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04/23/2006 10:55:36 AM · #1 |
I'm totally clueless but have lots of questions and I thought the experts out there could be able to help! I've read some photography/lighting books but they're so technie I get all confused. Basic english answers with words less than 6 letters (but none of *those* 4 letter ones) would be spiffy!
1. One or two light strobes? I've read/heard that a two light system is better than one since you have the key and fill lights. A one light system you have to obtain large reflectors. Is that true? Any pros/cons for one vs two light systems?
2. What should be the minimum watts per second I should think about? If I have a two light system then does it hurt to have two lesser power lights? I'm looking at mostly still life/portrait in maybe a 12x12 foot area.
3. Softboxes or umbrellas? Umbrellas are cheaper but softboxes just look cooler. Plus isnt a square catchlight better than the round ones from the umbrellas?
4. Brands. I've heard a lot of good things about Alien Bees. Their digigbee package with two B400's sounds good to my novice eyes/ears. Any other comparison brands/packages? My budget isnt huge and obviously I'm looking for cheap but worth it instead of just cheap.
Thanks in advance for any help offered. I'm sure these questions get asked all the time, but in the previous messages I've read things went off on a tangent and I got easily confused.
~Trin
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04/23/2006 11:18:37 AM · #2 |
I have a $40 lighting solution that produces nice results, and is perfect for my 10x10 studio. Well, $40 plus a 580ex on the camera.
The way I learn, and have learned, is by looking at photography that has been published in magazines. Usually I can determine how the lighting is setup by looking in the eyes of the model and observing any shadows that may be cast. Most of the time the catchlight is a umbrella, or even a ring light positioned on the end of the camera. With that said, I would think that a round light, like from an umbrella or ring light, would be more desireable. I would encourage you to pick up a few magazines, such as Allure and Elite, or your equivelant if you are outside the U.S., and just observe the photos; pick them apart as best you can and then try to replicate it.
I don't have an opinion on the other questions you have asked since I have not used any other lighting than my $40 solution. |
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04/23/2006 11:29:11 AM · #3 |
First - you are correct that 2 lights are better than one... by far! In fact, 3 lights is often best, but you can get great results with just 2 (add a reflector if you need hair light or BG light).
Second - AlienBees digibee package is great for starting out. I use 2 400s and an 800 -- but the 800 is really more light than I need in my space (21 X 20'). Definitely get a softbox for smoother, less harsh light and use that for your key light. The fill light can use an umbrella just fine. If you do order the strobes from AB, order the softbox from them too as off-brand ones don't fit very well.
As for reflectors -- I use the foldable reflectors that are made to go inside your car to block the sunlight. They're about $4 at Walmart for 2 of them. Some are silver, some bronze -- the bronze will give you a warmer reflection and silver a cooler reflection.
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04/23/2006 11:30:08 AM · #4 |
Two lights are going to give you more flexibility than one. Three gives you even more flexibility, but the 3rd light can come later. The benifit to having 2 lights vrs. one is that you can have a main light and a fill light. Or a main light and a background light (or a hair light). Or if you are shooting a large group, you can have two main lights.
You can use a reflector with one light, but a reflector has to be positioned based on your subject and the main light that is reflecting off of it. If the subject moves or your main light moves, you will probably have to re-adjust your reflector. Unless you are lucky to have an assistant that knows where the reflector should be pointing.
I find that 320 watt seconds is a good minimum for main and fill lights. For hair and background lights, 160 watt seconds will work. A lot depends on what light modifiers you use and what fstop you like shooting at. I like shooting at f11 to f16 for a great depth of field. So I'm going to need a bit more light than if I wanted to shoot at f4. If you use big umbrellas or big softboxes, they are going to need more light to effectively light up the total surface as well. A 160 watt second light will have a hard time lighting up the front of a large softbox evenly and with enough light to give you a good fstop.
I use both umbrellas and softboxes. They each have their benifits. A umbrella is easier to put up and take down if you travel with your lights. You can get a larger area of light coverage although they are hard to control the light for this very reason. I like umbrellas from 30" to 60" in size. I use the small umbrella for a fill light and the large one is for a large light source to give me soft light.
