Budget Lighting

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Tom Farrow

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I'm building up some gear to accompany my 1100D, which while an entry level camera, I'm really enjoying, possibly more so that the 600D I was using a few weeks back! Not sure why I prefer this body, but I do!

So, I'm on a budget here. A tight one.

I also don't have a dedicated studio, or place to put one, as a 14 year old living at our small home with my parents ;)

I do however have lots of opportunities at school where I can do photography, and build a portable studio with equipment I own. Therefore, I'm looking for a small setup of either 2/3 lights that I can take to school. Flash seems to be the way to go, I have two continuous lights at school that I can get access to, and most of my work right now doesn't require and softer lights with detailed shadows etc.

Because of budget, I've found some good options on ebay with all round good reviews. I'll post links later. I'd like at least one speedlight, for flash while I'm out.
Speedlight = £27
Strobe = £32
Don't be fooled by the price, they have superb reviews. The speedlight especially, hard to find many of the strobe, but those I can find are very impressive!

I can stretch to at very very maximum two strobes + 1 speedlight

My current thinking is two speedlights. One for on camera, the other for off camera, or both of camera using the onboard as a trigger. I might be able to buy a wireless trigger, too, if that seems like a good idea.
Of course, three speedlights *is* possible, but I'm trying to cut back as much as I can here, so I can spend more on a good quality tripod+head.
 
Tom Farrow said:
I do however have lots of opportunities at school where I can do photography, and build a portable studio with equipment I own. Therefore, I'm looking for a small setup of either 2/3 lights that I can take to school. Flash seems to be the way to go, I have two continuous lights at school that I can get access to, and most of my work right now doesn't require and softer lights with detailed shadows etc.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter if you use flash or continuous that isn't what makes the lighting hard or soft, as far as you're concerned it's the size of the light source and the relative distance to the subject.

Tom Farrow said:
Because of budget, I've found some good options on ebay with all round good reviews. I'll post links later. I'd like at least one speedlight, for flash while I'm out.
Speedlight = £27
Strobe = £32
Don't be fooled by the price, they have superb reviews. The speedlight especially, hard to find many of the strobe, but those I can find are very impressive!
Click to expand...

Can't really be fooled by price or recommend them when you haven't said what they actually are, I would suggest you avoid any studio flashes for that price new as they'll probably be pieces of junk you can't rely on. There's a few options second hand, you can get lucky and grab a cheap Interfit EX150 but then all the other modifiers, stands etc will end up costing you more buying separately.

While I'd personally suggest a studio flash as the better learning tool based on what you've said and what I'm assuming your needs are I think a speedlight would be better for you as with your budget you can actually get some reasonable ones.

Tom Farrow said:
I can stretch to at very very maximum two strobes + 1 speedlight
Click to expand...

Might be best for you to get one light and figure out what you're doing before worrying about more complicated setups. One light will get you great results with proper use and if you spend all your money on the lights you'll have nothing left for the modifiers which is what will actually help you out the most. You'll want a light stand for each light, a speedlight stand adapter, probably an umbrella, a decent size reflector say 60-80cm etc.

Tom Farrow said:
My current thinking is two speedlights. One for on camera, the other for off camera, or both of camera using the onboard as a trigger. I might be able to buy a wireless trigger, too, if that seems like a good idea.
Of course, three speedlights *is* possible, but I'm trying to cut back as much as I can here, so I can spend more on a good quality tripod+head.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest you get the wireless trigger, a basic one will only cost a few pounds and lighting is all about control so removing a redundant light just to trigger other lights will be to your benefit.

This kind of question gets brought up all the time, there's many good posts answering them and you'd do well to check them out.
 
What Simon said.

Bear in mind when buying the speedlights that you'll need a pile of rechargeable batteries and a charger too.

But everything Simon said is spot on, control of light is what makes the shot, buy 'The speedlighters handbook' as a start with your first flash. You could do worse than starting with Yongnuo 560IIIs, adding the 560 tx will enable you quick control over them.
 
i've got two Canon 430EXII speedlites and three Yongnuo 622c eTTL triggers (so one for each flash and one for the camera). I've also got a lastolite portable brolly, a rouge flashbender and a bunch of coloured gels. My whole set up fits nicely in my camera bag. I've only got to carry the stands separately.

I'd consider this a pretty simple set up (and pretty cheap too in the grand scheme of things) and I'm impressed with the effects and quality I'm able to achieve with something so simple.

