Need some advice on Lights

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Rosebud44

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Karen
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I use mainly only natural light but have very limited light in my home which is where I take most of my photos. I am looking to buy a light set up but have no idea where to start. I have asked a few people but they have just said it's down to each person which I know it is, but I am so lost there are tons to pick from.

I do mainly baby and family photography and have a black back drop but will be buying the Lastolite Hilite Background soon and will need lights for this.

Can anybody help? People talk to me about flash guns but I have no idea how they work, how do they go off when you take the photo, am I better to buy a light that stays on for continuous light or buy some flash guns?

K xx
 
Most small flashguns have the ability to be triggered as slaves, from the cmaera's built in pop-up flash, you can in the menu turn this effectively off in the camera's menu so it only triggers flashguns not light your subject.

Softboxes and umbrellas can be used with lightstands for a better looking image. You could also use radio triggers. This means having a transmitter on your hotshoe and receivers for each flashgun.

If you are in a studio setup then the Lencarta 2x 200 Ws flash kit would suit you perfectly or if you are on the move to visit clients the Safari might be better.

Have a look at the lencarta website www.lencarta.com or www.strobist.com or any of the strobist groups on Flickr, they should help give you ideas...
 
Thank you so much for all this info, I am so pleased I have found this web site. I don;t have a studio as yet, just working from home right now and don't have tons of space so it's hard getting the right bits but will have a look through these links now thank you :-)

K x
 
What's your budget? That will give us more of an idea.

If you are getting a HiLite, you will need at least three lights (two for the HiLite) and a fair amount of knowledge to get everything properly balanced up and working well.

One of the Lencarta kits maybe, though there are plenty of others, depending on budget. Plus a flash meter and a reflector or two. You'll be looking at £1k upwards by the time you've got everything.

Be aware that you are jumping in at the deep end with the pure white background look. It might be better to start off with just one light - you can do so much with that, plus a reflector. Then move onwards and upwards as your experience grows.

You could kick off that way very cheaply, and get some great results. Various ways of going about it.


Rough Edges said:
Most small flashguns have the ability to be triggered as slaves, from the cmaera's built in pop-up flash, you can in the menu turn this effectively off in the camera's menu so it only triggers flashguns not light your subject.

<snip>
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You can't do that with most cameras, certainly not the OP's 400D as you can't disable the pre-flash which triggers the remote units too early.
 
Thank you everybody, Richard you maybe right, I did wonder if I was jumping in a bit deep. I want to try some new backgrounds but only have a black on at the moment and most parents look for white.

If I was to get one light and try with that can you maybe suggest a light that would be good to start with. Budget around £200/300?

K XX
 
Rosebud44 said:
Thank you everybody, Richard you maybe right, I did wonder if I was jumping in a bit deep. I want to try some new backgrounds but only have a black on at the moment and most parents look for white.

If I was to get one light and try with that can you maybe suggest a light that would be good to start with. Budget around £200/300?

K XX
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You won't do white for £300 max, and I think you should aim to work up to that.

So, and only guessing at what you're trying to do and where you want to go with your eventual budget, I would get one Lencarta Smartflash head £130, stand and 100cm white umbrella, plus a white/silver reflector. I don't see how you can go wrong with that, and it sets you on the right path.

Hard wire sync it with a hot-shoe adapter (£10 Jessops) - saves the cost of a radio or IR trigger. You don't need a flash meter for that, work off the LCD/histogram.

Then when you're ready, go the the HiLite (and train?) plus a two head Smartflash kit (kits are good value). Flash meter. Couple of extra Lastolite bottle-top backgrounds, etc etc. Then you're flying :)
 
Rosebud44 said:
I want to try some new backgrounds but only have a black on at the moment and most parents look for white.
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Please don't tell me you're doing this as a commercial venture with no experience and no equipment! You need to learn how to use the light and your camera before you go offering this as a chargeable service.
 
Perhaps continous lighting is best if your are going to work with toddler a lot. Parents tend to be quite edgy about high powered flash units being pointed at the eyes of their bundle of joy.
And you wont have to extrapolate what the lighting will look like from the modeling lamps

awp said:
Please don't tell me you're doing this as a commercial venture with no experience and no equipment! You need to learn how to use the light and your camera before you go offering this as a chargeable service.
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True. so get in touch with very1 u know who has a baby and offer them free family portraits. :->
 
I'm staying calm and perfectly in control. :)
 
Don't forget Flash in the Pan sells a clone of the Hilite but at much lower cost.
 
HoppyUK said:
You won't do white for £300 max, and I think you should aim to work up to that.:)
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I agree this is the way to go, unless of course your budget is besides your Lastolite Hilite, so assuming you get your Lastolite, what your could do is save some more cash and go for the Lencarta smartflash 3 head setup HERE for £449, that way you have 2 heads for your background and one for your main light, and you have also got soft-boxes, umbrellas, and reflectors for your subjects, then at a later date you could go for one more powerful light, say the Lencarta Elite pro 300 or even 600, which you can then use as your main light, and your 200 as your fill in, but of course i do know how impatient we can get when we want kit (and i'm talking from personal experience here :)) but just something to mull over, hope it helps.
 
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