Suggestions for lighting set-up?

[jackie_boldt]

I have recently decided to convert my studio set-up to modeling/continuous

lighting, instead of strobe flash. I don't know exactly where to start looking

for a good product. I definitely want enough wattage and also want the option

to do strobes if the situation asks for it. I primarily shoot families & kids,

but I also shoot seniors and other portraits.

 

Does anyone have any reasonably priced suggestions? I've been looking at

Photogenic & Photoflex products. Any feedback on those two brands? I am

looking at getting one larger softbox and one medium softbox, as well as a

couple of continuous lighting units. I might purchase a strip light as well,

but that depends on how much I spend on the new lights and softboxes.

 

Thanks!

[cindyp]

Hi, Jackie! I'm also starting out and wanted to add a question to yours if you don't mind. I found a site that sells the brand Vu-Pro which is relatively inexpensive...does anyone have any feedback on that brand as well?

[seismiccwave]

It takes a lot of incandescent light to equal to a strobe. I found that using at least 1000 watt

lamps on each side of the subject I have to use a fairly large aperture opening and slow

shutter speed. Also the continuous lighting is very hot. I am using Photoflex 1000 watts and

they work fine with the limitation mentioned above.

[bob_sunley]

Search Photo.net http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NMxz

[bob_sunley]

On average a 1000 watt lamp is about equal to a very small on camera flash. A reasonable on camera flash, 100watt/second output in 1/1000 of a second, Nikon SB600 or similar, is approximately the same amount of light as twenty five 1,000 watt lamps and a shutter speed of 1/250 second.

 

Halogen lights are ok, but you will want 4 or 5 units and as Hansen Tsang said, you are shooting wide open at 1/30 of a second or so.

 

There are metal halide arc lamps available, much higher output than halogen, but at a very high cost. These are the same type of bulbs as used in video projectors.

 

For safety, client comfort and an affordable electricity bill, strobes are the way to go.

 

Not to mention the cost of airconditioning, rewiring and heavy duty extension cords for each lamp all the way back to individual wall outlets for each lamp.

[giggles]

I shoot 80% children with some senior and families. I use an Alien Bee 800 for my main light and a 400 for my fill. I have been very pleased with the results and price.

[barry_kenstler1]

Jackie,

 

When you say "strobe flash", do you mean on-camera type strobes, and when you say "modeling lighting", do you mean studio strobes with modeling lights? I'm a bit confused. Personally, I prefer to use flash to freeze motion, especially when shooting kids. In my experience, if you use continuous lighting and normal ISO capture/film, you'll stand a chance of getting some frames that are blurry from subject motion. Certainly, there are places for continuous lighting, tungsten or daylight balanced, but for general studio use I much prefer flash.

 

I've used both Photogenic and Photoflex gear. My experiences with Photogenic are mixed. I think their Powerlights are built like tanks and I like both the Quick-Change accessory system and the friction locking system. I've made many good photos with Powerlights, and, in general, I like them. On the down side, I've had three monolights that required repairs, and I find their accessories a bit on the pricy side.

 

Photoflex softboxes produce a good quality of light and are relatively inexpensive. I worked for a while at a studio that used only Photoflex modifiers and they beat them up pretty badly. If you are going to just assemble the boxes and leave them up in your studio space, then Photoflex should do the trick. If you are going to break them down and reassemble them on a frequent basis, such as for location work, I might go for a box with a somewhat heavier construction, such as a Chimera or Plume.

 

The Alien Bees provide about as good a value as you'll get in monolights. I don't use them, but many do and seem quite satisfied. There are plenty of good monolights out there. The Photogenics are fine, but if you'll be spending that much, you might also consider Calumet/Bowens, Profoto, Elinchrom, Speedotron, Hensel or Norman.

[nathan_stiles]

There's got to be some vocab confusion here: there's no reason to convert a strobe studio to a contonious if you can't afford cinema quality HMI, CDM, or HID Lighting.

 

Hotshoe flash, I'm guessing is what you mean instead of strobe.

