How much watts do I need?

Hello,

 

I want to set up basic set of continuous lighting that is enough for portrait

photography. The question is how much total watts power do I need?

For example, for ISO 100, 1/60, f 2.8-5.6 ?

 

I am going to use soft boxes, umbrellas, grids, filters, barn doors.

Also what manufacturer would you recommend - I am on budget. As I understand

quartz-halogen is the best choice. I am not going to run studio 24 hours. 2

hours per day max.

 

I would like something similar to Alien Bees, only in continuous lighting -

durable, reliable, not too expensive, plenty of accessories.

 

Please, advice.

 

Thanks

Denis

About 5000 to 10,000 watts and preferably HMI over incandescent.

I tested this only a couple of weeks ago. My tests showed that you will need 1,000 watts with a halogen lamp in a medium softbox at a distance of 3 feet at f/2.8. Call that 4,000 watts for f/5.6

 

Of course, you'll need to find a softbox that won't melt, and you'll need a few thousand more watts for air conditioning, and dark glasses for your subjects. Plus all your accessories will need to be made of metal, and you'll need asbestos gloves.

 

*As I understand quartz-halogen is the best choice* It's probably the best ECONOMY choice for continuous lighting, arguably HMI is the better choice if you really want to use continuous lights, but the reality is that there's a very good reason why hardly anyone uses continuous lighting these days.

Why do you want to use continuous lighting? A nice set of monoblocks will consume less power and dissipate less heat.

Ellis, I do not need full body portrait. Head, half body is enough.

I'm going to back up Garry and Ellis here. I'd say 4,000 watts minimum, but be realistic here, 6,000 will make it easier with the banks and diffusers in place.

 

Denis; I'm sure that Ellis recognized that you didn't mean "full body." For that you'd need more power than most residential and retail spaces can provide.

Denis,

 

The reason that experienced photographers who have hands-on experience of these lights are giving you figures that may be higher than you expect is that we're experienced photographers who have hands-on experience.

 

Of course, our figures may be different from those of people who want to sell you these lights...

Garry, I have strobes, and I do some work with them. But now I want to experiment with Hollywood style portraits using Rodger Hicks book. I found that pilot lights do not help me to envision the image I need. It is really hard to learn and master lights without seeing picture I am going to get. It is more like guessing. I want continues lighting for this experiment and learning. So later when I am more comfortable and will continue with strobes only.

What intensity modeling lights do you use and what brand of electronic flash?

Denis,

 

Fair enough, but if you want to do Hollywood-style portraits then presumably you'll want to use the type of lighting used for them, which were produced before the days of softboxes and which used sitters who were skilled at working under incredibly hot and bright lights.

 

*I found that pilot lights do not help me to envision the image I need. It is really hard to learn and master lights without seeing picture I am going to get.* Whether modelling lamps do an adequate job or not depends both on the lamps themselves and on the working environment. Very often, experience can be enough, but when it isn't really bright modelling lamps (say 250 watts minimum) and an absence of ambient light may be needed.

 

The problem is simple; ambient light provides fill and so lowers contrast and gives a false impression of the actual flash lighting.

I use white lightening, 4 strobes X800(they claim 330 true Ws). It looks like more then enough for power for what I need. They have 250 Watts modeling lights. I also want to do some product photography, looks like continues lighting will help me with first steps.

Garry, what would you suggest then? I do not want to do classic school portrait (I can do it with strobes). I want to master lighting for portraits and product. My mentor (old school pro) believes that continues lighting is the best and easiest for learning puproses, and then with experience I can effectively use strobes.

This will be your strangest answer. I recommend one common household bulb in an inexpensive reflector. Smith Victor is fine. The bulb can be between 100 and 500 watts and you will get good results. Use a light reflectant substance, there are too many possibilities to mention, across fron the light and close as possible to the subject. You instruct your subject to remain absolutely still for a second or so and warn them before shooting. If you want more light, get a 1000 watt Lowell or similar light. I have a studio full of strobes, being a retired portrait guy, but prefer this setup.

Denis,

 

Strobes aren't limited to classic school portraits. The fact that only a tiny minority of good photographers use anything but strobes is evidence of that.

 

My only suggestion is that you throw away any pre-conceived ideas you may have about portrait lighting, decide on the pose and camera position you want and then walk around, holding a single light in your hands, until it gives you the effect you're looking for. Then fix it to a stand, take some shots and analyse the results.

 

Don't worry about any lighting problems this causes, just concentrate on the benefits. Too many people IMO try to avoid problems, and they're the ones who end up with school portraits.

 

You can always use reflectors to mitgate problems. The important thing is to experiment, to use a single light and to observe the effects of that light.

Garry, I understand that strobes are capable of much more then school portraits. I meant that I find it is hard to work with them without 20 years studio experience: it is easy to set up basic light, but to do something more complex is really hard for me, due to small experience - I just do not see the image before click. Thank you for advice. probably it is lack of perfect studio - no black walls, and some ambient light.

 

Bruce, you sound like my old teacher, of course I would prefer to learn how to use my strobes, I just need to find a way.

Denis,

 

I know a lot of people who turn out outstanding work in very poor working conditions. They just need to work harder than people who have large studios and the best equipment.

 

Ambient light can be a real problem though, but that's within your own control, especially at night.

I will agree that flash vs tungsten(modeling light) is a difficult nut to crack (I am still occasionally frustrated!), and experience is the factor, but digital preview helps massively. Shooting film and polas was killing me, but when I switched to Digi last April, I moved quickly ahead. Now I can SEE the light, which I believe is what you are referring to by 20 years studio experience. I have about 1.5 and I now sell model test photos to hardened model agents. It can be done, but there are no shortcuts to learning.

 

Peter

I use strobes when I shoot 4x5. But I check my lighting setup with a DSLR - it's cheaper and faster than Polaroids, if you already own a DSLR.

I mostly only use these lights and the heat issue is a big one but go as high of wattage as possible more is better because you can diffuse and manipulate a bit more when you have the power. I found some great ones just recently and they are Italian the cool thing is they have all the attachments, snoots, barn doors etc. I can't for the life of me remember the brand but I used them for short films and they are an intelligent set up.

Denis,

If you want to learn how to use the strobes, you may want to read the series "lighting 101" on strobist dot blogspot dot com, then read through 'On Assignment" at the same web site. There are some very good techniques on 'seeing' light there.

Mike