studio lighting

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karlwilson1986

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Karl
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I am in need of a start up studio kit

now will i need 3 lights?

I have a Nikon D90 and I really have no idea what i need

I am fed up of 3 flashguns and inconsistent lighting

any help would be greatly apprechiated!

Thanks
Karl
 
Do you NEED three lights.... NO

It totally depends on what you want to get, you can often get a really nice portrait with one light. Two will give you more versatility but three would often be considered as ideal. There are times however when I might use four or even five (main light, fill light, hair light and two on the backdrop).....

More lights gives you more choice. My Safari lights only gives me 2 for example but outside you don't tend to be lighting a backdrop.....

Sorry this is a bit of a non answer but that is the case. It is impossible to say really.

Buy what you can afford and add to it later. You can for example buy two lights now and use your flashes to light the background.
 
What's your budget, buddy?
 
5-600 for a background + stand and 2 lights with softbox and reflective umbrella
 
Thank you

Im going to email Gary now :D
 
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You can upgrade and downgrade bits of kits. I would pay the extra £70 difference between one SmartFlash 200 and one ElitePro 300 in order to have one of the more powerful lights as some modifiers work better with more power behind them ie you would have 2 x 200w plus 1 x 300w. :thumbs:
 
im going to buy 2 of the 300 ones :D with the softbox and the umbrella :D

now for a background and stands.... :D
 
I have to stop browsing their site! Keep trying to talk myself into the Elites!
 
Speaking of power, how restricted are you with 200w? What can you do with 300w that you can't do with 200w and what about 600w compared to 300w?

Is it just a distance from subject thing or are there extras that critically require the higher power?
 
gman said:
Speaking of power, how restricted are you with 200w? What can you do with 300w that you can't do with 200w and what about 600w compared to 300w?

Is it just a distance from subject thing or are there extras that critically require the higher power?
Click to expand...
It depends.
If you're shooting in a fairly small space and if you're only thinking in terms of softboxes/umbrellas then a half stop of power doesn't matter much when using a modern digital camera, because a small increase in ISO have much if any effect on image quality.

The advantages of the ElitePro are that they have twice the range of adjustment, a proportional modelling lamp, the modelling lamp is also more powerful, the flash ready beep can be turned off and the modelling lamp can be set to dim while it is recycling, so you get a clear visual guide when it's ready again.

Build quality is identical, the differences are these extra features.
 
Ok, sorry about the hijack here but I'm wondering about this modelling lamp. This is so you can see what's going on in a dark studio? To test the exposure settings you'd use a light meter which would fire the flash units right and work out the right exposure?

But is the modelling lamp a different bulb from the normal flash bulb? If so, would that mean if one were to buy a 2 head setup and wanted to use a modeling lamp would they actually only have one flash head? Am I talking absolute crap because it's getting late and I'm cream crackered.
 
Yes, the modelling lamp shows where the light will fall and where the shadows will fall. The effect is more accurate with a powerful modelling lamp in a dark room, it has no effect on the actual exposure, with a normal shutter speed.

Each flash head has one flash tube and one modelling lamp
 
Ordering tonight when i get home from work so about 7pm ish so excited :D

Im going to buy the background support now Garry you sell Muslin sheets and a heavy duty muslin sheet
what is going to be best?

Thanks
Karl
 
ignore that he only does one now i looked propperly its the size difference DOH silly me :D
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, the modelling lamp shows where the light will fall and where the shadows will fall. The effect is more accurate with a powerful modelling lamp in a dark room, it has no effect on the actual exposure, with a normal shutter speed.

Each flash head has one flash tube and one modelling lamp
Click to expand...

Ahhh now it makes perfect sense, cheers :thumbs:

How's the stock looking btw, any news?
 
Lights are ordered now so I get them on Wednesday along with White background and background support
 
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