Studio Lighting

Nikki Thornley

Nikki Thornley

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Nikki
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Hi, I am new to all this, just starting out. I am learning about portrait photography & I want to start up a small studio in my own home the only thing is I haven't a clue what to buy, what lights or reflectors or basically anything at all. Please could anyone help me? Thank you in advance :)
 
If its for a studio (not going to be used outside where you have no power supply) then studio strobes are your best bet. There are many makes but my advice is don't cheep out too much. Buy decent ones and there will last you.
What is your budget?
For a good deal then look no further than Lencarta. Good value for money and they do some good starter kits.
Take a look at this http://www.lencarta.com/studio-ligh...sh-studio-flash-lighting-kit-softbox-umbrella
Good value at £320 and gives you 2 strobes, 2 stands a brolly and softbox. Will keep you busy for ages.
As said there are other makes out there but for quality and price, I think the above is hard to beat
 
That is fab, thank you so much. That is round about my budget too so perfect. How does it all work, do I have to buy something to make them flash or is that in the kit? Do I need any cables to connect them to my camera? Also I'm sorry but what do I need if I want to do some portraits of my son outside? I have done some today but I can tell I need some kind of lighting. Thank you for all your help.
 
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That kit comes with everything you need, inc triggers for your camera to control the 2 heads. So you wont need anything else.
If you want to light outside thats a different ball game.
You could try ambient only with a reflector (its worth getting a 5 in 1 reflector any way to be used with the studio equipment). But then you need someone/something to hold reflector to bounce light back into subject.
If you want to use flash then get yourself a Yongnuo flash (560 etc) and start with that. You can get adapter rings to use the softbox from the kit with the small flash head.
Hope this helps.
 
Hi Nikki , welcome to the forum . If I were you , I would buy a good starter kit like the one pointed out already as it has everything that you need to get you started with sync leads and triggers . I would then have a look through this forum as well as videos on YouTube as a starting point and try to replicate what you see as well as trying to understand how the light is been worked . As for shooting outdoors if you can run power to that kit all well and good , if not you are heading into the area of battery power that can start to work out very expensive . Just remember that you need to know how to use the kit correctly and just by firing some lights at a subject doesn't make it any better .
 
Thank you so much. I am a little confused on the outdoor part though :/ Would it be easier for me to buy a flash that fits onto the camera itself? I'm Sorry, please bare with me.
 
Nikki Thornley said:
Thank you so much. I am a little confused on the outdoor part though :/ Would it be easier for me to buy a flash that fits onto the camera itself? I'm Sorry, please bare with me.
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Studio kit as above, will do a great job in the studio, but it's mains powered so belongs in the studio.

Flash that sits on your camera (speedlights) are more suited to portability, can be hacked for a studio setting but they're a jack of all trades kind of device. There's a whole other product which is studio type flash with a portable power pack, but that gets very expensive compared to the other 2 options.
 
Do you know anything about where to get tile board & how much of it I would need for the flooring?
 
Why tile board ? I presume that your wanting to produce a white floor / background ? What background material are you looking at using as there are a number of different materials that you can use . If your wanting the gloss finish of tile board another option in perspex . It would be helpful if we new the size of the room you were going to convert into the studio , and also the finished image that your wanting to achieve .
Also you need to decide if your wanting to go down the studio kit route of flash gun route . If shooting in a permanent indoor environment I'd go with studio kit every time for the options of modifiers available . If you want to shoot outdoors as well i would consider flash guns with adaptors for softboxes ect, but you are limited to an extent as to what modifiers you can use well with them . Your also restricted on power output of flash guns , have a look at the Strobists blog and read through Strobists 101 for a great starting point for flashguns .
 
Nikki Thornley said:
Hi, I am new to all this, just starting out. I am learning about portrait photography & I want to start up a small studio in my own home the only thing is I haven't a clue what to buy, what lights or reflectors or basically anything at all. Please could anyone help me? Thank you in advance :)
Click to expand...

It would help to know how much space you have and if it will be a permanent setup or one you have to pack away.
 
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