Which do you prefer continuous or strobe lighting?

[lance70]

Hi, question for the portrait shooters out there, which do you prefer when shooting indoors and why.... continuous lighting or strobe lighting? Thanks!

 

[ronlane]

I've never used continuous lighting, so I guess my answer is strobes (speedlights). And my why is that the speedlight was cheap and that's all I have.

 

[Forkie]

For me, continuous lighting simply isn't an option for my headshots. Continuous lighting is nowhere near bright enough and could never provide the sharpness that a strobe provides.

To use continuous lighting would mean using longer shutter speeds and risking movement blur or camera shake, which is a big no-no for me!

There's just no way I could get shots like this without strobes:

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[astroNikon]

speedlights. But strobes are better with the modeling light.

Continuous has a low entry price and looks enticing until you use them. Good for product shots though.

 

[tirediron]

Strobes. Greater control, simplicity of use, range of accessories & modifiers. You can get continuous lights that will do the job, such as Kino-Flo, but unless you're at the Peter Hurley end of the portrait-shooters pay-scale, that may be a bit out of reach financially.

 

[lance70]

Thanks for the help!

 

[runnah]

I hate working with hot lights. Heavy, hot and limited. But you need em for video so I deal.

Strobes are awesome but unless you get a ton of battery packs you need a cord.

Speedlights are great for a lot of work and they are the most practical of the bunch. They are limited with cycle times and overall output.

 

[KmH]

I preferred strobe lighting so I could control the strobed light exposure with light power setting and lens aperture separately from the ambient light exposure which is controlled with ISO and shutter speed.
The short duration of the flash of light from a strobe/speedlight can often take over the motion stopping function of shutter speed.
That's why stroboscopes are used for high speed still photography.

For some types of lighting set-ups for still photography you can use both continuous and strobe light. I usually used a continuous light with a snoot on it for my hair light and often used continuous lights when I wanted to light the background.

Continuous lighting is ambient light.
Continuous lights get hot, make live subjects uncomfortable, and add heat to the studio.

As mentioned, continuous light is needed to shoot video.

 

[lance70]

I preferred strobe lighting so I could control the strobed light exposure with light power setting and lens aperture separately from the ambient light exposure which is controlled with ISO and shutter speed.
The short duration of the flash of light from a strobe/speedlight can often take over the motion stopping function of shutter speed.
That's why stroboscopes are used for high speed still photography.

For some types of lighting set-ups for still photography you can use both continuous and strobe light. I usually used a continuous light with a snoot on it for my hair light and often used continuous lights when I wanted to light the background.

Continuous lighting is ambient light.
Continuous lights get hot, make live subjects uncomfortable, and add heat to the studio.

As mentioned, continuous light is needed to shoot video.

Makes sense, thank you!

 

[JoeW]

Hi, question for the portrait shooters out there, which do you prefer when shooting indoors and why.... continuous lighting or strobe lighting? Thanks!

First, let me clarify a few points:
1. I assume by continuous, we're not talking naturally occurring ambient light (like a lamp that's already on in the room or daylight coming in a window). We're talking about lighting the photographer has inserted for the purposes of taking a photo.
2. By strobe lighting, well...I'm a speed light kind of guy so that's what I'm going to refer to (usually speed lights with soft boxes, sometimes bouncing them off a wall or ceiling). But there are very big differences between speed light and strobes in terms of a range of issues (ability to use them for onsite or unique space shoots, power, triggering and so on).

If you're a new shooter OR you're new to lighting, then continuous lighting is nice. You can see what you're shooting BEFORE you shoot it. It's a good training tool. You can identify shadows or hot spots and adjust rather than shooting and going "oh crap." It can also be nice with bodyscapes where you're trying to be very precise with shadow and often shooting (and lighting) at weird angles. It can also help you avoid blinking subjects/models and red-eye b/c it's continuous. Also, some of the best DIY lighting setups are continuous. That said, I think it's incredibly difficult to get really great portraiture lighting using continuous stuff unless you generate so much heat that your subjects are sweating through their clothes. I'm going to hedge just a little when I say this but...I haven't seen an artificial (meaning: not ambient) continuous lighting setup that can come even just close to matching what good speed lights and soft boxes or strobes can do.

 

[Braineack]

indoor portraits?
strobes all the way.

outdoor portraits?
strobes all the way.

 

[Derrel]

Indoors, I like Speedotron studio flash units for posed, formal portraits. Not a lot of power is needed. Anywhere from 100 to 25 Watt-seconds per light, usually three or four lights. Sometimes, just one, single flash head, fired off of a wall or ceilng or wall/ceiling corner. For grab shots, a single SB 800 speedlight is often a big,big help.

My main experiences with hot lights were a couple of commercial photography community college courses I took at two different community colleges about five years apart, and both used the then-standard Lowell brand of both Tota-Light and Omni-Light quartz-halogen lights, and frankly, I thought both were horrible. Back then, LED lighting had not been invented, and the marketplace filled with affordable scrims and diffusers had not yet developed, so we were not really able to "modify" the lights to the extent that would likely be possible with today's plethora of low-cost made in China light modifiers and accessories, but still, I hated the portrait assignments shot using quartz-halogen. Just a PITA in all ways. I also hated the small-product and still-life lighting assignments shot with quartz lights.

Studio-type flash with good modeling lights is my preference, followed by speedlight flash, followed by reflector lighting, with continuous "hot light" lighting dead last.

 

[Designer]

Hi, question for the portrait shooters out there, which do you prefer when shooting indoors and why.... continuous lighting or strobe lighting? Thanks!

I'm not really what you would call a "portrait shooter". I'm more of a generalist actually, but I am happy to answer your question anyway.

It depends on what effect I'm after. If it is going to be subdued lighting from a window or a lamp, then the light is what it is, and I deal with it.

If I'm going for more lights and a higher degree of light manipulation, then I prefer strobes because then I can set everything up to give me the light I want.

 

[runnah]

I wish I has one of those IR thermometers because I know my hot light get at least above 200 degrees.

 

[Derrel]

I wish I has one of those IR thermometers because I know my hot light get at least above 200 degrees.

Gears spinning....hmmmmm....bacon strips, wrapped in clean cheescloth as a grease catcher....then that all wrapped in tinfoil....strapped around light housings with more tinfoil...hmmmm...