Portable Light Setup Recomendations

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jpwild

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I'm looking to get into wedding, commercial event photography as a goal, but obviously it's inappropriate to do those events by myself at this moment - I have plenty to learn.

However, I'd like to start attaining the equipment, as I recently have got myself a couple of speedlights and umbrellas. I do like the umbrella look for certain shots. Whislt I do think the speedlites are a good investment for certain situations I do want to start investing in 'proper' lights due to recycle times, quality of light, modeling light etc. Though, the speedlights will still get plenty of use :) I'm aware of the Lencartas (just bought 2 x lightstands from them for speedlights) and

I'd like recommendations to meet my requirements/style:
1) Around 3 to 4 light setup I think is more than enough.
2) If using studio lights I'd like to have some softbox recomendations inc apporiate brackets and stands.
3) I'd prefer battery powered lights due to possible lack of access to power socks, and I'm not sure if battery & mains lights exist as one setup.
4) Due to cost, prophoto are not an option and not interested in ebay knockoffs.
5) I have to admit, I'm not to sure about softbox sizes for portraits and small group shots. But I do like the Ezybox. I am thinking of getting an Exy box 24 x 24 for my speed light> not concerned if it's octabox or not.
6) I have Yongnuo triggers, so will have to have some sort of trigger option of the YN-622s do not work.
7) I'd mainly be using such a setup in doors. Event (office) style, wedding reception.
8) I don't think I need to consider a beauty dish at the moment.
9) My outdoor style is to have the background darkened and have the subject lighted to my style with a bit of background blur so I like to shoot around 1.8/f2
10) Indoors (Head, body & group shots of a few people)
11) I shoot 50mm and 85mm. I may get a 70-220 for my D810 in the future, but for now those two focal lengths satisfy me.

Also, if anyone can mention some sort of dual bracket for 2 speedlights on a lightstand in an softbox or umbrella then that would be great too.

Thanks :)

Budget for light setup is £2k
 
Last edited:
jpwild said:
I'm looking to get into wedding, commercial event photography as a goal, but obviously it's inappropriate to do those events by myself at this moment - I have plenty to learn.

However, I'd like to start attaining the equipment, as I recently have got myself a couple of speedlights and umbrellas. I do like the umbrella look for certain shots. Whislt I do think the speedlites are a good investment for certain situations I do want to start investing in 'proper' lights due to recycle times, quality of light, modeling light etc. Though, the speedlights will still get plenty of use :) I'm aware of the Lencartas (just bought 2 x lightstands from them for speedlights) and

I'd like recommendations to meet my requirements/style:

Thanks :)

Budget for light setup is £2k
Click to expand...
1) Around 3 to 4 light setup I think is more than enough. - cards on the table, until you know what you're doing, 1 is enough. I'm not sure what kind of work you have in mind, you might need to be much more specific. Most wedding photographers use nothing more powerful than speedlights. Mains powered flash is rare for weddings in the UK. Some types of event photography will include studio type setups, many more don't.

2) If using studio lights I'd like to have some softbox recomendations inc apporiate brackets and stands. For ease of use, aim for easy up type softboxes, I love my Octobox knockoff.

3) I'd prefer battery powered lights due to possible lack of access to power socks, and I'm not sure if battery & mains lights exist as one setup. There's lots of options, both battery and mains or mains with an inverter.

4) Due to cost, prophoto are not an option and not interested in ebay knockoffs. There are many legitimate manufacturers that are neither cheap & nasty or ridiculously expensive. I'd suggest the lights should be less than half your budget, with modifiers and accessories for the other half (think cameras / lenses).

5) I have to admit, I'm not to sure about softbox sizes for portraits and small group shots. But I do like the Ezybox. I am thinking of getting an Exy box 24 x 24 for my speed light> not concerned if it's octabox or not. 24" is very small (OK for headshots 3/4 portraits)

6) I have Yongnuo triggers, so will have to have some sort of trigger option of the YN-622s do not work. The 622s trigger most lights fine.

