All I have is 1 sb-600 ... What lighting equipment should I buy next?

Hi everyone,

 

I shoot a Nikon D300... My lenses are 50 1.8, 80-200 2.8 and the tokina 11-16 2.8. I am currently selling my 18-200 on ebay as we speak

in order to fund the 24-70 before it jacks in price.

 

With that being said, I am just getting into portraiture and would like to know some recommendations on lighting equipment to buy. I initially

figured I'd just get an sb-900 to be my main light and use my sb-600 as a remote flash for fill; however, I've been inspecting the photos

using alienbees and softboxes and find that those photos are much more pleasing.

 

I am interested in shooting outdoors and indoors on a white or black background (where would I buy these types of backgrounds?) Should

I buy a few alien bee b800's? What kind of power source do I need to purchase for these? What type of modifiers should I use? Do I need a

generator? etc.... Please go easy on me guys.. I'm just entering the world of flash photography and am finding it overwhelming.... but I am

excited to learn...

 

Any suggestions are welcome!

 

thanks

Cliff

<p>Hi Cliff<br /> I was in a similar position to you but last year.<br /> I ended up getting the SB600 and the SB800 and the SU800 - even though I can control the flashguns remotely with the D300, I find the SU800 much easier and quicker to adjust.<br /> I have two umbrellas 36" & 24" and a softbox attachment for the flash gun.<br /> I have a 5 in 1 reflector.<br /> I have had some lovely results with the flash gun and 36" umbrella with the reflector on the other side and also using the SB600 with a Pringles tube over it as a homemade snoot behind and high up to give highlights to the hair.<br /> I sometimes use an old vivitar flash gun on a cheap remote - look for Wireless Remote Slave Hot Shoe Flash Trigger PT 04 - this is used to light up a background.<br /> For a background, I have a £75 background kit that takes a while to assemble with large black and white muslin cotton cloths. But more recently I have been using my old 5ft projector screen as it is so easy to put up.<br /> I would recommend the umbrella and reflector to start with<br /> Then consider the soft box attachment if you find that you need to control where the light goes more.<br /> I think there are so many variations that you can try with just one light combined with natural light and the reflector.<br /> Hope this helps<br /> John<br /> PS Look at my site to see what I have achieved with the above</p>

<p>If you are going with the SB's check out the strobist blog for some great information.I use a Vivtar 283 and a Vivitar 285HV. One is hard wired via the pc sync cord the other one is with a optical type slave. I use them with shoot threw, and reflective umbrellas, as well as a 40" brolly box umbrella I recently bought to control light spill. and some Morris A/C slave strobes this plus some 8Ft smith/victor light stands purchased used.I also have a 36"x48" 5 in 1 photoflex type reflector. I do portraits for family and friends and have had some good results. it depends on the extend of your portraiture, this type of set up is limited in comparison to using alien bee"s etc. But will still work regardless. Also here is a web site from Jim Talkington called Pro Photo Life he posts a video library on a wide varity of how to subjects. check it out i'm sure it will answer a lot of your questions...link <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.prophotolife.com/" target="_blank">http://www.prophotolife.com/</a></p>

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<p >I use a couple of SB-600s and an SB-800 and various modifiers and am also trying to learn more about flash lighting and how best to add this to my usual available light work. The Strobist web site is great. One item I thought was very valuable was a book I just read through: Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua and thought it was the most accessible and thorough explanation of lighting and lighting theory I have read. Highly recommended.</p>

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<p>Ditto on what Robert said: check Strobist, read the book. In short, I recommend starting with a few portable camera flashes. At least 1 SB900. If you can find some SB800s left, those are great as well. I recommend using the Nikon flashes just to make uisng Nikons CLS system easier. The only thing the Alien Bees have going for them is power and price. However, great portraits isn't so much about power. Once you start learing lighting, you will be better able to judge if you need more power. Look at the images you admire and I would imagine power never came into play. Light placements, modifictions, and so on where the relevant factors.</p>

<p>What the other people said. At the simplest, I'd recommend a light stand and a shoot-through umbrella that can also do reflections. Alien Bees has such an umbrella on their website. I think they list it as a translucent shoot-through, and in the ad it also talks about the black over-cover that comes with it.</p>

<p>My ABR800 just plugs into a regular wall outlet. It is a "monolight". If you are interested in Alien Bees, I believe that they have product manuals in pdf on their website; those manuals usually have some tech specs in there. Also, I would just give them a call if you have a question. I talked to them on the phone once; they seemed like nice people.</p>

<p>For the power, I use an Alien Bees Vagabond II. Let me tell you. This thing weighs 20 pounds. It comes with a carrying case and strap, but really it is a "transportable" system, not a portable system. I love the ABR800, but the battery load alone has made me sometimes wonder if I just shouldn't have picked up some Vivtar 285s instead. It took me a little bit to get over my shyness and actually get that thing out of the building and get on with making pictures with it. I usually pack that thing in a daypack and just tote the other stuff in another bag.</p>

<p>The best thing to look for power-wise is adjustable power (in output of the strobe itself). It's the ability to adjust and balance the lighting arrangement that is the most influential. One of my flashes is only about as powerful as a little flash cube. It works right alongside the big strobe. I "adjust" the little one with distance. Lighting power is about adjustment. Good luck. J.</p>

you guys are great... thanks so much for the advice... i'm going to try and find an sb-800 around here... and if not get an

sb-900... that will give me two very portable flashes.... then i'm looking to get a 43" shoot through that can do reflections

and possibly some sort of soft box.... maybe make my own pringles can snoot and get a reflector and start shooting with

those :)..

 

if i need the power.... i'll be checking into the bees at a later date...

 

Thanks again guys.....