Equipments needed for portrait
- Thread starter renu
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is this sufficient?
http://www.123photosupply.co.uk/lencarta-smartflash-200ws-flash-head-419-p.asp.
http://www.123photosupply.co.uk/lencarta-smartflash-200ws-flash-head-419-p.asp.
MJ Stebbings
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HoppyUK
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Hot shoe guns are great, but harder for learning and if you have access to mains power, studio flash wins every which way.
Hot shoe guns have to be used flat out a lot of the time, when recycling is too slow even with fresh batteries. When a portrait session starts getting good, you need less than two seconds or you'll miss the moment. And they don't have modelling bulbs that are so useful for WYSIWYG. Good ones are not cheap either.
Studio starter questions on a budget come up a lot, and having thought about it a bit (and this is only one person's opinion) I would get just one light plus stand and trigger, and three brollies - white, silver and transluscent shoot-though. Three different and versatile lighting options, cheap as chips and easy to put up. And also a white/silver reflector.
I could shoot 75% of the portraits/groups I do with that. Even if you have ten lights, only one of them should normally be doing the main key lighting. And you'll learn a lot about how light works. Add extra bits as and when.
Edit: http://www.lencarta.com/storefront
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Hi
is this equipment sufficient for starters
http://www.123photosupply.co.uk/lencarta-smart-flash-twin-umbrella-starter-kit-373-p.asp
thanks
MJ Stebbings
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HoppyUK
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Yes, fine. And you save a bit by buying a kit. It's a bit unclear which umbrellas are included, though you can probably choose. Three gives you more cheap options - £15 each. And you need a white/silver reflector, £10-20.
Don't be tempted to use both lights just because you've got them - basically, one light per subject. Main subject is the face, hair light for example is a second subject, third subject perhaps the background - treat them individually.
HoppyUK
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Hoppy, you know a lot, teach me as I believe you are just down the road from me
Dangerously close I think
There are also five photo magazine editors live in Peterborough.
paulcamcas
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This is great advice. Even if you buy a 2-head kit, leave one head in the box and learn everything you can about what you can do with one light and a reflector.
Garry Edwards
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Good advice.
My suggestion though is to get a 2 head kit with 1 softbox, which gives more control. Add, if you want, get a shoot through and a silver umbrella as extras, for what they cost. And while you're at it, a 5 in 1 reflector is a good buy, very cheap and often better/easier than an extra light.
What people need to realise is that when it comes to lighting, simple usually equates to best. There's only 1 light outdoors so using just one light most of the time, especially when starting out, makes a lot of sense.
HoppyUK
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Thanks for all the information. At least i have some idea what to buy.
You're welcome - now you've got to learn how to use them. So here are four fundamentals to bear in mind.
1) The softness of the light - the transition from highlight to shadow - is dictated by the size of the light source. Bigger equals softer, and vice versa. Size is relative to distance, so a small light used close will get softer, and a big light moved back becomes harder.
2) If you double the distance from the light to subject, the brightness is reduced to one quarter (inverse square law). Basically, brightness falls off rapidly with distance in the studio. That's why your white background just behind the subject looks grey, unless you put extra light on it.
3) Light bounces off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion. Remember this particularly when using a reflector - white is softer and more tolerant of positioning, silver can be very bright and can cast shadows of its own, and needs to be at just the right angle.
4) The environment has a big influence on the result, because there is always some light spilling around, and often a lot. This will be reflected off the ceiling and walls, but be wary of it picking up on any coloured furnishings/curtains before it finds it's way back to the subject. You can control it with different modifiers and accessories, or let it work for you as a bit of auto fill in. It's a handy technique with a shoot-through brolly that creates masses of spill with half the light bouncing straight out of the back and around the room, which softens shadows and makes the effective working area a bit bigger, for groups or kids that won't stay put.
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Garry Edwards
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Loads, but the quality of the advice varies
The Lencarta Learning Centre has some basic tutorials - blame me if you don't like them
And this article demos what the various light shapers actually do.
MJ Stebbings
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Dangerously close I think
Haha, what you trying to say, its dangerous living close to me?
And you work on mags? It helps that we've got large publishing places here.
Talking about equipments and design, I recently bought a muslin backdrop from http://www.aurabackdrops.com/hand-painted-muslin-backdrops-c-2.html. I'm satisfied so far and my customers are loving it.