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<p>Thanks Rodeo Joe. I wish somebody would have mentioned that on the reviews of the product I bought. Somebody even posted sample head and shoulder shots that looked pretty good. I guess either they were somewhere with lots of natural light or the iso was up to 1600.<br> Right now I swapped out the 45 watt cfl for my speedlight. My speed light seems to be doing a much better job. Any opinions of using one or two speedlights with an umbrella or purchasing the 135 W CFL?<br> Thanks again!</p>

<p>Craig and 2 D -- thanks! I appreciate your helpful suggestions. I am going to bookmark strobist - looks like a great website for what I need. :)</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses. Looks like I just need to accept the CFLs were a mistake. I think I will use my speedlight with the umbrella and save up for a Alien Bees.<br> Thanks again!</p>

<p>So after doing a ton of research and reading reviews on Amazon, I think I still made a mistake. I wanted to set up studio lighting in my basement on a very tight budget just to do school portrait type portraits with my kids. So I purchased the following set up from Amazon... <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NOG2T0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00">Cowboy Studio Kit</a>. Which had two shoot through umbrellas, stands, and 2 45 watt photo light bulbs. I anxiously set everything up and took my first picture and there apparently is no where near enough light for a good portrait -- my auto iso went clear up to like 1600 to get a decent exposure. <br> My basement is beneath ground level and so has no natural light at all. I have a 100 watt cfl in the cealing (silly me, I thought that was going to be too bright).<br> I was using a Nikon D80 with the 50 - 200 zoom. I had it set to 85 mm at 4.5 aperture. And of course Shutter speed to go way way slow. Still the photos were way too dark. <br> So anyway to fix this? Should I give up continuous lighting and just go with speed lights? I have a neewer speedlight. Are there more powerful lights that can go in the umbrella sockets (or more bulbs, like the four socket). Install another overhead light? Is it my lens? I have my eye on the nikon 50 mm f/1.8. <br> Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. <br> PS. I just want to add a pre-thank-you. I think its awesome that experienced photographers take the time to help us amateurs out. :)</p>