New to lighting

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dlphotography

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Hiya guys/girls

Im new to portrait photography and am very keen to give it a go! My only problem is i dont own any lighing equipment i got a

350d
kit lens
50mm 1.8

I would personaly light to build a studio in my garage but due to no power there i am unable to do this. :(

I was thinking of buying a speedlite or 2 for my camera and a brolly would this get me simulare results to a home studio?

If so what speedlites would you recomend or what would you recomend me buying instead?

I have around £350 to spend on all of this equipment.

Also when im at it can any one tell me how the photgrapher achived these results?
*some may consider NSFW*

http://www.net-model.com/UserImages/92008/92320081348-50902b.JPG

Many thanks danny
 
Best advice I could give you is to spend the next few weeks and months devouring Strobist. You'll learn how to light and how to read lighting in photos so you can see what others have done, like in the photos you posted. You'll learn so much more than you would if I just told you how they lit the above photos.
 
ok thanks for the advice when you say stobist you mean his blog? i was reading that the other day and found it interesting.

I was wondering would you say the speedlite option was my best bet or i there another option of lighting without a power source?
 
dlphotography said:
ok thanks for the advice when you say stobist you mean his blog? i was reading that the other day and found it interesting.
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Yes - read lighting 101 and 102 and you'll have more information than you'll know what to do with for ages.

dlphotography said:
I was wondering would you say the speedlite option was my best bet or i there another option of lighting without a power source?
Click to expand...

Depends what you want to do with your lighting really. I like the portability of speedlights and don't have a studio but if I was based solely in a studio I'd probably look at mains powered flash and find a way to power it. You can, I believe, get power packs for studio lights but I think you're looking at quite a chunk of cash for them.
 
ranarama said:
You can, I believe, get power packs for studio lights but I think you're looking at quite a chunk of cash for them.
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Love strobist!

Yes you can get power packs for lights. Bowens, Profoto, Elinchrome and Interfit do them.
 
when you say depends what you want to do with your light do you mean the style? Is it possible you could point me in the direction of some example images of the different styles flashlites offer against studio flash?
 
If you don't get the flashgun off-camera, the best you can expect is a naturalistic effect by blouncing the light off the ceiling.

Get the flash off-camera and you can add drama (even with one flash) due to its direction. Add more flashes and the means to trigger them and you can do more, even with cheap 2nd-hand units, as long as you can cut the output with several manual settings. The range of light modifiers is more limited and will require DIY for some. Even though high-end flashes have a modelling light, you'll mainly rely on suck-it-and-see chimping.
 
after reading a little of the strobist lighting 101 im thinking im gona def go down the route of of camera flash.

Only one thing that confuses me is which flash to get as im using a canon 350d and it dose not have pc connector on it. Would you recomend me getting a good flash and a few accesorys or two cheaper flashes? also how would i connect them without the pc connector? cheap ebay remote? or pc hotshoe with pc cable? money is a prob at the moment as i stated i have around the £350 mark to spend.

God i learnt alot just reading the first 3 pages lol i cant wait to read the rest!
 
Keep at the strobist site and don't buy in haste!

I've got two Canons and I use the Cactus triggers off ebay (which work a treat) with a couple of vivitar flash guns.

I do also have the 580ex with the St-E2 though for metered stuff. The Vivitars are all fully manual which is Ok for a car but not good at a wedding! lol

The ebay triggers are Ok and you really don't want to be tripping over cables so go remote if you can.

Some of the older Nikon flashes are pretty good and can be triggered optically, the Vivitars come recommended and you can use some of the Cobra's too.

Take your time and have a good read at strobist before you spend.
 
im gona have a good read of strobist then make my mind up on some flashes i def gona go wireless if i can afford it.

what flash light would you recomend for portrait shots?
 
I'd definitely recomend going wireless, and although I'm not a huge fan even though I have them, get the cactus ebay triggers. It'll cost you maybe £50 for the trigger, a couple of receivers, shipping from Hong Kong, plus the kit to mod them if you're so inclined to make them a bit more reliable.

