Well, winter is upon us and outdoor shooting is pretty much over. I am now turning my attention to indoor studio shots. We’re getting lots of calls from high school seniors wanting senior portrait packages as well as families wanting photos taken. Since photography is only a part-time job for us, we shoot our indoor photography right at our private residence. I have an old three head continuous lighting studio system that could use an upgrade. Since our photo shoots are in our home, we need to be able to set up and break down the studio very rapidly.
There seems to be three very important questions to ask with regards to the kind of lighting studio you want to work with.
1.) How much power? – Currently I am using around 300 continuous watts – and while it seemed adequate with my old Minolta (film camera), it doesn’t seem to be enough for the Nikon D300 (digital camera). I’m thinking that about 600 watts should be enough for my small studio.
2.) Continuous or Strobe? Where continuous has some real advantages in ease of use compared to strobes, there are some draw backs as well.
- Most continuous is warm – really warm.
- Cool continuous seems to be pretty expensive.
- Continuous needs to have the option to vary the power. Some are, but again they are more expensive. (Even though you can physically move a light further from the subject to reduce its power – you will also change the quality of the light)
- Strobes typically are variable in power.
- Strobes are harder to use. A light meter is useful.
- To prevent having a synch chord attached to your camera, a radio remote should be purchased that uses your hot shoe to fire.
3.) Umbrellas, Soft Boxes or Both. As far as I can tell, a Soft Box – especially a large one - helps with getting light around the subject. An umbrella seems to be more about the quality of light. (Maybe someone out there can help out with the distinction between these two.)
In the end… I am leaning towards Strobes. I like the JTL light kits, Alien Bees and Wescott. After I finally decide what to get – then I will also need to look hard at new backdrops. – Anyone out there have any suggestions?