Flashes or construction lights?

Hi all,

I've currently setup a small studio and a light tent using construction lights

which - in case of the studio - either bounce off the wall or are diffused by

white umbrellas.

I'm getting really nice results with this (very cheap) method, some of which

can be seen here: http://www.microstockmonitor.com/index.php?pr=My_Photos

I see that there are (quite expensive) studio flash solutions which basically

serve the same purpose.

I'm now wondering what I'm missing out with my solution, i.e., where are the

definite advantages of an expensive studio flash solution compared to my very

cheap construction light solution.

I know that the construction lights need more power and the studio gets much

hotter. Both of which are really minor issues for me.

What else am I missing out with my solution? Are there good reasons why I

should switch to a flash-based solution for my photo hobby?

Many thanks,

Michael

Apart from heat and low power, the main problem with your construction lights is that they can't be modified to change the quality of the light, and they can't be adjusted either. This is vitally important if you're not using a light tent but unimportant if you are.

Light tents are for people who are easily satisfied and who don't want to learn about lighting.

If you feel that the results from using a light tent are satisfactory then construction lights will be almost as good as flash for your purpose. In fact, the only disadvantages are colour temperature and inconsistent colour. Colour temperature is easily corrected if you're shooting on digital, the inconsistent colour is caused by inconsistenies in electrical current between shots, and because of this you'll need to colour-correct each image individually.

i used hot lights for years, and the main reason i moved to flash was that it just got too

hot, and the fact that i needed more light: essentially with 1.5kw of hot lights i could only

really shoot a bust, and if i wanted to diffuse it, losing a couple of stops, things got even

more limited. also the stands are not very maneuverable on the hot construction lights i

have, making their use much more cumbersome.

essentially, if you are happy with what you have, then stick to it until you need something

better. i must admit that most often i end up shooting with a Metz 45 on a stand with

brolly, or one monolight, depending on where i am. it really depends on how much light

you need, and how much you move around.

you mention a tent. when you decide that you want to light a room, or a set with an

elaborate background you may find that your lights are problematic, and that diffusion is a

pain.

t

Hi Garry, all,

I do want to learn about lighting, which is why I am - among other things - posting here. Actually I would love to learn about good reasons to move to a flash setup in order to further enhance my photography.

For my small light tent the light is diffused by the tent, so I generally use a soft light there. I don't think that a flash solution will give me additional benefits there.

For my studio the light of the construction lights is bounced off the ceiling and diffused through an umbrella. This causes a soft light which seems ideal for the portrait photography which I do. If I want to go for harsher light I can use the direct light of the construction lights, but this is usually not very pleasing for my subjects.

The construction lights cannot be adjusted, this is true. Therefore I'm using my camera on full manual and adjust shutter / aperture in order to get the desired results. I understand that with an adjustable light, i.e., a flash, I could set the aperture / shutter as I want and simply adjust the light to my settings. What is the advantage of being able to do so?

I feel that the basic advantages of flashes over my current setup is mobility and power consumption. I currently (even after reading many tutorials) fail to see other substantial benefits of switching to an expensive flash studio setup.

I'm of course using custom white balance. I've so far not seen any problems with the colours, so I did not color correct any of my photos so far.

Is there any substantial advantage of flashes (other than the ones stated above) which I'm missing for my "fixed studio" application?

Many thanks for your insights,

Michael

Michael,

Please take a look at this http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=1824&category=Lighting+Themes

There are 2 'stickies' - an intro to studio equipment and a list of the Lighting Themes that we ran in this forum. I think that you'll find most of your answers there.

One thing that will become very obvious is that we hardly ever use lighting without some form of modification - we make the light smaller, larger, softer, harsher, we control the spread of light and so on. In practical terms, this is best done with flash.

You should bear in mind that continuous lighting relies on both shutter speeds and aperture to get an acceptable exposure. Flash in unaffected (in practical terms) by shutter speed and the only control is aperture. You ask about the advantage of being able to adjust the lighting power - well, it allows you to use the aperture of your choice. With continuous lighting the choices are more theoretical than practical, due to the low power, which pretty much forces large apertures.

Hi Garry,

many thanks. I've just read through the complete first sticky and most parts of the second sticky.

I still feel that I need to get my hands wet in order to fully grasp the benefits of controlling the light. I've so far mostly avoided flash photography and I do not own any type of external flash.

What I plan to do is to get a good external flash which I will use in addition (bounced from the ceiling) to my construction lights. This will give me additional control of the light and more flexibility in adjusting aperture and shutter speed to what I feel is best for the current scene.

Do you think that this is a good approach?

All the best,

Michael

Michael,

It's do-able - you simply use the aperture to control the exposure from the flash anad the shutter speed to control the exposure from the continuous lighting.

You'll need to filter the light from the flash, to match it (as far as possible) to the colour of the continuous lighting