Help on studio lighting

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neillewi

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Ive just been asked to take the local school photos, but have been looking to buy some mobile studio lighting.

Can any fellow togs point me in the right direction with something cheap but will do the job.
 
ahhh the good ol' school picies :D, well for my portable lighting, I often find I use my regular studio strobes as they're not much bigger than the 'portable' ones I have, and came with a nice carry bag...these im referring to are my Interfit Stellar 300watts, but not exactly bargain-buys....I'd reckon you only need 100-150watt heads...I've got a couple of 150w's from profilmgear.com, at only 70pounds you can't go wrong, though have to get a lightstand and carry case separate.
 
For individual shots and the two sibblings sets those lights will be Ok. If you also have to take whole classes, not a hope in hell unless you have them as a teeeeeeeennny bit of fill in a bright room.

These small heads are Ok for learning and messing about with but if you want to turn up to any location and know that you can get the job done whatever it is, you need 4 800W heads. Or at least 2 800's and 2 400's.
 
Neillewi,

I don't think the lights in your link are suitable.

Power may or may not be adequate, the modelling lights are totally inadequate and they don't even mention the recycling time, which needs to be fast for this kind of photography.

I sort of agree with Dazzajl, except that image quality (and lighting quality) standards are pretty low with school photography so you can usually get away with upping the ISO if power is inadequate - not a professional solution but then this doesn't seem to be a professional shoot.
 
if you plan to do just the single portraits of the students, then the little heads mentioned above are good...99 times out of a 100 there is a lot of natural lighting in schools or abovehead flourescents (my past experience anyway)...but yes as mentioned, if doing the huge class shots where there are rows of people, you'll need a heck of a lot more, as the aperture will need to be on full blast, and lightsources become next to nothing unless you've got some big power heads. I've seen school photographers just take an onboard flash head with a diffuser attached when doing the headshot/portraits of individual kids...ahhhh!!!! lol :D
If i remember correctly, the recycle time on 1/8th power is 1.5seconds and full power is only 3seconds....not super fast but not super slow. Yea that link above is a good deal for that set...
 
A small set up but I know someone who uses one and it is very compact and great value. Ideal for on the road or a home studio.

3 x 180W

Mel
 
wow that looks like a bargain deal... lights look almost same to the 150's mentioned above and u get all the stuff too.....seems very reasonable
 
And keep this to yourself but if you contact them and offer to pay by bank transfer or cheque you get an extra £20 off, well that is what I was offered but then I'm a charmer :thumbs:

I'm saving as we speak as even if it isn't Bowens it is a great starter set and as cheap as setting up a DIY flash system.

Mel
 
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