7) I'd mainly be using such a setup in doors. Event (office) style, wedding reception. See above, there aren't many who use mains flash at wedding receptions.

8) I don't think I need to consider a beauty dish at the moment. You probably don't, but again, you should start by knowing what you do need, based on what you want to achieve.

9) My outdoor style is to have the background darkened and have the subject lighted to my style with a bit of background blur so I like to shoot around 1.8/f2 -Outdoors in daylight, you need a lot of power (coming to specific requirements) start with 600 Ws, there's a short list of contestants

10) Indoors (Head, body & group shots of a few people), easier, but you need to be specific about your exact requirements, a simple 2 head kit would be great.

11) I shoot 50mm and 85mm. I may get a 70-220 for my D810 in the future, but for now those two focal lengths satisfy me. I feel the need to mention kit redundancy at this point.

Also, if anyone can mention some sort of dual bracket for 2 speedlights on a lightstand in an softbox or umbrella then that would be great too. There are several double and triple brackets available.
 
I don't think your approach is necessarily the best one...
Lighting has improved tremendously over the last few years and although it is now perfectly possible to run mains powered lights from battery solutions (with built in inverters) the best solution by far for outdoor use is a dedicated portable lighting setup such as the Lencarta Safari 2 1 head kit or twin head kit.

And although the Safari (or any other make) can also be used in the studio, that isn't ideal as the main studio kit because the recycling speeds are much longer than any decent mains powered kit.

So, you might want to consider this ElitePro twin head kit (or a similar setup from another manufacturer) for indoor use and something like the Safari for outdoor use. If you find that you need more than two heads for indoor use then you can use the Safari with them (all of our flash units work together, using the same remote control/trigger system) and just accept that when you need to do this, the chain will only be as strong as the weakest link, and the Safari will slow down the rate of fire.

Your specific points:
2. Only speedlights use brackets. With both portable and mains flash, the softbox fits directly to the flash head, in place of the reflector
5. Softbox size and shape is dictated both by personal style and the amount of space available. Personally I use the 70 x 100 and the 30 x 140 stripbox a lot, both are folding models. Don't get a really big softbox unless you have both a lot of space and a lot of ceiling height.
6. Pretty well any radio triggers can be used with any lights
 
jpwild said:
<snip>

9) My outdoor style is to have the background darkened and have the subject lighted to my style with a bit of background blur so I like to shoot around 1.8/f2

<snip>
Click to expand...

You need to think carefully if shooting at f/1.8-2 is a priority. Outdoors you will still need a ton of flash power because the daylight sets the baseline and you need to be above that, but with flash you're normally limited to 1/200sec or so max x-sync speed which is a right PITA. Various workarounds but the easiest and best way is an ND filter on the lens, though any more than a couple of stops and it's hard to see the viewfinder properly, especially in bright ambient - three stops max IMHO.

If you want to shoot at those apertures indoors (maybe not, as backgrounds tend to be plain and uncluttered anyway with studio shoots) you have the opposite problem and most flash heads won't turn down low enough. A lot of people just use the modelling lights and push the ISO a bit, or you can use the ND filter trick again. Or indoors you can go the other way and ND gel the flash heads. But good luck shooting any more people than couples at those apertures, and even that is tricky with depth-of-field so shallow. At best, your hit rate will take a serious dive. Basically, I wouldn't go there except for solo portraits.

If you want to be properly kitted for both indoors and out, then you need both mains and battery powered outfits. The latter tends to be much more expensive.
 
5. I love my Lastolite Ezybox II Octa 80cm softbox. Works nicely on studio heads or with the Lastolite Ezybox II Speedlite Bracket (LS2701) you can fire two speedlites into it. Great outdoors and in the studio.
 
I use Yongnuo 622C's to trigger my speedlights and/or my Lencarta Smartflash Heads. For the Lencartas, a short PC sync to 3.5mm mini jack lead is all that is required, to connect the receiving 622 to the Lencarta Head.
 
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