Firstly, welcome to TP
Secondly, you have some awesomely good stuff on your flickr page that looks good.
Thirdly, in terms of off-camera flash, there are loads of options available.
The cheapest are the current crop of 'ebay' triggers and flashes made by Yongyuo etc. Seems to be good value (about £40 per flashgun) and they do wireless triggers for £20 or £30 that are seemingly pretty reliable.
Flash In The Pan (usually seen as FITP in threads) is a memebr on TP who sells all sorts of flash-related gear - have a look
here to see what he's got in stock. He's pretty good on price.
You're really going to need wireless triggers of some sort if you intend to go down the small flashgun (speedlight) route, just for ease of use in terms of moving lights quickly and putting lights in sneaky places like footwells and interiors.
There are loads of more expensive options, but generally they all do the same thing, just with varying degrees of reliability, cost, features and range.
I use three Nikon speedlights; a modern SB800, which is also my main on-camera flash if I need it, plus two old SB28s. All have manual power settings and are built like tanks. Plus, they are pretty powerful.
I team these up with Elinchrom Skyports, wireless radio triggers that attach to the flash via a PC sync cable. These receive a signal from a trigger mounted on my hotshoe. Very reliable but everything has to be done manually because this system doesn't support TTL metering of any kind. I've got these soaking wet, dropped them into all sorts of unsavoury much but they keep on working providing you keep them charged. They're £60 per receiver the bit for the flash) but they do 'starter' packs for about £120 - check out the
flashcentre.
They've just changed the design of the Skyport, so they're slightly more expensive. The older, crappy looking ones are the ones I have. They work the same. Look on fleabay or in TP classified, as they often come up used.
A really expensive way of doing TTL, off-camera flash (exclusive to canon systems) is using pocket Wizards. I know jack about these but they're supposed to be the nuts.
You can also get studio-type lights (big, powerful mothers) that are semi-portable but either need main connection, or connection to some kind of battery unit. Elinchrom and Bowens seem good makes but expect to pay a lot. There will be people on TP who have much more experience with these than me - I've only used these in a studio environment.
Regardless of what trigger/speedlight set-up you go for, most people invest in all sorts of extra accessories to shape the light, like softboxes (FITP sells these from time to time), gels, dishes and snoots. I'd probably stick with bare flash or get one or two softboxes to at least be able to 'change' the light, so to speak.
You'll need stands to mount lights. I use
Konig ball-head tripods because I work outdoors and need tough, rugged stands. I use a
Nikon AS-19 foot to mount the flashes onto the tripod. You can get 'fake version that are slightly cheaper if you want. Many prople use ordinary light stands, which are fine unless it's dead windy - Konig make these also, check
amazon for prices.
Main thing about tripods is they may be sturdy but they aren't that tall, which is why people look at stands as a better option. I just like tripods
As for inspiration and ideas, have a look at the
strobist blogspot and
flickr groups - lots of info on there, although the flickr group is littered with ****s who think they're it. Some people upload lighting set-ups like these (
these are some of mine), which can help to understand how people get shots... there might be a car group on there if you search or ask the question in a thread.
Hope this helps
