Intimidated by lighting - help to get started please!

anniephoto

anniephoto

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Annie
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Hi, so far I have resisted getting a lighting kit and enjoy using natural light whenever possible. I do have a canon 430ex speedlite but if the truth be known I rarely use it and wing it when I do.... it serves me well but more through luck than judgement. I am now looking at my first indoors, poorly lit, toddler shoot and want to do a really professional shoot.

I have time to purchase the kit and practice, practice, practice but I really need some guidance. In this particular instance I need a white (yuck!) background as that's what the parents are expecting...I'm replacing a particularly poor photographer who had lovely kit but no skill in taking photo's (their words not mine!).

The part of my work which might require lighting is in peoples homes or school/church halls. I don't want to rush out and buy kit that won't suit my ongoing business needs so what I want is something that can be quickly set up, compact, in so much as it can fit in my Nissan Primera and then in a reasonably sized lounge and can accommodate up to 3 or 4 people. I need a background, light(s) and need to understand whether continuous or flash lighting would be best? and which reflectors are recommended?

As I said I confess to being thoroughly intimidated by lighting and a total novice.... feels like a whole new skill set to learn! Your guidance/advice/experience is appreciated as always!
 
Keeping an eye on this as I was just about to ask an identical question!
 
either read strobist and slog or pay someone to teach you properly, this is a fairly complex subject and to pull it from written takes a lot of time
 
I was thinking that some advice on what kit to buy (which is basically what Annie is asking) is hardly War and Peace. She has already said she has time to practice so I'm guessing that like me she wants to make sure shes spending her time practicing with the right kit.

People ask financial questions on this forum and I don't tell them to basically sod off and pay an accountant to show them, I at least try to help or make a start with such.
 
then there are a stock set of things to start with, try reading the strobist 101 and starting from there

stand (calumet)
adaptor (calumet)
dual duty brolly (calumet)
rf602 triggers (ebay or graham)
 
Ah, triggers. I forgot about triggers! Bookmarked "the strobist 101" cheers :)

Given the subjects and locations stated surely it's not that difficult to advise on:

Flash or continuous? (will flash be bad for babies/toddlers eyes?)
Power of lighting? (taking into account the locations stated)
Are reflectors necessary?
Best type of backdrop? (ie. material, setup type)

Would something like this be suitable or would you need this or are they both too crappy?
 
Anything that's new to us is intimidating, the way to beat that is to get a basic understanding of what light actually is and how it can be used. Take a look at the various articles in the Lencarta Learning Centre, and then come back with any specific questions.

As for the type of kit you need for your type of shots, if you want a chavground pure white background you'll need 2 lights just for that, fitted with white reflective umbrellas if you have enough space and background reflectors if you don't. Some people prefer to use the Lastolite Hi-Lite, which is useful where space is very tight.
Plus you'll need lighting for the subject of course, this kit is all you need. It's out of stock at the moment but will be available again in a few days.
 
Cheers Garry. I appreciate it's always better to go with quality kit etc in almost any situation but can you get away with the more unknown makes when it comes to lighting?
 
gman said:
Cheers Garry. I appreciate it's always better to go with quality kit etc in almost any situation but can you get away with the more unknown makes when it comes to lighting?
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Yes, you can get away with anything at all, but it can be (will be) a struggle if the equipment is slow to recycle and has inconsistent colour temperature and inconsistent flash energy, and life will be especially difficult if you can't fit the modifiers you need, which is the case with some of the worst lights.

Basically, if you have a high level of skill then you can overcome the problems more easily than if you're a beginner, just as a skilled driver can manage without traction control, ABS brakes etc but a new driver is more likely to need them.

Photography is a creative art; it's easier to be creative when we don't have to worry about the limitations of our tools.
 
Problem is, I'm not sure but in my case it's not for business so I guess as little as possible to get something which is still fairly reliable. Garry's link seemed a good starting point. Not sure about Annie's budget though, it's her thread so I'm going to sit back now lol
 
Hope I can add some food for thought.

