What is a good first light/flash to get as a beginning photographer?

[Jace]

I wanna get to the point where I don't have to rely on someone else to take all our professional photos....so, I am going to need some good lighting

what can you all suggest?

[softball]

Originally Posted by Jace

I wanna get to the point where I don't have to rely on someone else to take all our professional photos....so, I am going to need some good lighting

what can you all suggest?

What kind of shooting do you do? Controlled studio? Do you need portability? Do you shoot stills and video at the same time? What kind of camera do you have? If you have a studio, does it have a lot of natural window light you can use? What is your budget?
Sorry to ask all these questions but there are so many lighting solutions available and it really depends on your application which you choose.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by Jace

I wanna get to the point where I don't have to rely on someone else to take all our professional photos....so, I am going to need some good lighting

what can you all suggest?

Springer's questions definitely apply....

At the bare minimum, start with a decent digital SLR (Canon or Nikon) and throw a speed light on top of it. That'll get you something portable that takes a decent pic anywhere you want to go.

More light means more natural warm looking skin though. If you shoot outside, get a reflector disc and someone to hold it.

If shooting indoors a lot, get yourself some hot lamps. Learn how to bounce them and the flash to get the skin tone you're looking for. If you're going for that pro-look, you're going to find there's no substitute for the big umbrella flashes.

Keep in mind those lights really are a pain in the ass for portability. We have 'em, and use 'em for pro-level shoots, but for amateur stuff they often stay at home simply due to the pain in the ass of lugging and moving them.

My favorite middle road is to pack extra speed lights and use them in a master slave mode scattered around the room. Slap a small diffuser on top of them or ricochet 'em and you can get a lot of light. Nikon's deal with master slave mode really well, only trick is all the speedlights have to be able to see each other, and take an assload of batteries with you.

[softball]

"More light means more natural warm looking skin though"

Another trick is setting your colour balance to shade and shoot in daylight. You will be amazed at the warmth of the flesh tones. Also, try white balancing on your blue jeans and shoot in daylight. It functionally does the same thing.

[Jace]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

What kind of shooting do you do? Controlled studio? Do you need portability? Do you shoot stills and video at the same time? What kind of camera do you have? If you have a studio, does it have a lot of natural window light you can use? What is your budget?
Sorry to ask all these questions but there are so many lighting solutions available and it really depends on your application which you choose.

1. naked women
2. controlled studio and outdoors
3. video and stills, yes
4. Canon Digital Rebel XT
5. yes
6. not sure yet

I looked at these packages, http://www.alienbees.com/beginner.html
http://www.alienbees.com/digi.html

one thos those seems nice to start with

[softball]

Originally Posted by Jace

1. naked women
2. controlled studio and outdoors
3. video and stills, yes
4. Canon Digital Rebel XT
5. yes
6. not sure yet

I looked at these packages, http://www.alienbees.com/beginner.html
http://www.alienbees.com/digi.html

one thos those seems nice to start with

OK, something you might consider. For outdoor shooting, an onboard flash is a cheap and simple solution. Use it outside and your pictures will pop.

As for your studio. I would think about hot lights (lights which are always on...not flashes) The reason being, when you shoot video, it is well lit and you don't have flashes going off throughout the film and setting exposures is much easier. Invest in a good non slr camera so you don't have the mirror noise. It saves a huge amount of time and increases your output big time.

There are a number of solutions for this scenario and it kind of gets down to price. If you could give me a rough idea, I could give you a more informed opinion.

[Jace]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

OK, something you might consider. For outdoor shooting, an onboard flash is a cheap and simple solution. Use it outside and your pictures will pop.

As for your studio. I would think about hot lights (lights which are always on...not flashes) The reason being, when you shoot video, it is well lit and you don't have flashes going off throughout the film and setting exposures is much easier. Invest in a good non slr camera so you don't have the mirror noise. It saves a huge amount of time and increases your output big time.

There are a number of solutions for this scenario and it kind of gets down to price. If you could give me a rough idea, I could give you a more informed opinion.

Well, I am definitely looking for something smaller and cheaper right now while I learn and decide if I wanna continue this route.

I do have a speedlight for the camera, although it is pretty old...it is one I picked up ebay for 30 or so bucks, but almost everyone I talk to says it was the standard at the time and will never be outdated...it is this one:



I was actually looking into hot lights, just because I have seen what is done with hot lights and with strobes, and the hot lights always seem to look better to me, more natural....but that also has to do with the photographer also, I understand that part

As for the shutter noise, I am the only one taking pics and video, so I actually have to stop shooting vid to take pics...so that isn't an issue.

Our studio is actually the second half of the bottom floor of our house which has our home theatre, but we roll the screen up for the projector and we have about 800 sq feet and tons of props/furniture to shoot with

I am pretty sure most of the shooting my wife wants to do is outdoors, which is nice because our backyard is huge and has trees everywhere, so there is never any direct sunlight, but is always bright as hell back there.

My friend Tony here in Atlanta said he has a hot light he is going to give me one of these days, we just have to dig it out of his storge unit

My price range right now is anywhere from $400-800 for whatever is needed right now, and as our site gains momentum and money starts flowing more I will be investing a lot back into production

[gonzo]

Nice thread guys! Ill be keeping an eye on it and trying to figure a way to feature it on Oprano Plus along with a few more like it.

[softball]

Originally Posted by Jace

Well, I am definitely looking for something smaller and cheaper right now while I learn and decide if I wanna continue this route.

I do have a speedlight for the camera, although it is pretty old...it is one I picked up ebay for 30 or so bucks, but almost everyone I talk to says it was the standard at the time and will never be outdated...it is this one:



I was actually looking into hot lights, just because I have seen what is done with hot lights and with strobes, and the hot lights always seem to look better to me, more natural....but that also has to do with the photographer also, I understand that part

As for the shutter noise, I am the only one taking pics and video, so I actually have to stop shooting vid to take pics...so that isn't an issue.

Our studio is actually the second half of the bottom floor of our house which has our home theatre, but we roll the screen up for the projector and we have about 800 sq feet and tons of props/furniture to shoot with

I am pretty sure most of the shooting my wife wants to do is outdoors, which is nice because our backyard is huge and has trees everywhere, so there is never any direct sunlight, but is always bright as hell back there.

My friend Tony here in Atlanta said he has a hot light he is going to give me one of these days, we just have to dig it out of his storge unit

My price range right now is anywhere from $400-800 for whatever is needed right now, and as our site gains momentum and money starts flowing more I will be investing a lot back into production

http://lowel.com/vlight/

These little guys are a good start. Bounce a couple of them off your walls and they will light up your life. If you are mixing them with daylight from windows, get gel frames and put blue gels on them to make them the same as the daylight. But remember, they do get hot so don't bounce them too close to a wall or fire sprinkler system. Try ebay.
Also do a google search on basic lighting and photography tutorials. There are ton on line and you should find something appropriate for your needs.

[softball]

BTW, I can't really advise you much on flashes if that is the route you decide to take. I have always been a hot light guy. I suspect your existing on board flash is probably adequate for outside shooting, though.