Question: Looking for decent portrait lighting for amateur

Hi, all.

I'm doing some portrait photography, and currently my lighting system
consists of my master flash and a slave flash. Not very versatile.

I'm looking for a good, *not too expensive* lighting system for
amateur portrait shoots.

I spotted this on Ebay. Could anyone offer an opinion?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=280129977743

I don't know nearly enough about this stuff - but if this is a decent
kit (I am making clear note of the lack of warranty, etc.), I wonder
if it'd be worth the asking price.

Thanks!!

BD

"BD" <robert.drea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1183930094.472601.266210@g37g2000prf.googlegr oups.com...
> Hi, all.
>
> I'm doing some portrait photography, and currently my lighting system
> consists of my master flash and a slave flash. Not very versatile.
>
> I'm looking for a good, *not too expensive* lighting system for
> amateur portrait shoots.
>
> I spotted this on Ebay. Could anyone offer an opinion?
>
> http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=280129977743
>
> I don't know nearly enough about this stuff - but if this is a decent
> kit (I am making clear note of the lack of warranty, etc.), I wonder
> if it'd be worth the asking price.

Could be just fine. Do you have the space to set up a small portrait
studio?

Also, you can make your own reflectors and diffusers on the cheap.

On Jul 8, 2:35 pm, "Charles" <charlesschu...@comcast.net> wrote:
> "BD" <robert.d...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1183930094.472601.266210@g37g2000prf.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > Hi, all.
>
> > I'm doing some portrait photography, and currently my lighting system
> > consists of my master flash and a slave flash. Not very versatile.
>
> > I'm looking for a good, *not too expensive* lighting system for
> > amateur portrait shoots.
>
> > I spotted this on Ebay. Could anyone offer an opinion?
>
> >http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=280129977743
>
> > I don't know nearly enough about this stuff - but if this is a decent
> > kit (I am making clear note of the lack of warranty, etc.), I wonder
> > if it'd be worth the asking price.
>
> Could be just fine. Do you have the space to set up a small portrait
> studio?
>
> Also, you can make your own reflectors and diffusers on the cheap.


As to #1 - I'd say yes. I am kind of winging it, in a large-ish
apartment - but I do have the room to put up an 8' wide backdrop (I
do have a basic backdrop rig). This is nothing that I'd advertise in
any professional capacity, but for friends, and friends of friends,
it's okay.

As to #2 - sure. I'm reasonably handy, and have been reading for
awhile about alternative options for materials for such stuff.

I'm just hoping for a quick check as to whether the particular
manufacturer in the ad is reputable, or just shiny junk...

Thanks!

> I'm just hoping for a quick check as to whether the particular
> manufacturer in the ad is reputable, or just shiny junk...

That, I cannot say. Good luck.

On Jul 8, 5:28 pm, BD <robert.d...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, all.
>
> I'm doing some portrait photography, and currently my lighting system
> consists of my master flash and a slave flash. Not very versatile.
>
> I'm looking for a good, *not too expensive* lighting system for
> amateur portrait shoots.
>
> I spotted this on Ebay. Could anyone offer an opinion?
>
> http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=280129977743
>
> I don't know nearly enough about this stuff - but if this is a decent
> kit (I am making clear note of the lack of warranty, etc.), I wonder
> if it'd be worth the asking price.
>
> Thanks!!
>
> BD

I don't know about that particular manufacturer but here's my
thoughts.

You can buy light stands and umbrellas pretty cheap from
bhphotovideo.com or any other reputable retailer.

You might consider getting slave flashes that are of the same brand as
your primary flash and that allow you to keep your TTL metering in
place. You can still adjust their power, etc. and I think it will
give you MORE versatility, not less. You can use at least 3 flashes
that way, maybe more. Plus you can use the flashes for different
things at different times.

Most good flashes allow you to mount the head forward and spin the
bulb 180' backwards into the umbrella.

> Most good flashes allow you to mount the head forward and spin the
> bulb 180' backwards into the umbrella.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Yeah, that's a very good idea. A friend of mine just today pointed
that out. Might be a better solution - couple of small tripods and
umbrellas - I presume that tripod heads can be had which will have the
appropriate thread for a flash...

On Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:24:57 -0700, BD wrote:

> Yeah, that's a very good idea. A friend of mine just today pointed
> that out. Might be a better solution - couple of small tripods and
> umbrellas - I presume that tripod heads can be had which will have the
> appropriate thread for a flash...

You can get a little block that accepts the tripod screw on the
bottom, and resembles a hot shoe on the top (but no contacts),
allowing the flash's foot to slide in, and you'd then lock it in
place and set it up in slave mode, at least for Nikon's SB-600 and
SB-800 speedlights. Other flash units might require a slave module
instead.

ASAAR wrote:

>> Yeah, that's a very good idea. A friend of mine just today pointed
>> that out. Might be a better solution - couple of small tripods and
>> umbrellas - I presume that tripod heads can be had which will have
>> the appropriate thread for a flash...
>
> You can get a little block that accepts the tripod screw on the
> bottom, and resembles a hot shoe on the top (but no contacts),
> allowing the flash's foot to slide in, and you'd then lock it in
> place and set it up in slave mode, at least for Nikon's SB-600 and
> SB-800 speedlights. Other flash units might require a slave module
> instead.

There's a lot he can do with the SB800/600 strobes. Don't forget to
mention:

www.stobist.com





Rita

"ASAAR" <caught@22.com> wrote in message
news:58b593lqjp5rompi5r95uq9vu81nc8stmn@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:24:57 -0700, BD wrote:
>
>> Yeah, that's a very good idea. A friend of mine just today pointed
>> that out. Might be a better solution - couple of small tripods and
>> umbrellas - I presume that tripod heads can be had which will have the
>> appropriate thread for a flash...
>
> You can get a little block that accepts the tripod screw on the
> bottom, and resembles a hot shoe on the top (but no contacts),
> allowing the flash's foot to slide in, and you'd then lock it in
> place and set it up in slave mode, at least for Nikon's SB-600 and
> SB-800 speedlights. Other flash units might require a slave module
> instead.

Hi.

Lighting stands are much better than tripods, they go taller and take up
less floor space, plus the height adjustment can be done by slackening off 1
screw.

The little blocks Asaar mentioned quite often come with a tilt adjustment
between the bottom half and the top half, and often have a means of
attaching a Brolly. They also usually have a threaded block which allows
them to be mounted onto a tripod or flash bracket, and without it they can
go straight onto the top of the stand.

The only problem is their all metal construction, which can sometimes "make"
between the centre contact on the Flash and its side contact. If this
happens with your particular type of Flashgun, you will need to stick some
kind of insulating material onto the bit which fits under that centre
contact.

I have been using this type of arrangemt for years, and it works very well,
but I am using 3rd party Flashes which don't link up to my Camera's TTL
system. So I use a Flash Meter to get the sort of Lighting balance I want,
and the Camera also needs to be set to Manual exposure.

For Studio work, the one place you don't want a Flash is on the Camera.

Roy G

On Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:54:01 GMT, Roy G wrote:

> Lighting stands are much better than tripods, they go taller and take up
> less floor space, plus the height adjustment can be done by slackening off 1
> screw.
>
> The little blocks Asaar mentioned quite often come with a tilt adjustment
> between the bottom half and the top half, and often have a means of
> attaching a Brolly. They also usually have a threaded block which allows
> them to be mounted onto a tripod or flash bracket, and without it they can
> go straight onto the top of the stand.

Nah, I'm not that sophisticated yet. The little adapter block I
have is very small and has nothing to adjust. It's slightly larger
than a bullion cube. I agree about the superiority of lighting
stands, but I got a little 'tabletop' Manfrotto tripod for the
flash, and it's placed on tables, bookcases, refrigerators, etc. I
tried using it on an outdoor wooden table to take panoramic type
shots of a nearby lake, and wow, that can be a 'pain in the neck',
literally, if the table is too low or the bench seats too high.

When I add another SB-600 or SB-800 in a year or two I'll think
about getting the stand and equipment you mentioned. Sometime
before then I think that I'll try experimenting with outdoor passive
lighting equipment, such as the lightweight collapsible silver and
gold backed reflectors. They appear to be capable of producing
better results than using the camera's built-in flash for 'fill
flash'. Have you used them?