You've got a 430EX? Send Flash in the Pan a note regarding a light stand, brolley, brolley/cold shoe holder and a single RF602 sender/receiver kit and he should be able to get you the kit you need.

Set up your 430EX with the light stand, brolley, trigger etc about a couple of metres in front of your subject and start with the following.

CAMERA
1/125th
F8
White balance = flash
ISO100

FLASH
Manual
1/2 power
Manual zoom as wide as it goes (28mm?)

For a background don't worry too much to start with, as you are concentrating on getting the lighting right with your subject as a first step. Either move the light source closer or farther away and/or play with the aperture to get the exposure on the subject correct. Your shutter speed will control how much ambient creeps in.

Hope this is enough info as this is how I started and basically spent an evening tinkering with the different settings and now can just set up and with only one or two test shots have it nailed.

I can't emphasise enough about how the Strobist blog especially the 101 area and of course this forum gave me the information I needed to help me become at least competent in off camera flash and although I still consider myself a novice I'd like to think I'm creating some ok pictures at the moment.
 
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are we talking location lighting or studio lighting I'm a location guy so stick with hotshoe flash but have been considering something more powerful off an on for a while

flash is always better than continuous unless you're into video
 
Thank you for your responses,

David, I am more than willing to find someone to teach me and to give the complex subject all the attention and dedication I need to in order to do it properly however as I said I am a lover of natural light and so this is a brand new field of photography for me and it's hard to know what you don't know when you don't know it...if you know what I mean! I'll have a look at your suggestions!

Gary - wow, great resource on the Lecarta site, thank you.... I have book marked and started reading, will be working my way through those tutorials to try and understand where I need to start and I will come back with specific questions when I have educated myself a bit more, much appreciated!

Stu/Graham - my budget is flexible.... I am starting this business with a redundancy payout... as with all things photography related I could spend it all in the blink of an eye but where one bit of kit gets bought another gets shelved. I'd like to stick to a few hundred initially and hope to seek some of it out 2nd hand as I could then upgrade if business takes off...and when I know how much of my time will require lighting as opposed to natural lighting.... swings and roundabouts!
 
Oooops more posts since I started typing that reply and got distracted reading up on your suggestions so far! Marcus, thanks for the advice, that sounds like a good place to start and having watched a video on one of the links David suggested I can see the value in mastering off camera flash as a starting point!

David, I am hoping to mainly shoot weddings and on location portraits including maternity and newborns however the opportunity to get into the field of school/nursery photography has presented itself and seems a good way to build on my portfolio and client base hence wanting to get it right first time for my clients!

Glenn - thank you - duly bookmarked! I'm never going to get to bed tonight...so much reading to do now LOL! My poor children will have Zombie mummy tomorrow!
 
Which area are you based in Annie?
You may be able to pop by and try various setups before you buy as well
 
anniephoto said:
Oooops more posts since I started typing that reply and got distracted reading up on your suggestions so far! Marcus, thanks for the advice, that sounds like a good place to start and having watched a video on one of the links David suggested I can see the value in mastering off camera flash as a starting point!

David, I am hoping to mainly shoot weddings and on location portraits including maternity and newborns however the opportunity to get into the field of school/nursery photography has presented itself and seems a good way to build on my portfolio and client base hence wanting to get it right first time for my clients!

Glenn - thank you - duly bookmarked! I'm never going to get to bed tonight...so much reading to do now LOL! My poor children will have Zombie mummy tomorrow!
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I'm not knocking off camera flash, it's perfect for some situations but it isn't really a viable alternative to studio flash. See this thread which explains the benefits of each
 
if you want to work location then off camera hotshoe flash is really the best option, the next step is much more powerful lights but they behave the same way

studio is different because you will have a lot of modifiers and becomes complex

but yeah if you learn and truly understand and can implement all of strobist 101 then you will have most lighting requirements for wedding/location portraiture covered ;)
 
Glenn, I am in Hampshire, Southampton, we have a very good "London Camera Exchange" down here so I'm thinking of popping in there on Friday (my child free day) to have a look at some kit in the flesh so to speak but there's nothing like seeing it in use... I've been reading for the last couple of hours on this now and my brain is buzzing.