Softboxes channel the light better. You have more control on where the light is going. You can control it more with grids as well. I have both a 24x36" softbox (my ceiling isn't high enough for a larger one) and a 24" octogon Ez-Up softbox that folds like an umbrella. I do use the softboxes more than the umbrellas.
The Alien Bees are decent lights. I use the SP Excalibur series of lights. The lights are about the same as far as output and power goes, but you get more with the Excaliburs than with the Alien Bees. The real savings is if you are starting out and need umbrellas, light stands and other add-ons. The Excaliburs come with really good light stands and Photoflex umbrellas. The softboxes that are sold under the SP label are cheaper than most others but also of good quality (there has been complaints about the softboxes and umbrellas that Alien Bee sells as add-ons). I have 3 of the Excaliburs. I have the SP-6400 (640 watt seconds) SP-3200 (320 ws) and SP-1600 (160 ws). The first two are slider control for the flash and modeling light control. The SP-1600 is a rocker switch that sets the power to full, half, quarter. You can look at the SP line at B&H Photo. Just do a search on Excalibur.
Mike |
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04/23/2006 11:54:42 AM · #5 |
Pardon me if I misunderstood your title. I am a newbie and I'm posting some answers to your lighting questions. Silly me.
I personally would view my lighting foundation (not necessarily in practice) as a laid out Peace Symbol, you know the one that looks like the Benz 'thirds' symbol with an extra leg down the middle...
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./|\ With a circle around it...
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If it were me, I would tape out a measured diagram of this on the floor and use that to work with as a foundation for your studio's lighting. You will then always have a frame of reference of distances to subject, as well as angles from you (center) and from the other lights, as well as a point of measurement to either move the light measurably farther away either from you (but retaining the same distance to subject) or from the subject (but retaining the same angle relative to you). I would extend the lines a few feed beyond the end of the circle.
Your Flash is the middle leg, and each of the lights is to your left and right. There is also a hot spot behind the subject.
If it were me, I would get a cheap worker's 500-1000W Halogen (my parents picked one up for around 30-40 bucks in Canada a few years back, so I would assume that it's not so expensive) and modify some diffusers of different strengths as well as possibly a directionalizer out of some sort of FIREPROOF tube...
Watch out for that light as it can get VERY hot. I think this applies to all lights.
I would recommend that light as a constant light rather than a flash as when you do choose to use it, it will probably be vital to line up the subject with the 'halo' effect it causes. This is virtually impossible with flashes as it needs your eye to control it.
Next, a couple of lights (strobes or whatever else you get after reading the other suggestions from people who actually know what they are doing :) at your left and right will provide your balancing. If you get cheaper lights, you might not have nearly as much control over the output of them, so you can accomplish fine tuning by moving the lights farther or closer (thereby increasing or decreasing the light on the subject from that light relative to the other lights (behind, on camera, and opposite), but retaining the same angle of shadowing). Further shadow control can be tweaked later on (most specifically after you get a feel for how this setup lights your subjects) by moving the light around on the circle, you will keep the same distance relative to the subject (intensity of the light will stay the same), but change the angle of shadowing.
Then, whatever flash you end up getting on-camera can also be used for a small amount of filling, but I would recommend that you use it as sparingly as possible as if it becomes apparent that you used direct, head-on flash, it will cheapen the image.
If you get your lighting right on the strobes and things are properly balanced, you should have very little need for the on-camera fill.
With the strobes at their base positions, you should have fully balanced and shadowless (ie rather flat) lighting. Adding shadows while keeping a very soft range of lighting might therefore be as simple as moving just one light in half a foot or so.
It depends a bit on the strength of your lights and how diffuse they are.
If it were me, I'd go with umbrellas over soft boxes. I love the catchlights from umbrellas, I think it looks so pro.
One thing to beware of is that the smaller your diffusion, the more catchlights you will have. Having a lot of catchlights can also be a bit distracting. Having bigger diffusers will reduce the effective strength of your lighting though.
Well there you have it, there's a Newbie's take on lighting! I hope it helps! ;)
EDIT: added the weird periods to try to balance out that peace symbol 'ascii art'.
I tried not to use any nasty 4 letter words. Sadly, I broke the 6 letter limit rather a number of times. Sorry ;)
Message edited by author 2006-04-23 11:59:40. |
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