What I would say regarding flashes rather than studio strobes is sync speed - with high speed sync (not all cheap flashes support this) you can sync your flash to the maximum shutter speed of your camera (1/4000 in your case) which means you'll be able to use your flashes outside with a fairly wide aperture lens with pretty much no problem at all in all but the brightest of environments.

to give you an idea

14872224351_48e2371fa0_c.jpg



i lit this shot with two flashes, one at the front fired through a brolly and one to the right, naked with a cto gel for the sunset effect - in reality, it was a dull as dish water afternoon.

another shot i did with a similar set up in this case though, both flashes were naked was this:

14688679728_b340e24566_c.jpg


so here, the flash at two-clock was naked and un-gelled, the flash behind the subject had a cto gel on and is slightly behind the subject giving the sunset illumination and rim light - again, the light was in reality very dull and yet i've been able to re-create my own little golden hour glow through the trees.


what's great about Yongnuo 622c triggers is they function completely natively on the camera - i'm able to use ETTL ratios and set each flash to be the A/B groups and i'm able to control the light right from the back of my camera - it's really great for learning and i'd thoroughly recommend them.

As been mentioned though, you do need quite a few batteries, I have 14 rechargeables (8 x for the flashes and 6 x for the triggers) - it adds a noticeable amount of weight to the camera bag!
 
Oh and a single powerful/fast firing speedlight is a great start, you can add to them slowly

and get decent (wireless) triggers!
 
Thanks for the brilliant advice all!!

These are the speedlights I'm looking at. http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-Flash-Speedlite-Yn-460ii-Pentax/dp/B003IZ9XTI
Any thoughts on these?

Sounds like they are the best way for me to start. I can move into studio lights in a couple of months and learn some nice lighting stuff.

And, cuthbert, I really like those shots. Especially the second one.

Batteries are no problem, I'll buy a load.

As for wireless triggers, any suggestions for something really cheap that are going to last at least a few months of usage?

Again, many thanks!!!
 
I'd lean towards one of the 560 yonguous as my 460 mk1 was pants but the 560 I bought off here the other day has so far been a lot better

Anyone that's used a 460mk2 feel free to correct me though

The triggers I use are phottix rf602's btw
 
£9 extra for the 560s

They have a red panel thing on the front. Dumb question, is that for wireless triggering?

As for modifiers, should I be getting an umbrella and softbox for each?
 
If you get a couple of flashguns, a couple of cheap stands, a flash bracket / umbrella holder and one of these, it's all you'll need apart from the triggers.
If you buy the 560IIIs, you'll only need to buy a 560 controller (which might be a saving on buying a bunch of receivers I don't really know) but will definitely make life easier.
And get a reflector

If that lot is stretching your budget, start with one light, you can build up, look for 2nd hand bargains etc. The joy of the softbox and bracket I linked is that the softbox is S fit so if you later pick up some lencarta flash heads it'll fit straight on.
 
Thanks Phil! Really useful

I'll add it all up tomorrow, and make some sweet 'I'm a kid please help me' type calls tomorrow and see what numbers I can come up with.

A bunch of receivers looks cheaper right now
 
Agree with the 560iii, I rock 3 with a 560tx and it's a great cheap setup. Even if the budget can't stretch to a 560tx (Not sure how much they are as I won a pre-release from yongnuo, maybe £30-£40) with the 560iii's built in receivers you'd only need a single rf602 or rf 603 for basic triggering. The 560tx really is great if you can stretch to it though.
 
I'd go 1 light + umbrella, learn it, gather cash then get another light with maybe a softbox, maybe something else, add to it slowly

Loving the S ring adaptor phil!
 
I'd really like to start with at least 2 lights, so I can experiment in more depth on how light "interacts", as in, how two flashes will affect each other in different environments.

For a couple of cheap speedlights, I do have a pretty chunky budget (I'm not going to give exact numbers - I don't *really* want to spend it :P)

Maybe if I buy two with umbrellas for now, which is nice and cheap, then in a few weeks I will have enough to add on soft boxes.

As for triggering, I'm slightly confused. Do the IIIs have a radio in? I know the 560 IIs didn't have radios in.
 
I use with my portable studio which is 3 metres wide. At most 3 yongnuo 560ii flashes and yongnuo triggers. And 2 umbrellas. 1 flash behind the back drop shooting away and bouncing on a wall and 2 in the brollies facing down onto the subject for these generic styles of studio pics found on my website...click link.. They are nothing out of the ordinary but people want them!

http://www.mjbphotography.co.uk/#!families/c1g9qbb
 
DoubleT said:
And 2 umbrellas
Click to expand...
Hmm - thanks for explaining your flash setup. I really like your shots.!

I've seen two types of umbrellas so far. The reflective and the plain white ones. I understand that the plain one is used mostly for soft light, diffused, and slightly directional. And the reflective one does just that, reflects. What do you suggest? I've heard of people using the plain ones as reflective ones. What do you think?

DoubleT said:
They are nothing out of the ordinary but people want them!
Click to expand...
Yeah, "nothing out of the ordinary" is what most people want I guess. Just excellent quality images, like yours, that don't experiment too much. Experimenting is artistic, but people paying for their photos tend to want functionality over art I'd imagine. Art comes when the paycheck goes the other way around!
 
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