I have it in my mind to take still life, product, and maybe some small animal shots. The product stuff would be for stock agency use. Before I can practice for that I need to choose which type of lighting I should go for. I started out thinking along the two light, umbrella kits from Bowens like the 200/200 Gemini kit but then thought static / constant lighting may be a better option. Any advice you wish to impart would be really helpful in me making up my mind.
Lighting choice - can't make up my mind.
- Thread starter Doog
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HoppyUK
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You're on the right lines Doog, but not with umbrellas - you'll not get enough control, with light spilling all over the place. You need softboxes, preferably gridded softboxes, and other light modifiers. It's the general lack of modifier options that rules out continuous lighting for quality product shots, and for other subjects like portraits (or anything that moves) they're rarely bright enough.
Thanks for that Richard. I might need to buy soft-boxes separately as I don't think the kit can be bought with them. The kit seems like a good starting point for the money but yes I would likely have to add modifiers as I go along.
HoppyUK
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What sort of still life and products shots are you thinking of? There's a million miles between a perfectly good e-bay snap, done quickly in a light tent, and serious adverting-type work. Here's an example of the latter which is what I'm kinda assuming is the direction you want to go in!
Kits are good value, but not if you don't need some of the items. Nothing wrong with Bowens at all, but IMHO Elinchrom are better at similar prices and Lencarta very similar for less. Plenty of other good brands about, but nothing better than those two for the money.
Not sure if Lencarta still offer an option to swap stuff in/out of their kits, while still enjoying the kit discount. Have a look, but either way, my choice would be either Lencarta or Elinchrom heads, with Lencarta Profold softboxes and grids. Their Profolders are especially quick and easy if you need to pack everything away each time. Also look at Bessel modifiers, though their grids don't look so good - not enough vanes.
And have browse through the Lighting forum below
