Fluorescent or Tungsten for Portraits?

Hello all. I want to set up a basic photo studio at home and I need a bit of

help. First of all I am very intersted in the 3 bulb set up compact

fluorescent lamps they are selling at adorama or bhphoto. I was just wondering

if I bought two of these will they be enough for regular portrait shots? I

dont see a lot of people using continuous fluorescent lighting for people

shots on the web (mostly for product shots) so I thought I could ask here. I

dont know how to use a monolight yet so I think continuous lighting would be

easier for me at this point and maybe upgrade later. TUngsten is also another

option and a cheaper one but I heard they get hot and I dont want my subjects

to get uncomfortable besides there's something about yellow lights that do not

appeal to me although I can always correct it using the camera or post-

processing..just staring at yellow light drives me crazy..lol. In any event if

you could enlighten me about your perception in fluorescent lighting for

people portrait that would be fantastic. Thanks again people. This is a nice

community by the way.. I don't know why I waited this long to register..

Ryan-- There are some good practical reasons why most photographers don't use continuous lights for shooting people, the main reason being that if you use bright enough lights, it makes the subject squint. Also, using umbrellas and other light-softening modifiers will cut the light too far down to get a decent shutter speed/depth-of-field combo, unless you are really cranking out the watts (on the order of several thousand watts for multiple-light set-ups).

 

With tungsten, there's also the heat. With florescent, there's the fact that, unless you get really expensive lights, the light isn't quite perfect in its color balance.

 

That being said, if you absolutely have to go continuous, I'd get the florescent if I were in your place. However, I think you'd do much better-- and overall, probably spend about the same amount of money-- if you get one Alien Bee monobloc and a 60" or 72" umbrella, then use reflectors (you can make cheap ones out of FomeCor) to pop up the shadows.

 

Monoblocs are really quite simple to use. In fact, you will probably find that the technological aspects of using monoblocs are much simpler than the technique aspects of using continous. If you have a digital camera, you can do without a flash meter (although those are usually helpful). And as you progress in photography, you will find that having a spare Alien Bee around is really quite helpful. And especially if you are using an umbrella, a monobloc is often much simpler and easier to set up on location than continuous.

 

Happy shooting. -BC-

Ryan, you don't mention your budget or camera, so I can only make a stab at helping you by giving you an overview.

 

1. Fluoresent lights have a discontinuous spectrum, that is they do not put out light on all frequencies. This can cause some colors to look weird. But tungsten lights do have all frequencies and, once corrected for color balance, will turn out accurate colors (correcting tungsten for color balance is easily done if you have a digital camera, or by using filters over the lights if using film). Even the "full spectrum" fluoresent ones are not perfect in this area, just closer.

 

2. The small fluoresent bulbs for sale at the store just do not have enough light for good photography. That's why, when you do see them advertised for use as professional photographic lights, they usually have a lot of them ganged together in one fixture in a softbox.

 

3. Hot lights do get HOT! And can cause your clients to sweat as well as blind them over time (and give them headaches) as the 500-1000 watt bulbs usually used are, by necessity, very bright.

 

4. But in their defense, they are the best way to learn as you can actually see what you're getting, and their intensity can be lowered (at least temporarily for composing) by using variacs/rheostats.

 

5. Monolights with built-in modeling lights are obviously the best way to go, and for close quarters do not have to be very powerful, and so are less expensive, but do still tend to be more expensive than hot lights.

 

6. But if you are short on cash, which by the nature of your inquiry I assume to be the case, an economical solution some have used, myself included, is to use two or more shoe mount flashes such as the Vivitar 285, which can be purchased new for $90 and used on EBay for around $50. These I bounce in umbrellas mounted on light stands (both of which which can be bought for around $20/each) and trigger them with optical slaves. They are powered by NiMH cells. This makes a for very light weight, compact and portable cord free setup for location work, especially where there's no electricity around. And with a digital camera with its instant feedback, there is no need for either modeling lights or flash meter.

 

Hope this helps. Mike

Thanks for the replies. I guess a flash or monolight is the way to go. Sorry for not elaborating on my post. I have a canon 30D camera. I just bought one of those collapsible muslin background with black and white color reversible. You are right money is kind of a problem at the moment so I was lured by the prices of these both.. 2 fluorescent kit for $160 and the tungsten for $100 so if i could get a decent kit for under $200 would be perfect for me. I am learning on my own as far as photography so bear with me on my inexperience. If someone could explain to me how a monolight works it would be great. As I understand it, monolights are like flashes except they use certain types of bulb, of that nature i am assuming the bulbs do not last very long. Both you guys got me interested in this light set up so I just might bite the bullet and get one as soon as I understand the concept of it a little more. One question that is lingering my mind though.. I always take pictures in my kitchen which I have overhead fluorescent tubes and the pictures come out ok. I guess they are different from the compact fluorescent ones? Anyhow, I really appreciate you guys helping out.. I will show you some pics if I get this thing rolling.. promise.. lol.

 

p.s. Bill saw your self portrait, what type of lighting do you have?

I understand why you think that continuous lighting is better/easier but it isn't, for the reasons other people have already given you.

 

Please take a look at the various Lighting Themes, http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=1824&category=Lighting+Themes for basic info on using various types of studio equipment. Look too at the 'An intro to studio lighting' thread there.

 

*As I understand it, monolights are like flashes except they use certain types of bulb, of that nature i am assuming the bulbs do not last very long.* Monolights ARE flashes. They are a type of flash. The bulbs last indefinately, as long as you don't drop them.

Ryan, use Bill's suggestion about the Alien Bees. Biggest bank for the buck in monolights. But if you're limited on space you may want to get a smaller umbrella, say 32"-45" instead of 60"-72", which still work fine for portraits if placed close enough (5'-10'). Also, two monolights are better than one, but foamcore does work and takes up less room.

found these on adorama.. its like $200 for the two. What do you think of these?

 

http://www.adorama.com/LTBSBK21.html

and

http://www.adorama.com/LTBKB.html

 

And do I also need another light to light up my backdrop? Or are these two enough? Mike, I visited the alien bees site and I think their beginners package is like $280. Thanks for that link Gary. I really appreciate your help guys.

Take a look here for lots of ideas for using small inexpensive flashes:

 

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

"there's something about yellow lights that do not appeal to me although I can always correct it using the camera or post- processing..just staring at yellow light drives me crazy." Tungsten lights are NOT yellow. The color of light is measured on the Kelvin scale, with Tungsten at 3200 degrees and daylight and flash at 5500-6000 degrees. Lower temps are more yellow, higher temps more blue, but both are white to the naked eye. With tungsten lights you use tungsten balanced film or set your digital camera for tungsten. With daylight/flash you use daylight film or set the digital camera accordingly. Yes, you will get yellowish pictures shooting under tungsten with daylight film/white balance, and blueish pictures shooting under daylight with tungsten film/white balance. But tungsten light does not look yellow to the eye any more than flash looks blue. And if shooting digital you don't correct after the fact, you just use the proper setting in the first place. With all that said, buy a monolight with a good modeling light (150 watts or better). The modeling light will let you see what effect you're getting the same as tungsten or flourescent and the flash tube will make the exposure at a reasonable f-stop.

Thanks Craig. You can tell that I am very ignorant in terms of these things and I apologize for that. I figured tungsten was the same as regular lamps that we use in our homes which are yellowish in color. These monolights I found were 100watts each, are these enough? and it comes with a 60w modeling light.