 

Modeling lamps/lights are added to strobes, but are not meant for exposure-- they are very small 100-250w light and may give you a 1/3 f-stop? Continous lights, are not modeling lights, but normally called hot lights when they are tungsten like the below.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/224937-REG/Photogenic_908650_1200W_Open_Face_Tungsten.html

 

If you use continous set up like the above, you'll either be shooting in high ISO and wide apetures, or you'll be heating your subjects something fierce. You also don't want to mix Tungsten w/ color corrected strobes.

[jackie_boldt]

Ok, so I'm not really polished on my studio lighting vocabulary. :) That's something I'm working on perfecting.

 

I currently have a pair of Alien Been 800s. It does have a modeling light function, however it is by no means powerful enough for a higher aperture. I guess I'm looking for a couple of hot lights with a larger softbox & a medium softbox. I'm thinking I'm going to need to supplement with a separate strobe flash (not on-camera flash) if I want to have a higher aperture for more active kids. Is there nothing on the market that will do both the hot lights & strobe flash?

 

Thanks!

[bob_sunley]

Still not quite understanding you. the modeling lights are just that, they show an approximate light pattern of the flash tube. They aren't normally used for photography.

 

Normally you never mix affordable hot(continuous) lights, which are high output (1000 watt) halogen lamps with studio flashes like your AB800s.

 

If you want a large softbox, get a couple of larger AB1600 units. They put out twice the light of your 800's.

 

There are hot lamps that will work with strobes, both are xenon arc lamps. For the continuous hot lamp style xenon arc lamps, expect to spend $2k or more per lamp. These lamps are usually used when shooting motion pictures or video, not still photography.

 

There is nothing that does both hot lamp and studio flash in one unit.

[jackie_boldt]

This might help if I post an example of what I'm looking to do:

 

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Equipment_Lessons/Soft_Boxes___Continuous/SilverDome/Casual_Portrait_2/index.html

 

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Equipment_Lessons/Soft_Boxes___Continuous/SilverDome/Consistent_Portraits/index.html

[barry_kenstler1]

Jackie,

 

The Alien Bees you have should provide more than enough light for these kinds of photos, unless you have to shoot at f16 or higher. I shoot shots like the ones shown in the links with less power than you already have. I'm not quite sure why you want to go with continuous lighting. Mixing a flash with continuous lighting, unless it's daylight balanced, such as HMI, will require color compensating gels. If you don't balance the two, the areas illuminated by flash will be much bluer than the areas covered by the continuous (tungsten, halogen). I guess I'm still not getting what you want to do. I'd just get another Alien Bee unit, so you stay in the family ( color temperature and accessories match).

[bob_sunley]

Do you already have the softboxes for the flash heads you already own? If so buy hotlamps that will fit them unless there is a fire hazard with them.

 

Note in the portrait section of the man, they are using 3,000 watts of hot lamps. Note how close the light units are to the subjects, mostly to give a decent exposure with the light available.

 

You do need one 15amp circuit breaker on your power panel to feed each outlet for each 1500 watts of lamps, as you can put one 1,000 and a 500 watt on one circuit. For 4 1,000 watt lamps, you need four circuit breakers. How many separate circuits feed the outlets are in your studio area now.

 

I looked at the bulb stats, a 1000 watt bulb costs $50, lasts 150 hours and puts out enough light for f2 at 1/30 sec at distance of 10 ft. I assume that is with iso 100 setting and in a normal reflector, not a softbox. Id guess the exposure for the portrait is around f2.8 at 1/60sec assuming iso 100.

 

Light output, economy of use and no heat are why studios went to strobes 40 years ago.

[seismiccwave]

How are you triggering the Alien Bees? I also use Alien Bees 800s and they provide way more

light than I need. You can adjust the power output on the 800s. I am using mostly the lower

end of the power output at around f5.6 to f8. I also use a large soft box with the 800s.

 

I don't think you need anything else if you have a pair of Alien Bees.