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I might have an opportunity to set up a portrait studio in a very large, old wooden warehouse, but I don't have any lighting equipment to date. I need your help.

I would like to primarily do fashion and glamour style portraits, but would also like to have the option to do more traditional, formal portraits. I would like to keep the working distance between myself and the model "comfortable", and I need the ability to easily change the intensity and position of the lighting for various effects and moods.

I primarily shoot with a Canon EOS D30 Digital SLR, and would like the ability to work wireless, but the use of a PC Sync cable is not out of the question to get started.

I would like to keep the initial budget under $1500.00, but I am quite confused with the sheer volume of choices available. I've read some books, magazines, and internet postings, but I still need more guidance. I don't want to invest $$$ in something that will easily break or be difficult to use.

Can you offer any advice from your own personal experience or information/feedback you have received from others on this topic?

Thanks in advance for your help with this...I really want to make the right investment the first time.

Hi Arthur. Please keep in mind that I am just starting out in a studio enviroment. My studio enviroment is 24 feet wide x 70 feet long with 16 foot ceilings. I did try to investigate studio lighting to some degree, but sooner or later I had to make a decision. With regard to lighting equipment, here is what I have. I've been in contact with a Photographer from Texas named Scott Smith. I spoke with him after running across his website one day. Scott was very informative about his experiences with Novatron. Novatron sells a kit with his name attached to it. Scott does not make any money from any sale to Novatron. The URL for their site with this kit is as follows; http://www.novatron.com/catalog/kits/ssk-4.html

Scott's website address is www.lightingmagic.com This is one of the most informative and enjoyable sites I've seen with regard to photography and helpful information. I suggest you take a visit to at least these two sites for more details. I bought my kit from a local photo outlet -vs- direct from Novatron, just to keep it close to home in case of problems. I'm very happy with it. The power pack has 3 different settings with regard to power output to the heads. 250, 750, and 1500 wps. It also has switch's on it that you can set to let you know if you have a misfire on one of the heads. I've since bought two photoflex softboxes. One medium and one large. I did this after talking with Artie. I love those boxes. I also bought a large diffusion panel from Scott when I bought my lights.

When I first got my kit, I was using my on board flash to trigger my power pack via a slave that was attached to the pack. I've since then gone to a cable direct to the pack. They also make remote units to fire the strobes so you don't have to worry about cables. Only one out of the 4 heads will let you adjust the output to either -1 or -2 fstops. All the rest are full out.

The lighting kit works fine. I'm finding out that for what ever reason, I started out keeping my lights too far away from my subjects, thus under exposing them. Now that I'm getting a bit more use to them, I don't mind getting them closer, and now I'm getting more details and better colours.

Hope this helps some. I'm sure some of the big boys on the site can help you.

BTW, I know this lighting kit may exceed the money you wanted to use. I bought this kit in mind that I wouldn't have to get any other type of lighting equipment in the near future. I didn't want to piece meal the lighting spanned over time. So far the only problem in using my equipment is what I lack between the ears with regard to experience. That will come....

Regards,

Arthur,

First Question: Do you have electricity where you plan on shooting or are you going to need battery powered lights.

Second Question: Have you ever used studio lights before?

Third Question: How fast do you shoot in general? Are you a run and gun type shooter or a more methodical one?

If you can answer these questions, I can help you make an informed decision.

al

Phillip...thank you for taking time to share so much great information with me. The Novatron powerpack and head setup has caught my eye.

Altaf...

1) I will have electricity.
2) I have not used studio lights before.
3) Currently, with landscapes and macros, I am a methodical shooter...observe, think, compose, think, compose, shoot. This is not to say with the right lighting setup, skill, experience, and situation, that I would be at all opposed to just run and gun.

I look forward to your guidance.

Arthur click the chat link under community and come to the chat room, I'll talk it over with you.

Arthur, one other note: One of the hardest things to overcome when gathering information to make an educated decision on anything, is being able to weed out individual's bias opinions, mine included. Since I haven't had much experience with studio lighting, I can only comment on what I have had experience with.

Kinda like asking someone what kind of car do they like. Some like Chevy, some Ford, then some Cadillac. All of them will get you to work and back, but what are the downsides to each? I would imagine that all of them would have the same type of warranties. I would also recommend contacting someone in the communication and/or photography department at a nearby college if permissable. Great resource there. Go visit some other studios. The competition may not want to offer any information due being afraid of losing business if they are the only game in town. Go in as a customer, and just look at there setups, note types of equipment, size of the stuido, etc..

Hope this helps a bit more.

Regards,

The GOOD news is that for portrait and fashion with digital cameras, you won't need large quantities of light. So, you can get away with smaller (less costly units). The BAD news is that you will need expensive light modifiers (accessories). For example: you could use the Speedotron Blackline's 800ws unit (cost about $650) and you will need at least 3 (more is better and needed) heads (250 each, make sure to get fan cooled heads they last significantly longer). BUT you will also need soft-boxes, umbrellas, grid spots, gels, Light stands (13'), etc. You can get less expensive lights BUT make certain that what you get has strong modeling lights and that it accepts the better 3rd party accessories. Grid spots come in 2 versions; one is black for hard spots and the other is gray for soft. I prefer the soft but that?s personal. You will also need some soft-boxes. These are what I think of as "the world's most expensive pup-tents that leak," but they ARE necessary to soften and control the lights. You will also need gels, these can be held in place with tape over the heads.

Your best bet is to attend one of the better photo shows (the one in NYC last weekend is the definitive one) you can see and touch many of these items before you buy.

Joe McCary

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