umbrellas shooting through would give some satisfactory results.

Thank you,