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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> What Studio Lights do you use
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 02/17/2005 03:46:18 PM · #1
Theres probably a post somewhere about this already but Iam curious to know what lights people use iam really have a hard time grasping this one since there are so many variaties of lights out there. Iam not so much intrested in the manufacture more so the way the light is designed thanks.
 02/19/2005 09:00:46 AM · #2
I got top play in a friend's studio yesterday for the firsttime.
He has 2 strobes at this time - a alienbee 800 and some older model something he doesn't like a lot. He is getting another bee later this year, is awaiting delivery of a softbox as I write this.

He lkes the Bee- inexpensive to buy and use, cheap flashtube if it ever needs replacing, most attachments work with it easily.

As for attachments, he has a 'shoot through umbrella' and a couple of reflecive umbrellas. he has yet to need to run the Bee at more than 1/2 power.

I tok a few shots of my kids with my Rebel - they would not cooperate. I will post pics in a while. he has an older minolta flash meter he used and i had to set my camera to a smaller ap than it recommended to keep from blowing out parts of the kids clothing.

i am psyched to do more! I need a hot shoe to pc adapter...i used his Nikon AS-15 (he is a Nikon guy). i will likley buy generic and use my 2 hot shoe flashguns for now. More next week on how that works out.

Back to your Q a bit: the Bee has a regular bulb for a modeling light. it can be off, on, or adjustable brigtness in relation to the power adjustment on the flash unit. the flash unit plugs into the wall for power, but you can get battey power for it. it has a slider control for power output full down to 1/32. it has an optical slave (it will fire whan it sees a strobe fire) or you can use a PC cord or it has an option for a wireless remote. My friend uses a PC cord to fire the bee, the other light is set to be an optical slave.

Does that help any?
 02/19/2005 09:46:49 AM · #3
I don't think you need expensive professional lights, especially if you're just getting into photography (but I'm not sure what your level is). For shooting small stuff, like flowers, I use an ordinary cheap desk lamp. That's what I used for this photo...



For this photo (below), I bounced the light from a desk lamp off of an ordinary piece of white paper, and onto the yellow pepper. This has the effect of diffusing the light...



For bigger things, like portraits, I use two 250 watt halogen worklights ($10 each from Home Depot!), and I diffuse the light through a homemade softbox (I hang the lights inside the A-shaped frame of a 6 foot wooden stepladder, and wrap a layer of white fabric around the ladder).



So my total investment in lighting is less than $30.

02/19/2005 09:58:53 AM · #4
alien bees (i love them, and they are very light/affordable)
desk lamps (perfect for small objects, and adding shadows)
and the sun (invest in a good reflector, it's worth it)
 02/19/2005 10:36:51 AM · #5
There's lots of information about lighting available on the net. You could check out these links for some basic info:

Introduction to Lighting

Introduction to Monolights

Introduction to Packs & Heads

I'm just a beginner myself, and my only experience so far has been with AlienBees monolights. In my opinion, all of their products that I have used are great. Before I bought my AlienBees equipment I compared the features of most of the available brands. In my opinion, the AlienBees were the best bang-for-the-buck. So far, my equipment consists of the following:

(4) B400 monolights
(2) Medium (35â) Octaboxes
(3) 13-foot heavy duty stands
(3) Boom arm attachments
(1) Backlight stand
(1) Background reflector
(1) 20º Honeycomb grid
(1) LG4X four-channel wired remote


02/19/2005 10:41:53 AM · #6
I have 31 year old Speedatrons.
 02/19/2005 10:43:22 AM · #7
Originally posted by Keith Maniac:
I don't think you need expensive professional lights, especially if you're just getting into photography (but I'm not sure what your level is). For shooting small stuff, like flowers, I use an ordinary cheap desk lamp. That's what I used for this photo...



For this photo (below), I bounced the light from a desk lamp off of an ordinary piece of white paper, and onto the yellow pepper. This has the effect of diffusing the light...



For bigger things, like portraits, I use two 250 watt halogen worklights ($10 each from Home Depot!), and I diffuse the light through a homemade softbox (I hang the lights inside the A-shaped frame of a 6 foot wooden stepladder, and wrap a layer of white fabric around the ladder).



So my total investment in lighting is less than $30.


HEHE this is exaclty what i use but stronger hallogen lights... haven't burn anything yet. :)
and i use a cheap desk lap to... :)
As i am no profissional and i'm getting a long easily with these kind of lamps, and settings.
 02/19/2005 10:59:49 AM · #8
two Alien Bees 800, with Brolley boxes, umbrellas, barndoors, and a large 5 in 1 reflector!
I get some really good results! I can't say enough to recommend AB's!
JD
 02/19/2005 11:22:47 AM · #9
"I don't think you need expensive professional lights, especially if you're just getting into photography........
So my total investment in lighting is less than $30. " Keith Maniac

This is true... strobes can be costly, even the Alien Bees, which are the best value, and are highly recommended. Set up is always time consuming with strobes and the learning curve can be high. There are so many other options available for a new photographer. Unless you have commercial aspirations or money to burn - then high watt strobes are indespensible, especially for production work or for commercial portraits.

02/19/2005 12:48:51 PM · #10
Here is a shot from yeserday - shot in RAW, it was terribly overexposed (the kids that is) and i adjusted it to something more reasonable. The backdrop was just white paper, boring! So i replaced it with a wintry window shot in PS.

I have tried hot lights (have 3 two headed one, 2000 watts total). For little things, still things, it is OK. Not nearly enough light outbut for anthing that moves. (shutter speed has to be long - just not enogh light, need to use a tripod.)
This shot was done in with hot lights. great for shadow control and stuff as you can see what you are getting.

and

having now tried both - Strobes are the eway to go!
 02/19/2005 02:05:39 PM · #11
2 B800's, one with Giant Softbox, one with white/silver umbrella. Also bought 5 in 1 reflector.

Love the setup, have yet to use it for pay! (just got it a couple weeks ago)

Edit: The Giant softbox is AMAZING!

Message edited by author 2005-02-19 14:06:06.
 02/20/2005 07:06:29 PM · #12
I finally got to try my strobes! I have a quantarray QBSZ-370 and some little quantarray flash. The little one is on a tripod and uses an optical trigger. Total cost (tripod, $10, slave unit $17, flash $20). The main light is fired from a PC hot shoe adapter on my Rebel ($23 for flash, $10 for tripod, homemade mount $0, hot shoe adapter and cord $20) Total is $100.


The light on the left is the smaller one, 1/2 power. The right one is full power with white sheet for diffusion. These were VERY quickie tests..ISO 200, F11 and 1/160 WB set to flash, canon 50mm 1.8 lens. There was a 60 watt incandescent behind me for general room light..hard to work in total darkness!
Need to work on some umbrella or softbox to even things out a bit. The backdrop is a black sheet about 4' behind woody. I did a decent job of keeping it dark i think The left flash was aimed up to reduce the intensity on the second shot.

I think I have enough light, just need to control it now.
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