dbcooper Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 I'm intrigued with portraits that have a 3-D-ish quality and 'halo' shadow to them that were lit with a ringlight. I know absolutely nothing about ringlights other than seeing online pics at the usual suspects' e-stores, and that they are mainly used by dentists and doctors and macro folks. I'm looking for advice on a setup for portraits. I use a D200, and 18-200 and 12-24 zooms, and/or a Mamiya 7II w/80 and 150mm lenses. The advice I need is: which ringlight to get? For using film, what filter(s), if any, to use? What to watch out for, and any other advice to steer me right. Besides the offbeat portrait lighting, I may make photos of little critters, bugs and flowers in the future. Thanks in advance for your sage responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks short Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 The ringlights used in beauty, glamour and portrait photograpy are different than the ones used in dental, medical and macro photography. The ringlights used for macro photography are very small and low powered. The ringlights used in beauty and portrait photography are much larger and more powerful. Alien Bees makes a cheap ringlight that you might be interested in for portrits though I've heard that the plastic mount heats up and warps occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcooper Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 Thanks for your response, Brooks. I'm trying to see if there's anything useful that attaches to the front of the camera lens and is portable. I'm not really looking for studio portrait results, but more along the lines of offbeat casual portraits. At this point, I think I might be chasing 'wind in sails', but hopefully someone here has seen or done something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcooper Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 Brooks, a thousend apologies. In my ignorance I assumed (I know, I know) that the dental/macro ringlights were used for the portraits I was looking to shoot. Your answer was 100% on the money. Thanks a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_g5 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 I dont like ringlights but if I were gonna get one... get the cheapest one on the market that also is the second best on the market... the Alienbees ABR800 ringlight. 320 watt seconds (pretty powerful) and you can use the innovatronix tronix explorer 1200 (power souce) or even the alienbee vagabond (portable power source made by Alienbees). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmowery Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 The ring light is very harsh on the eyes and anoying to the subject. What helps a little bit is having the soft reflector for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omkaar Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 The ring light for what you are after are the more expensive powerful ones made by profoto, Elinchrom and Broncolor. I personally use the profoto 7B version when I need to; great colour consistency and packs loads of power for full length fashion shots. Rent one out and see how you get on with it to buy will cost you about ?3000 with power pack not sure how much in the states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_vincent2 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Check out this new gadget. http://www.flaghead.co.uk/pages/ringflash-intro.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmeyer Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Both Lumedyne and Alien Bees make Ringlights that are very portable. The +/-$600 AB one is about 300ws (with their Vagabond pack) and the +/-$2500 Lumedyne is good for up to 1600ws (the device used to generate 1600ws would be painfully heavy to carry, but a 400ws pack with battery is easily carried in a fanny pack). <p>The AB light is only $325 and the Lumedyne is I think $1200. It's their respective portable power supplies that add to their cost. Note that the Alien Bee is complete with AC power @ $325.00. Quite the bargain... t<p>Let me add that from personal experience, I have found being photographed with a ring light is, at best, unpleasant. In order to make "eye contact" the subject must look directly into the very bright and generally un-diffused light. It actually hurts. Amateurs will complain, pros will want hazardous duty pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_liao Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 "The ring light is very harsh on the eyes and anoying to the subject. What helps a little bit is having the soft reflector for it." Not if you know what you're doing! Check out www.danwintersphoto.com. I love the way he uses his ringlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmeyer Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 as I said, "in order to make eye contact..."<p>Notice how many people in DW's photos are NOT making eye contact with the camera. The ones who do, I'll bet only do it a very few times, and those professional actors know exactly how to "look" when you are ready. Non professional subjects do not have the necessary experience to give you the "look" on demand. Angelina Jolie has "the look" in her sleep. The photographer only has to be ready... t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_liao Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 point taken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Alien Bees ABR-800 test photo<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 eye detail<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 I had the very real pleasure of interviewing Dan Winters a couple of years ago for Professional Photographer magazine. He said he very, very rarely uses a ringlight. More often he gets what you think is a "ringlight" look by using multiple heads. That way he can adjust each source seperately to absolutely control the light to create exactly the effect he wants. The interview is here: http://www.ppmag.com/articles/article.php?article_id=19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igord Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 I dream of using ringlight as a fill light. But I postpone this moment..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmeyer Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 here's me figuring out a fake ringlight fill look... t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmeyer Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 and the photo... t<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob_smith1 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Interesting stuff, all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jd23 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I spotted this thread while searching some answers on ringflash. Here is a tutorial for diy ringflash: http://djure-eng.blogspot.com/2007/09/diy-ringflash.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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