Garry - thanks again... a great link... I understand... different tools for different jobs and i guess it comes back to me needing to understand where I want to take my photography and what kit will support that best.... I shoot a lot of children and babies at the moment and I enjoy it, alongside an equal helping of weddings, and in both situations I find the subjects don't have the patience for complicated set ups but there is still that client desire for the dreaded white background effect and to be honest I need to provide what the clients want at this stage as I need to get up and running before I can get picky about the kind of work I want to do. Lots more reading to do methinks!
 
the only high street shop I know that carries lighting gear is calumet and afaik theyre bristol, london, glasgow and some place in the middle :s

try replacing a lost spigot in time for a shoot in exeter :bang:
 
Annie, you're local to me (still not caught up on workflow btw ;) )

Biggest and most important question is, when's the shoot?

I'm happy to spend some time with you getting to grips with lighting, and I've got enough gear for you to try a variety of things from a bunch of speedlights to 600w/s of Safari portable gear, but it's not something you'll pick up in 5 mins, and you'll need to work at it.

It's worth noting that getting the white background type of shots right is not as easy as it may appear (to which Edinburgh Gary will atest) and toddlers, well they toddle, so you'll need a broad spread of lovely light! I'd strongly recommend hiring a studio to do this shoot. It'll avoid you needing to buy gear, you'll have the space and equipment to hand, and if you pick the right one, they can help you get the lights rigged. Like here

http://www.lowfordstudio.co.uk/Lowford_Studio/Studio.html

There's a board member who's name evades me right now, who's running lighting courses in Petersfield. Feedback's been good so far and I'd strongly recommend giving some thought to attending one.

Learning to light, both in and out of the studio will help you stand out from the other AMWAC's out there who only work natural light because flash intimidates them and rely heavily on photoshop (sadly I know a couple that make a lot of money churning out mediocre images...).

Drop me a PM if you want to catch up and try some gear out, and get a swift intro to the basics of light.
 
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I don't think the answer to the OP's question is difficult. On-going mobile business, home portraits, white background etc.

Three-light studio flash kit, nothing fancy but good quality - Lencarta, Bowens, Elinchrom. Decent softbox, couple of reflectors, meter, triggers. HighLite background - there just won't be space for a regular background in most homes. Couple of bottletop backgrounds for other colours. In terms of kit, that's it - £800-£1k? Do anything with that.

Using it is a different matter, but head shots and even small groups are easy enough if you don't go full length. As so many have found, full length pure white is very difficult and needs a lot of practice (as you cannot light the floor separately).
 
Annie, based on feedback here, I will be going for Lencarta Smartflash and feel this would be right for you too. About the same price as an sb900 !!
 
david1701 said:
the only high street shop I know that carries lighting gear is calumet and afaik theyre bristol, london, glasgow and some place in the middle :s

try replacing a lost spigot in time for a shoot in exeter :bang:
Click to expand...

David our local LCE is fantastic and they lighting set ups of various levels, andback drops and all sorts of kit... there is one in Plymouth... you could give them a call and see what they stock for your future needs. I often pay slightly more than internet prices in our LCE because thestaff are so helpful, friendly, the service is great..not sure if I'm just lucky or if that's the standard across their stores? http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Branch.asp?Branch_ID=31

Jason - hi, have been meaning to pick up with you on workflow! It would be fab to spend some time with you on that and lighting! The only days I can totally be free are Fridays and of course weekends... will PM You! Hiring a studio isn't really an option for this shoot as it's a toddler group and the mums want it easier and all bought to them! That Studio looks fab though so will think about hiring it in the future, would be a great way for me to practice studio shooting before investing in one myself! It's jamesoliverstone that runs the courses...had forgotten about him... he has a course on 31/10 on lighting.... brilliant!

Richard, Simon, thank you... off to look at those options too.
 
our lce is carp :p (one in exe) plymouth might be better, tbh now if I need something more ugent than next day I borrow it from a mate provided it isn't one of the things I have spares of

you need to work out if you want a portable studio or location lighting ;)
 
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