Advice on full portrait lighting set up

[Magnum]

I was looking at the lastolite hi lite illuminated backdrops, it seems ideal and portable. But i have no idea what sort of light to put inside it, and what other light to illuminate the subject.
I need advice on a complete set up, but not all the top gear (budget stuff will do). All i have to work with now is a body and a lens!

Thank you for any help.

 

[AliB]

Hi Magnum. I've got one and it can be useful for 3/4 shots and head shots. It's not the best for full length shots because the light is inside it. It is illuminated but the floor that the model is standing on is not. Yes, you can buy a train for it but often you can see the join because of the differential in lighting.

What do you put in it? A flash head of some description. You need one (two is more effective but one will do) for inside it. There are zips at the side to put it in. You also need a second light to light your subject.

As for lights?
Calumet, Interfit, Lencarta, working up to Elinchrome and Bowens seems to be a rough consensus.

Have a look at lastolite's website, there are tutorials on there that are worth a look.

Hope that helps you.

 

[Garry Edwards]

The hi lite is a simple solution to getting pure white backgrounds. It works, but has the limitation that that is all it can do. if you were to get a plain grey background then, assuming that you have enough space, you can leave it unlit to produce black, put the same amount of light on it as you put on your subject to get grey, using lighting gels to make it any colour you like, you can light it through cookies to get any kind of pattern you want, etc.

If you want to go the hi lite route, any type of flash will do. A lot of people use cheap hotshoe flashes.

When it comes to lighting your subject, this is quite a big question. Your starting point is to remember that there is only 1 son, so your studio lighting should use only 1 light or, if more are used, 1 light should be brighter. My advice is to start with 1 light, use it with and without modifers such as umbrellas and softboxes, at various distances, heights, angles, and see what works for each type of subject. Use a reflector instead of extra lights whenever you can.
Take a look at these basic lighting guides, they may help.

If you're looking for a cheap lighting kit, you might light to consider this one, I've tested it in my own studio.

 

[Magnum]

Thanks for the reply.

What lights exactly would i need to illuminate the front of the subject? What sort of price would i be looking at for a complete set up?

 

[Magnum]

Sorry those links ARE what im looking for. I was tired... didn't read it properly.

 

[englandshottest2]

i use lastolite's hilite for full length too, just have to do some quick PSing to the vinyl floor, but I've managed to get it almost 100% white with an extra head angled downward to the floor with barn door reflector.
i used only a single softbox (60cm I believe the size was) off to the side, about 7' high angled downward to the subject, and one flash head inside the hilite...worked ever so well i thought (click here to see my results from this setup)