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11/24/2004 02:06:28 PM · #1 |
| I am shooting family portrait in the clients home, and would like some expert advice on lighting to purchase. I am looking for something light and portable ( w/case) Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! |
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11/24/2004 02:23:49 PM · #2 |
Check out calumet photo travellights. I have had them for years, and have had nothing but good results. They are self contained, so there is no need for a battery pak. They are moderately priced in comparison to some kits.
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11/24/2004 02:39:59 PM · #3 |
Alien Bees are very highly regarded bang-for-the-buck monolights (meaning they don't need a "pack", they are self contained). Since they also offer a travel case, they are pretty easy to "make portable". And, if you ever need to go totally portable, they offer a custom battery-based power source option that allows you to use their strobes when AC is not available.
It is usually harder packing up/carrying the modifiers (softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, etc.) than it is the monolights themselves...
Message edited by author 2004-11-24 16:40:24. |
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11/24/2004 02:44:00 PM · #4 |
| Thanks guys! I will investigate both options! Hey, we should make commissions on all the equipment referrals we post here! |
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11/24/2004 03:59:58 PM · #5 |
I'll second Eddy's post. I have 3 AB800's with the battery pack (the double version; not the single). I have taken the lights outdoors for shoots and I even pack them up to do what you're talking about doing. If you get a 9' backdrop stand I'd suggest that you check to make sure the place you're headed to has enough room for you to setup.
I suggest against taking paper and plexiglass anywhere you go; occasionally its a nice change of pace but the backdrop works well.
Here are a few that I shot last night at a business associates home. Setup took 20 minutes and breakdown took just a hair less.
Man, that first one looks dark on here. It's not nearly that dark on my machine or printed.
Kev
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11/24/2004 04:15:54 PM · #6 |
Instead of lugging backdrops, is there an area you could work with at the house? I did a shoot for a girl on her black leather sofa, really good results using a portable light kit.
And the family wants to do it indoors? Outdoors is more exciting..plus, no setup ;-)
Sigh..I'm the world's laziest photographer....
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11/25/2004 03:59:54 AM · #7 |
Those lights look interesting. I myself am looking for some "studio lighting" that I can take with me pretty much everywhere I have an outlet to plug them in (having portable ac power is a bonus, but not high on my priorities list) but I don´t have a clue on what to look for in these lights. How powerful are these Alien bees compared to the 550ex flash from Canon, just for reference? Also, what should I be looking for when getting these (or any other lights) and watch out for? Any help greatly appreciated.
Originally posted by EddyG:
Alien Bees are very highly regarded bang-for-the-buck monolights (meaning they don't need a "pack", they are self contained). Since they also offer a travel case, they are pretty easy to "make portable". And, if you ever need to go totally portable, they offer a custom battery-based power source option that allows you to use their strobes when AC is not available.
It is usually harder packing up/carrying the modifiers (softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, etc.) than it is the monolights themselves... |
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11/25/2004 08:45:13 AM · #8 |
Larus,
According to Eddy's post of 11/4 (link to post) and the document he referenced the 550EX should put out about 35 watt seconds of power. The AlienBee 400's are 160 true watt seconds (400 effective watt seconds). I'll not lie; I don't know exactly what those numbers mean, I'd have to look them up. What I do know is that the weakest AlienBee looks like its at least 4 times stronger than the 550EX and if you go by the effective rating it'd be over 10 times stronger.
Buying into a lighting system, however, isn't just about power, its about light modification. Softboxes, barn doors, snoots, combs, gels, filters, etc. With monolights or flash heads and power pack units you immediately gain the option to start modifying the light in numerous ways. A snoot can be placed over the light to direct the light in a very tight pattern. If a snoot makes too small and bright a patch of light then put the silver reflector on the front of the light and insert a comb into the reflector; this will still give you a fairly tight beam of light but just not as tight or bright as the snoot. You want basically the exact amount of light that you'd get with just the reflector but you don't want it to spill over the whole scene, just the subject? Then put some barn doors on the light and use the doors to control how far to the side the light can spill out into the scene you've composed. Do you just need a nice soft glow that fills the whole scene? Put a softbox on the light and the light drops down a stop or two but it'll spread out to fill up the scene better than if you didn't put anything over the bulb.
On the other hand you have a hot shoe flash like the Canon 580EX or 550EX or the Nikon SB-800 or Metz 54somethingorother. These units are portable and take a heckuva lot less time to setup when you get to any location. Their problems are (A) don't recycle fast enough so that sometimes if you take a shot and the subject happens to achieve a look that you want, you may be a victim of drained batteries and slow recharge; (B) modification is limited as far as purchasing ready-made light modifiers, sure you can make your own but many of the ready-made pieces are engineered to be lightweight and compact when storing them; (C) power is limited so their effective range is lessened as well as their ability to compete with other light sources, so far this as been the least impacting issue for me, I find that the 550EX has been powerful enough to give me fill flash even on the brightest day or it has been capable of lighting up the solid white background when I use it as a kicker light (a light that sits behind the subject, is can be pointed at the subject from below and behind to give a rim lighting effect or it can be pointed at the backdrop to light that up which will demonstrate separation between the subject and the background).
There are definitely situations where you can use either one of these to great advantage and where either flash unit will outperform the other in terms of how it lets you control light or in terms of how much you want to use it since you can set it up in 2 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes. Do you need either one to take good photographs? Nope. Will either make some types of photography more accessible? Probably. Shooting someone on seamless white or black paper and lighting up the background and subject with kickers and lighting up the subject from multiple angles from the front will pretty much require that you purchase some flash units to do that 'cause a subject won't want to stand in front of hot lights for 3 or 4 hours and pose; he'll just begin to melt from the heat. Of course, do you realistically see yourself investing in that much equipment right now?
I think most people start off with a hot shoe flash, learn some of the things it'll give you for fill flash and then move into remote flash use (where you have flashes setup away from the camera and control them with a remote trigger. After that, I think people move into situations where they want more control of the quality of the lights (seeing how the placement and vector of lighting can whet one's appetite for experimentation) and that leads to monolights with some kinds of modifiers. At least this has been my experience.
I know this may not be the exact answer you were looking for but I think it touches on some of the background issues that will help you determine the kinds of questions you want to ask when looking for lighting ("what should I be looking for when getting these . . . ."). Ask about modification of the lights. Check out the watt seconds. You at least have some guide now. The 550EX appears to be around 35 watt seconds, the AB 400's are 160 true watt seconds. Start looking into what modifiers you can use on whatever lights you get.
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11/25/2004 11:10:07 AM · #9 |
Kevin.
Thanx for taking the time to write all this, it´s good information and I appreciate it. I am actually going the same path you describe, first just one 550ex and bouncing it around. Then I got a 420ex to use as a slave and an umbrella to go with it. Then a reflector and last week I finally got a transmitter to trigger both flashes remotely so the next thing to do is to get 2-3 studio strobes to play around with. Right now I am only gathering information but I will probably get some around next summer. Again, thanx for taking the time to write your "rambling", you can be sure someone read it :o)
Message edited by author 2004-11-25 11:11:14. |
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