Inexpensive Lighting

I'm just beginning to purchase more photography equipment, and need to buy some

lighting. The lights are for some portrait photography. I'm really on a budget.

I'm looking for suggestions for inexpensive lighting. I've found some stuff on

eBay. Would anyone purchase anything like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/PHOTOGRAPHY-STUDIO-UMBRELLA-CONTINUOUS-LIGHTING-KIT-

SET_W0QQitemZ360026549984QQihZ023QQcategoryZ30088QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZVi

ewItem

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

Amy

I would strongly recommend against "hot lights" for portraits. Search here on PN for lots of reasons why.

If you are serious about learning, and doing, portrait work, I suggest you buy a couple of Alien Bee strobes, stands, and suitable modifiers, even if it means saving your money for a while to make the purchase.

Read some of the threads in this forum to get great advice on how to learn portrait lighting. Check out the "Lighting Themes" threads archived in this forum also.

<Chas>

Well the umbrellas and stands might be ok for light duty use, you realize the cfl bulbs will only work for a digital camera, and they aren't even real bright ones.

You really want a couple of these bulbs, and they are like $40 each and a couple of reflectors to direct the light into the brolly instead of it being very uncontrolled.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/523195-REG/General_Brand_SP105_50_MED_Fluorescent_Lamp_105W_120V.html

I guess you could add a couple of used flashes to your gear down the road and use the stands and brollies.

Don't forget the freight cost on this item. I'm not sure it is a bargain even at the low price quoted.

In the short term, don't poo poo the idea of a thyristor flash gun into an umbrella. I used a Vivitar 283 into an umbrella for a long time. Believe it or not, within its limitations, it works like a champ.

A single light and a reflector will take you a very long way. Some foamcore for bounce here and there will do wonders. When you get to the point where you know ahead of time what your small scale setup will and will not do compared to what you need, then you will be ready to spend money for good equipment and there won't be a conflict in your mind.

THe alien bee lights are probably the cheapest your going to find. I have 4 of them and

they work great.