Basic lighting kit for indoor photography?

December 6, 2005 11:25 AM

Basic lighting kit for indoor (mostly portrait-in-setting) photography?

I somehow have become the official photographer at my job, though I know almost nothing about camera equipment. I am happily learning as I go.

I often am requested to take photos of someone to accompany a magazine article or other print publication. While I can always trot the subject outside, now that winter is here I would like to be able to take indoor shots as well.

Advice on purchasing lighting/flash equipment? I am using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera. Obviously I will need more than just a single flash (ghastly for portraits). What would be a good, basic setup that isn't TOO expensive, but also won't fall apart with lots of use?

Also, I don't want to have to use a portraiture backdrop, so lighting the room/background will also be important.

Something with a festive parasol attachment? Radio-controlled strobes? Where do I start?

posted by CaptApollo to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

AlienBees.com is a great place to start.
posted by undertone at 12:06 PM on December 6, 2005

Go to alienbees.com and check out their stuff. I own a few of their lights and have been pleased with them. Most folks who've talked to them find them very knowledgeable and helpful, so you might just pick up the phone and ask your question of them. Their rep is good as you'll see by reading most photography forums who cater to serious amateurs.

Off the top of my head, you'd need at least two strobes. You can use an on board flash to trigger them or you can go with the sync cable that comes with the lights. Radio control is another option, but not necessary at this point in your "career."

Also, invest in a decent light meter. Even if you don't know how to use it, ocassionally holding it front of someone's face will make you look like you're a pro (I kid... it's a very useful tool).

Not sure what you consider expensive, but for this amateur (with champagne tastes and a Budweiser budget) I managed three strobes with the basic accouterments (stands, unbrellas, etc). Perosnally, I prefer to spend money once.
posted by friezer at 12:07 PM on December 6, 2005

A single Speedlight firing into an umbrella should make an acceptable portrait, although a pair of them would be even better. A backdrop and a modelling stool are nice if you are not using natural backgrounds. As for a single on-camera flash, I think you would be amazed at how well they work if used with a simple bounce diffuser, especially if you can get that flash off of the camera and hold it off to the side. There is a trade-off between quality and mobility here. If you will keep everything in the same place you take the portraits I would go for the two light, two umbrella set-up.
posted by caddis at 12:21 PM on December 6, 2005

Don't rule out that free lightsource, 90 odd million miles from here, the sun. If you have a nice big window you can use that light (during certain times of the day) for some really nice portraiture. White sheets work as diffusers and foamcore as reflectors can really help out.

Actually any light source can be made more useful if you go with a reflector(s) of some sort. If you buy them, you can buy different colors (gold, silver, white) to accent certain skin tones and features if you want.

If natural light is not an option, the alienbees monolights are really nice, and very sensibly priced. Start out with an umbrella, then try out a softbox later on.

If you're shooting B&W film, it doesn't care much about color temperature of lighting, so you can use worklights from home depot. Although it's probably better to not use incandescent/halogen if your subject is a person/living thing/"meltable", to avoid cooking your subject. I got a really nice fluorescent worklight from CostCo that I use for small black and white still lifes.
posted by GreenTentacle at 12:25 PM on December 6, 2005

I'm currently shopping for a digital SLR, and I keep reading about a feature that the D70 is touted for -- the ability to act as a "commander flash" ("flash commander"?). It isn't relevant to what I want to do, so I haven't retained any of the info, but it seems like it would be appropriate for your slave flash setup.

so, uhh, google amongst yourselves and report back as to what it really is/does :)
posted by misterbrandt at 12:53 PM on December 6, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks friezer! I'd be interested to know what forums you think would be helpful too, since you mention them. I keep finding either "start by taking the lens cap off" type forums, or ones that go straight into bamboozling acronym-talk. Thanks for the advice so far!
posted by CaptApollo at 1:21 PM on December 6, 2005

A quick note just in case. I have a Canon 20D and when I rented a set of strobes I had to get a radio slave to sync them as I was told that hooking my 20D up directly to the pack via synch cord would fry it's delicate internal organs. No idea if this is also the case with the Nikons but it might warrant some investigation.
On that note - renting is a great way to try out a bunch of different setups to get a sense of what you want/need. If I were you and this was my job - I'd rent a set of lights on a Friday - play with them over the weekend in my house taking pictures of whatever friend of family would oblige until I figured out strobe position/intensity that worked for a good portrait before I sat my co-worker on Monday.
Your profile doesn't say where you are - but most major cities have rental houses. I think my weekend rental ran about 60 bucks for stands, umbrellas lights and a pack.
Buy a light meter - a good digital light meter - the one in your camera is fine for natural light - but a handheld meter really is a necessity when dealing with strobes.
posted by Wolfie at 1:29 PM on December 6, 2005

Oh - and I took a photographic lighting class at the local community college. Cheap, fun and did a fair bit to demystify one of the trickiest parts of taking good photographs. If there is something like this near you - I'd reccomend that as well.
posted by Wolfie at 1:31 PM on December 6, 2005

You'll likely find a set of studio flash units, such as the Alien Bees, easier to use than multiple Speedlights because they have modelling lights that allow you to judge how you're lighting your subject before you take the shot. Nikon's SB-800 has a modelling light capability - it strobes the flash for about three seconds - but in practice it's not very effective.

