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Post by julieinmd on Nov 11, 2014 21:42:16 GMT
Maybe we can get this board going. I feel like I am very capable when taking photos outdoors in natural light now, but I've been asked from time to time to take indoor photos. I absolutely hate it when people ask me that because chances are I am not going to be able to get great photos. The trouble is, I don't know how exactly to do it. I have some old continuous hot lights that my husband got me from Ritz long ago and I have fooled with them a bit. Unfortunately the bulbs get very hot and it is pretty uncomfortable for people who are being photographed. I also have a terrible yellow cast to my photo no matter what white balance I set my camera on. That means I spend a lot of time correcting things in Photoshop. I've tried using a flashgun with a diffuser, with mixed results. I've read advice from many experts like Scott Kelby and other portrait photographers but I still feel undecided. I'd love to get the quality of light for indoor portraits that this photographer ( ittybittyportraits.com) achieves but I just don't know how. I'm willing to practice until I get it but I don't have an endless amount of money to spend trying different lighting set ups. Does anyone here have any suggestions for equipment? Would I be better off with strobe lights or continuous lights? I'm open to any advice. |
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Apr 24, 2024 5:02:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 4:53:38 GMT
You have lots of options. Strobes vs continuous lights is a personal choice. Unfortunately the best way to figure it out is a chance to use both. Maybe you can find someone that will let you work with theirs for a shoot or two. Alien Bees are the industry pro "standard" pricey but loaded with features. I have a set of "Interfit" that I like quite a lot (I get to use the alien bees at school so I have been able to compare) The AB (alien bees) are fan cooled so you can turn them on and go all day. My set of Interfit are not fan cooled. Which is why they are considerably cheaper than the AB. It means at an ambient room temp of 74 degrees I have to stop about every 45 minutes to let them cool down (they get to acting funky and not responding to my trigger when they get too warm) But, for me I'm usually ready for a short break by that point anyway. If I were running a pro studio doing commercial work it would be a problem. Both the AB and the Interfit are daylight balanced so I don't get weird color casts from them. Whatever you choose look for bulbs that are in the 5600k range (white light)for "color temperature" