Tutorial: first steps into studio lighting

pjm1

pjm1

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Quick question for the assembled lighting gurus: given the number of times precisely the same questions appear on this (sub)forum asking about getting into studio lighting, would it be worth having a beginner guide on what not to buy etc.?

I'm just imagining how many times a lot of people (but especially Phil and Garry) pretty much copy and paste the same answers to people over and over again. The usual questions include:

1. I've seen this cheap no-name brand strobe, should I buy it?
2. Can't I just use flash instead?
3. I'm about to buy these "1000 GW" (or insert other random and spurious measurement) continuous lights from eBay...
4. I simply have to buy a backdrop, so which one and can I hang my 10kg vinyl roll from a pair of picture hooks?
5. How should I best set up my brand new four-strobe, two-reflector setup?
6. My lighting is on the other side of the room at eye level and my images look terrible, why?

The only downside is someone might need to answer these questions ;)

I think we all know the answers, but would it be worth having a sticky/intro "how to" (or, more accurately, "how not to")?

Before Garry gets nervous about this turning into a "buy Lencarta" thread, I think it would be easy to keep it brand independent, whilst still giving good advice. It also wouldn't necessarily be a "how to light your shot" guide, but more an introduction into the gear and why some choices are good ones, and others are always going to be limited.

If others think it's a pointless idea then fine... I just wondered. I know I've been there asking this before - we all start somewhere, remember.
 
Well, there is a tutorial section, where useful static content can be stored, and if someone wrote something along these lines then we could simply refer people to it.

But I'm probably the worst person to do it, becasue however brand-neutral I made it, I would still come under fire from the usual suspects and, as my signature would be on it, that negativity might actually be justified.

I did in fact suggest to a mod that they might want to take tutorials of their choice that are in the Lencarta Learning Centre and post them in the tutorial section, but received no response, so I'm not sure whether the idea of having static content to answer these common questions would interest TP - it may be that thread count and forum activity is more important to them, and if it is then I understand that perfectly.
 
Good points, Garry.

Since I don't know enough to write a tutorial, the least I can do is to predict how each thread goes...

Q: I've seen this cheap studio setup on ebay/amazon/alibaba... It's only £99 and I'm wondering how best to set it up
A: That link is to continuous lighting designed more for video - it's not really powerful enough for what I think you want to do. Have a look at this setup which is £200 but more fit for purpose
Q: But your link says 200WS and this is a 1 gigawatt thingy and it also comes with four lights, two softboxes, umbrellas, stands and an assistant called Damian
A: It's poor quality and won't do the job. You want one strobe, a softbox and a reflector plus two stands - any more and it's going to be more work and slower to learn on.
Q: Damian looks quite nice though. It's reduced from £1000 to just £99. It's a bargain and surely four strobes is better than one?
A: Please, others have bought that stuff and it's cheap tat. Trying to use more than one light at a time is just going to make everything harder.
Q: Ok, I'll park the lights but I do need a backdrop. Should I get white or black?
A: Don't. Just get a strobe and modifiers. You'll need stands as well unless Damian is strong.
Q: Ok, I've ditched that original idea. I've just ordered a mega pack of 6 lights, three shoot-through umbrellas, something called a beauty dish and a white backdrop. It was £120 so really good value.
A: Aargh!
 
I know its a bit biased, but GE/Lencarta's advice is pretty much spot on and replicates these questions, if you just read it without the words 'Lencarta', 'Safari', 'Atom' etc substituted for your preferred brand. The choice must be ultimately yours, even though Lencarta offer excellent value for money, not everyone wants to run with a particular brand and that is how I would suggest people read it.

The writing and resource is there, substitute ProFoto, Elinchrom, Bowens, etc as per your personal preference, although many will return to Lencarta, if budgetary constraints are a significant element, (and they are for most people). Obviously there are differences apart from the monetary differences and some brands will offer additional features, but you would expect to pay more for these.

All I would say is, why re-invent the wheel, just colour it to your budget and preferences.
 
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Phil V said:
You mean like the one above?

Which Flash System?

Which is precisely why I've never done it...
Click to expand...

Not really... that seems like an awesome guide for on camera (inc bounce) flash written by someone with masses of experience shooting weddings as well as setups. But... with only a fleeting reference to studio head setups. It might, however, explain why there seem to be fewer questions asked about on camera flash here, mind!

Maybe the link to the "Which Flash System" article (rather than the forum post) needs greater prominence as that does cover all options in more detail.

It just amuses me that we get the same questions popping up several times a week which involve the same people writing more or less the same answers... I think it's great that so many of you are willing to do it over and over. Especially when quite a few seem to throw it back (perhaps unintentionally, but you know what I mean).
 
pjm1 said:
Not really... that seems like an awesome guide for on camera (inc bounce) flash written by someone with masses of experience shooting weddings as well as setups. But... with only a fleeting reference to studio head setups. It might, however, explain why there seem to be fewer questions asked about on camera flash here, mind!

Maybe the link to the "Which Flash System" article (rather than the forum post) needs greater prominence as that does cover all options in more detail.

It just amuses me that we get the same questions popping up several times a week which involve the same people writing more or less the same answers... I think it's great that so many of you are willing to do it over and over. Especially when quite a few seem to throw it back (perhaps unintentionally, but you know what I mean).
Click to expand...
AAh
Obviously I never read it, I just assumed it'd be more useful than that:oops: :$.
In that case I might just take you up on your invite and volunteer to write an impartial tute.
 
There needs to be a rule that states if somebody has thousands more postings than you then there is a chance they know what they are talking about and that when 3 or 4 people have thousands mre postings than you and they are all saying the same thing then don't buy that cheap pile of crap. You were given 2 ears and 1 mouth in a particular ratio, i.e. listen twice as much as you talk

Mike
 
mike weeks said:
There needs to be a rule that states if somebody has thousands more postings than you then there is a chance they know what they are talking about and that when 3 or 4 people have thousands mre postings than you and they are all saying the same thing then don't buy that cheap pile of crap. You were given 2 ears and 1 mouth in a particular ratio, i.e. listen twice as much as you talk

Mike
Click to expand...
Which would work except at least 50% of my postings are utter drivel :p

The other half do contain some good advice though ;)
 
Phil V said:
Which would work except at least 50% of my postings are utter drivel :p

The other half do contain some good advice though ;)
Click to expand...
I don't think that posts in OOF count :)
 
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