Portrait Shots... What to buy? (newbie)

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jayeshpp

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Hey all

I'm currently taking a part-time studio photography course so I can learn about lighting and how to set it all up because I think this is the type of photography I really want to get into. But whilst I do this I really want to get on and try this at home with my own kit, something i've wanted to do for a while.

So, I thought i'd ask on here for your opinions. I have a D90 with a few different lenses, but more importantly, I have an SB400 which is very limiting.

I am going to set up a little studio in my house, white backdrop, two flashes (min), and some umbrellas... But being new to this all, I dont really know exactly where/what to buy.

I'm thinking of selling the SB400 (because it cant be used remotely unless I have a cord, and it would seem a waste to spend like £40 on that) to buy a more powerful, SB600 and pair it with an SB800 as i've read/seen these two are a nice combination and will provide good lighting.

Do you think this is a waste? Would the SB400 be enough when paired with either the SB600 or SB800? I've also been looking at older flash models, but I havent found good prices and i'd have to buy extra bits to connect those.

Any help is much appreciated,
Thanks
Jay.
 
Can't you use it with a wireless trigger/ receiver? Or an optical slave trigger.
 
This isn't an easy decision because what you decide now will more or less lock you in to a system, or a way of doing things, which will be difficult (expensive) to reverse.

What you're proposing is using a couple of hotshoe flashes in a studio setting. It works, as many people will tell you, but it isn't a cheap solution and it's pretty limited because hotshoe flashes, although fine with umbrellas in small spaces, are less than ideal with other types of light shaping tools and very few other lighting shaping tools are available anyway. Studio lighting is about controlling and shaping the light and the best tool for that is studio flash, not hotshoe flash.

This guide to how to choose which studio lights to get may help
 
A studio lighting kit is actually surprisingly cheaper than you may first consider when compared to a hot-shoe setup. That said, I don't have the time or initial funds to pay for such a system, but £350-400 (which is pretty much gonna be the price of an SB-900 alone soon given how the prices are going) ain't that bad compared to what I've seen video lighting go for :P
 
I've had some good results from a basic Portaflash kit which I sometimes use with the SB 800.
 
Thanks for the replies so far guys.

Garry Edwards said:
This isn't an easy decision because what you decide now will more or less lock you in to a system, or a way of doing things, which will be difficult (expensive) to reverse.

What you're proposing is using a couple of hotshoe flashes in a studio setting. It works, as many people will tell you, but it isn't a cheap solution and it's pretty limited because hotshoe flashes, although fine with umbrellas in small spaces, are less than ideal with other types of light shaping tools and very few other lighting shaping tools are available anyway. Studio lighting is about controlling and shaping the light and the best tool for that is studio flash, not hotshoe flash.

This guide to how to choose which studio lights to get may help
Click to expand...

A good point, it's a bit of a catch as I could have multiple benefits by having hotshoe flashes as I could use them for a lot of other things but then again, I really want to do portraiture (and the sort of style posted below) so it could be smarter, and cheaper in the long run to get a proper set of studio lights.

I am going to be using a fairly small space, although i'm looking into buying a white backdrop to roll out and create a 'seamless background.' So a hotshoe flash set up should be sufficient enough.

The reason i'm looking at hoeshoes is that my main source for 'advice' has been on Flickr by looking through the Strobists group and seeing what their settings/setup have been ... and a lot seem to get really good results with the hot shoe flashes.

EG:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14519758@N06/

I really like a lot of these photos, but then as DavePaliwoda said, a £350-£400 kit could probably be better...
 
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