lastolite hilite setup help

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stphotography

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Stephen
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Hi Everyone,

This is my first post and wanted some help with a studio lighting setup using the Lastolite HiLite. I will be starting my college course in September in Studio lighting but as I am a keen photographer already I want to get a little setup started.

I want to order the Lastolite HiLite 6x7 but need help on the actual lighting setup. Can anyone recommend what lighting system to use with it. I am looking to spend no more than £300 on the lighting kit.
An all in one starter kit or something would probably be ideal if you could recommend any?

Thanks in advance :-)
 
Sorry, but this seems a bit like putting the cart before the horse!

If you are starting a college course, you should have the resources of the college at you disposal; to use their studios, be able to borrow equipment, get advice from their tech support and tutors - and any available student discounts with suppliers(?)

Also I'd question the sense in paying £250ish for the Hilite and budget £300 on lighting when the Hilite itself usually requires two lights for even illumination.

I'd wait till your course is underway before even thinking about spending on anything TBH

Welcome to TP :wave:

Paul
 
Thanks Paul,

Yeah understand your point. I had a £600 budget in total £300 for HiLite then £300 for lighting. Just wanted to get started and pratice as I want my own studio setup aslo.

Thanks for the reply
 
stphotography said:
Thanks Paul,

Yeah understand your point. I had a £600 budget in total £300 for HiLite then £300 for lighting. Just wanted to get started and pratice as I want my own studio setup aslo.

Thanks for the reply
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As far as I can see the only real point of a Hilite is to get a controlled, evenly lit white background. All of which is a bit overrated (both white and even that is) and more budget should go to the creative elements, better lights/modifiers and a very small bit on some form of background - if at all. As has been discussed on here ad nauseam (just use the search function and see what I mean) the HiLite needs two heads to be evenly lit, and £300 will just about cover a couple of OK lights - unless you want to go down the eBay cheap and cheerful route :nono:

I still think a bit of patience will pay dividends, my local college has two well kitted out studio's fully loaded with Elinchrom lights & a well stocked store of various kit that you can book to use.

Paul
 
Yeah I get your point completely I think I'll hold of the hilite! Can you recommend a good lightin start kit and maybe I'll look at just getting the white background and support! Many thanks for your advise
 
stphotography said:
Yeah I get your point completely I think I'll hold of the hilite! Can you recommend a good lightin start kit and maybe I'll look at just getting the white background and support! Many thanks for your advise
Click to expand...

Any of the recognized main brands will provide good units, so in no order of preference, Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta - the last is popular with many on here and has a lot of support on this forum. I couldn't recommend one brand over the other as I'm stuck on Multiblitz as the only brand which still ticks all (well most of) the right boxes for me after over 30 years of use.

But I would still say wait until the course is underway and get some hands on experience before you buy. A little while ago I was considering getting an Elinchrom set-up, to go with my current lights, but having used them for the last 10 weeks (Style 600/1200's and BRXi 500's) well, lets just say they are not for me, but loads of pro's use them day in, day out and they are rated highly - just personal preference.

Perhaps it's time for a new thread (I think many would have thought "HiLite question, oh not again" and passed over this thread) as this is a new topic - but put a link to this thread for background - there's nothing people like more than spending someone else's money :D

Paul
 
It's not normally the setting up of a hilite that people need help with, its the taking down.
 
The best advice is to start with one light and see what it does and then progress to a second and potentially a third light. A good compromise is a 2 light kit and a reflector - I would recommend something like http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...ads-1/twin-head-mains-powered-starter-kit-504 or http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...ads-1/twin-head-mains-powered-starter-kit-502 to which you should add a lightmeter such as this Sekonic 308 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000BTCJ...de=asn&creative=22242&creativeASIN=B000BTCJNG to which you could add a background kit like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/BPS-Backgro...3G9Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332538627&sr=8-1 (any material will do) - we are now at £500 and you have some left over for lighting accesories / backgrounds.

Mike
 
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