On the other hand using Speedlights such as the SB-800 or SB-600 that form part of Nikon's Creative Lighting System will fully automate the exposure calculation - and do it well - so you don't really need a flash meter.

If you're going to be spending most of your time taking portraits of single people in a comparatively small space then be careful you don't get a flash that's too powerful for your purposes. While the vast majority of studio flash units allow you to turn the power down - often to around 1/32nd - something like the Alien Bees B1600 would have way too much power, even when using an umbrella or softbox.
posted by arc at 1:44 PM on December 6, 2005

The lighting section of this blog post should compliment the answers you've already received nicely.

My recommendation for you is to avoid strobes and lean towards natural (best) or hot (second best) light if you can. The metering is much simpler, and the cost is way lower. Shooting digital, you will have no problem applying the right color correction in software to eliminate casts due to hotlight temperatures. The downside is that the hotlights are, well, hot - but it isn't much of a problem for portrait photography in my experience.

A D70 will work splendidly for your purposes. You are most of the way there. Have fun!
posted by blindcarboncopy at 1:55 PM on December 6, 2005

Strobes are actually not that necessary for portraiture because people are not going to be moving very much. I have had good results using available light. For supplemental lighting, have a look for daylight-balanced ("full spectrum") fluorescent lights. There are some models that are pretty cheap and they work great for filling in, because they match daylight and your on-camera flash.

The advantage to not using strobes is that you can see what the lighting looks like without taking a picture, which aids immeasurably when setting up the lighting.

The trick for portraiture is to make the light source as BIG as possible. This makes the shadows soft, which smooths out the texture of the subject's skin and doesn't draw attention to their jutting features. This is what umbrellas and softboxes are for, and this is why people are suggesting strobes, but you can often rig something that works with a standard light using a diffusing substance (such as tissue paper) or bouncing the light off a ceiling or sheet of white foamcore. Using a window (with some diffusion such as a sheet) works too.

Speaking of which, if you have a standard-height white ceiling, it's worth bouncing your flash off the ceiling. Even with an on-camera flash, you can bounce using a white index card positioned appropriately in front of the flash.
posted by kindall at 2:09 PM on December 6, 2005 [1 favorite]

The cheapest way to handle this is to get a reflector. They make some nice 2-in-1 or 5-in-1 round ones that fold up and are quite portable. Actually, cheaper than that is reflect off a large piece of white cardboard.
posted by matildaben at 3:06 PM on December 6, 2005

Wolfie, you got ripped off if they charged you extra for the radio slave. The 20D (and the Rebel XT) have a 250v sync voltage. The Rebel and some other low-end cameras only have a 6v sync voltage and need a Wein Safe Sync or wireless lead, but with a 20D and XT you can safely hook up high voltage strobes. At least, that's what Bob Atkins says.

Note that if you're using a flash slave (peanut) to fire the strobes, you may need to get a digital one to ignore the TTL preflash.

I've acquired a few Canon speedlites over the years, and these work very in wireless slave mode for portrait photography when coupled with some stands and umbrellas. I wouldn't use them if you're shooting every day, but they're very flexible and portable. I don't know if the Nikons are similarly attractive.
posted by Caviar at 3:16 PM on December 6, 2005

Start with a window. Then, add a single, camera-mounted flash with a bounce card. You can do quite a bit with both of those, before you bill the company for all the snazzy gear mentioned above. Your beancounters will thank you.
posted by MrZero at 10:01 PM on December 6, 2005

I understand why everyone is suggesting the window route, but I take issue with it. You'll find that there's only a certain time of day you get the light you really need (which isn't very conducive to meeting a deadline). Natural light produces wonderful images, but lights (strobes or hotlights) are infinitely more controllable... and once you get the hang of how to use them, you can shoot at a moment's notice.

As for forums, I spent most of my time at fredmiranda.com. The signal to noise ratio was always very high and the quality of work from the regulars was very good. A bunch of nice, knowledgeable folks... just like here on the green.
posted by friezer at 3:35 AM on December 7, 2005