Portable studio light buying advice.

Mobieus

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22 Oct 2010 - 5:02 PM

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Hi All

I am thinking of dipping my toe into the world of studio flash, though I must admit that I have little if any experience in this field. I have been given a whole range of backdrop stands and rolls of paper and have been asked many times by family and friends to take portraits of their children. I have done this in the past, but have relied on natural light (something I do like) however, more and more people are asking me for the high key lighting effect and I would like to give it a shot. My request to you folks is for some buying advice for a suitable portable flash kit for me to start out with, I have a budget at the moment that could stretch to about £400-450 pounds, birthday and xmas are on their way too .

I am lucky that as a Lecturer I will be able to pick the brains of a friend of mine who lectures in photography and make use for practice runs our college studio flash units. I would like however, to get my own more modest setup to practice at home with and to conduct those sessions requestd by friends.

Thanks for reading this and any advice you can give.

Paul.

sherlob (e2 Member)

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22 Oct 2010 - 5:52 PM

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I think JackAllTog is refering to Ade McFade - and he's right Ade does some excellent strobe work with external speedlights. I'm pretty sure one of the member groups is on strobism too...

Elemental kit comes highly recommended by many. I bought Elinchrom a few years ago, but hardly use it - and its not very portable for outdoor use (unless I want to pay a mint for an external power supply, or rent a generator for the day). That said it is portable for going from indoor location to indoor location (with power). I've done a few shoots at friends houses... The major downside though is that the accessories cost a bomb, and are no way near as available as Bowens kit.

HTH's

Adam

Mobieus

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23 Oct 2010 - 2:04 PM

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Hi Guys I have had a look at what is on offer from several sources, does anyone have any personal experience with this kit:

Pro Line Apollo

Or these?

Bowens

Lastolite

Thanks for any views or advice given.

johnducguz

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31 Oct 2010 - 7:23 PM

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I had used Bowens stuff a lot as a photographic assistant around 20 yrs ago. I wanted to get back into studio flash & checked out all the options from all the brands, the 2 x 400 Genesis kit from Elemental seemed to fit the bill. I phoned, & found them helpfull. I went & looked around their factory, & found them helpfull. I talked through things & brought the kit. It may not be as solidly built as bigger brands but treat it as you should & it looks like it will last. I'm well chuffed & comparing the prices with the other brands you'd be a mug not too. I've brought stuff from them since by mail order & their service is very promp. I'm not connected to them just a happy customer. Hope this allays some of your fears.

arhb

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2 Nov 2010 - 10:50 PM

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For producing good high key images, you need 2 lights on the white bg - one either side, set to overexpose between 2/3rds to 1 stop.
For example, If your key light is set to F8, then the bg lights need to be about F5.6. Quite important not to go too far over 1 stop, as you then get too much forwad bounced light from the bg lights causing burnout around the edge of the subject
So that's 3 lights (2bg and 1 key), and you can either use a reflector panel or another(4th) fill light, to balance the light on the other side of your subject.
When setting your lights up, primarily get the bg lights as evenly matched either side as possible. Set exposure on one light at a time, and once set turn off and move onto the next light. Then try all lights together - you will possibly need to make some more adjustments, and the more you can do of this before your subject arrives, the more professional you will appear to be

I use Elinchrom, but Bowens, Elemental are also good systems from what I have heard.

cattyal (e2 Member)

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3 Nov 2010 - 9:12 AM

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Barely a day goes by when I don't use one or both of my Elemental lights - I've been more than happy with the kit