Another Cheap Lighting Thread...

[bradley_boggs]

Hey There. Sorry to post another 'cheap lighting' thread, but I have

a few questions that I couldn't quite find answers to.

 

First, I'm a student studying to be a professional photographer. I've

really taken to portraiture, and am looking to set up a small kit for

studio portraits. I have a few ideas that will get me lighting on a

budget, and am wondering if they are practicle or not.

 

For studio lighting, to maximize my number of lights per dollar, I've

been thinking about getting a couple vivitar 285HV's and putting them

on stands. For portraits indoors, would these be practical?

 

Another option I saw would be AC slaves, but I dont know if they'd

have the output/recharge times I'd want. Maybe they do and I just

don't know? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Also, I'm looking to get a flash meter, but cant spend much more that

$100 to $150 on one. I was looking at the Wein meters, but through

the little info I've found on photo.net about them, I've seen people

generally regard them as inaccurate. If they'll do the job, cool. If

not, any other meters you could suggest that are in that price range

would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, is there a way to use a small softbox (but larger than the

lumiquest ones) with a 285 or similar shoe-mounted flash? I've seen

stand adapters for shoe flashes and umbrella's, but nothing really

for softboxes.

 

Thank you so much for your time and suggestions!!

 

-Bradley B.

[Jochen_S]

Sorry the Vivitars aren't very common here in Germany, but generally speaking it's possible to use hotshoe-flashes, if their power is enough. They won't fit for slow film at f22 or smaller, but with fast film on MF you'll have a chance.

But as a beginner you might miss the modelling lights. - I hope you'll work with digital.

The Problem with huge softboxes will be the built in reflector. Studio heads in Softboxes are bare bulbs enlighting maybe 270?. Rebuilding the Vivitars with removing the reflectors seems dangerous.

AC slaves I know recharge within less than 10 seconds, quite similar to common flash guns at full power, maybe a bit slower.

[steve_hovland]

I think Vivitar 285's would be fine if you have digital. You can shoot a lot of test shots quickly and adjust your lights until you get the effect you want.

 

Here's a practice shot I did with 2 285's in umbrellas and one old Spiratone bounced off a white ceiling for a hair light.

 

The Westcott Mini-Apollo is under $100 and attaches through the umbrella hole of a shoe-flash stand adapter.

 

http://www.fjwestcott.com/new/still_apollo_cat.asp?CAT=13

 

You can face the flash toward the front or back of the Apollos depending on the light quality you want.

[jeffrey_abelson]

One big problem of on-camera flashes, like the Vivitars, is the lack of modeling lights and they burn through batteries pretty fast - and the recharge slows as the batteries drain. Without modeling lights, the flash is hard to aim, and, I think, you're limited in your use of parabolic reflectors, diffusers, grids and softboxes, snoots and various other modifers. This can be all worked around, but why bother when there are lights made specifically for what you need?

[bill c.]

Bradley--Sigh--Here we go again. You're just like I was! I tried to do the same exact thing, and here's my advice--forget it. If White Lightnings had been available when I was starting out, and I had been able to buy just one light, one stand, and one umbrella, I would have been a great deal better off. Instead I spent my time cobbling together three 285's with the Charge 15's (old timers can remember those pieces of nonsense) and makeshift modifiers. The cost would have been about the same, and I ended up melting the Fresnel lenses on two of the flashes with my home-made modeling lights.

 

The other day I took one Alien Bee out of my back-up lighting case, one beautylight, one mottled grey background, one reflector, feathered everything just right, and shot seven sets of headshots for a group of actors. The stuff I did blew away the pics some of them had gotten at the studio of a headshot specialist the month before. I gave them a group rate that came out to over $100 each, and they ordered prints and zed cards galore.

 

Do I have better lighting equipment than that? Sure, lots of it, and I use it when I need it. But on this one shoot I made more than the kit cost me, and I can do that several times a month.

 

Beg or borrow the money, and get a decent monobloc. Trust me, one cheap Alien Bee will do more for you than a jury-rigged system based on 285's. Take it from someone who's been there. If you can afford it, get a Hensel or a Force 10 or something else as good.

 

BTW, I also have a set of modified 285's that I run off of sealed lead-acid batteries (500 flashes at 3.5 sec recycle before recharging), but I use them to supplement on-camera ligting of large spaces for corporate events or sports. Without modeling lights they're too cumbersome to work as studio flashes.

 

Like I say, I've been EXACTLY where you are right now. If I could, I would go back and shake some sense into my old self, but that's not possible, so I'll just try to talk some into another tyro who's just starting out.

 

Best regards, and happy shooting. -BC-

[stefan www.randlkofer.co]

I have to second that! it makes no sense at all to go as cheap as possible, as if you spend a bit more, you might have something usable for a few years to come and then be even able to sell it when you should be upgrading. my first flash system came from portaflash, which was such a junk, it annoyed me for the two years i had it. putting it up or down was a hassle, light output was inconsistent and difficult to modify. what a relieve when i got rid of it and got a proffesional system. looking back i should have spend just a bit more and go for a used flash of one of the big makers and upgrade while jobs come in.

 

using something like a vivitar 285 can be a valid addition to your lighting, but with monoblocks you will be much more versatile.

 

for lightmeter, i would recommend the sekonic L-308B II Flashmate. probably all you ever need for a meter.

[jacobmiles]

I'm in something of the same position - new to flash, want to do headshots or the like to

make money. I'm thinking about renting for a while. I can rent a 3-head dynalite outfit

with a couple softboxes and a pocket wizard for $100, and keep it for the weekend. If I do

a few headshots with it, I won't make a huge profit, but I'll gain experience that will let me

charge more. A couple months of that and I can buy a nice 2000 ws outfit. Or, maybe I'll

just keep renting, we'll see.