You say you want a flash gun for portraits - depends how you want to light your portraits. You could do a simple single flash portrait but some people use 10 or more flashes to light a portrait to get the look they're after. To start I'd recommend getting 1 gun and learn the basics. It's probably wise to get a proper Canon flashgun so you also have the option of using on camera flash for convenience with ETTL if you want it. The Vivitars are fine if all you are going to do is off camera but as a 1st flash it's probably worth you getting a Canon so you can experiment a bit with on camera and have the convenience of ETTL too. There's plenty of on camera techniques you can use with a bit of invention too to make shots look more flattering.

I wouldn't worry about the 580 EXII at this stage. The 430 EX is a great flash gun. It's not as powerful but you'll probably not find that an issue initially unless you're trying to light a big area or overpower the sun on really bright days - even the 580 is underpowered compared to dedicated studio flash heads.
 
cowasaki said:
I just bought a full studio lighting kit for £200. You could get a backdrop and stand plus someone to wire up your garage to the mains :)

I have a SB600 and an SB800 which between them cost twice what my studio lights cost. They are blown away by the studio lights AND no batteries either.

http://www.stableimaging.co.uk/

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=82801
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only prob is my garage is at the end of my road and isnt on my property i mean its accross a public road no way or wiring it up :(

i dont have much choice but to go with flash guns
 
Hi Danny,

My advice, like many other members, would be to go the strobist route.
A few flash guns, cactus triggers, stands, coloured gels umbrellas and reflectors etc.
Read through the website carefully and slowly before throwing cash about.

Watch this if you haven't seen it already.

Then, as opposed to shooting in a garage against a white BG, go outdoors and shoot friends, family, maybe ask someone you may now to do some modelling perhaps.
IMO, it would be far more benficial to you if you were to find your feet with the whole 'lighting a scene' approach using outdoor scenes such as a nice sunrise/sunset, or an old factory floor/buildings for example.
Shooting against a white background in a garage will get results but not the results you wish to pursue judging by the sample images you posted.

T.
 
Tomas Whitehouse thanks for the advice im def gona read into strobist and prob getmyself a few flashes in the future.

Do canon flashlites suport the wireless systems?

Tomas Whitehouse i just looked at your website and i love your work i been looking at some of your stuff on flickr recently.
 
dlphotography said:
Tomas Whitehouse thanks for the advice im def gona read into strobist and prob getmyself a few flashes in the future.

Do canon flashlites suport the wireless systems?

Tomas Whitehouse i just looked at your website and i love your work i been looking at some of your stuff on flickr recently.
Click to expand...

No problem Danny, Canon flashes will work just fine wih cactus triggers, if for some reason they don't then you will need a hot shoe adaptor and a few pc sync cables. Search for 'ebay triggers' or 'cactus triggers' on youtube, I recall a chap exlaining how to hook one up with a Canon flash gun.

On the other hand though, second hand Nikon SB-24's or 28's have pc sync sockets, firing Nikon flashes with a Canon camera is fine as long as it's wireless. I did for well over a year.

Cheers for the props! (y)
 
yea was watching that video last nite think il finish the set off 2nite or 2morow. i was thinking with the added portability of the flashlites i can travel around with them and be based in my garage for studio work best of both worlds! great now just gota ge the kit and learn how to use it lol
 
If you really want to control Canon flashes off camera then the ST-E2 is the way to do it. Not cheap but you can fire multiple flashes and control lighting ratios with it too.

But the cactus/Nikon or Vivitar route works well too.
 
There's a cautionary note about the Canon 430EX when used with Cactus triggers here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9641754@N04/2722708446/ (near the bottom of the page).

The author rates the 8-channel trigger he's modding higher than the Cactus. The receiver takes AAA batteries. There seems to be only one eBay seller (jiakgong) with the version with the PC socket, which is preferable so you can use a decent bracket like the Manfrotto 026 and strap the receiver to the flash. A flash or shoe with socket is also then required.

Older Sunpak flashes have five manual settings down to 1/16th power (make sure you see a photo of the back, to confirm) and older Speedlights are worth a look, too. It's nice to have a current, dedicated flash, but less so if you decide that the auto thyristor and manual modes are the most reliable and you could get a bunch of oldies for the same price.
 
yea im a little stuck on which speedlight to go for. iv seen some old ones on ebay and i cant rem for the life of me what model it was il check later when and ask you what you lot think then.

dan
 
The Nikon SB26 has a built in optical slave; SB25 doesn't. Both have manual settings down to 1/64th.
 
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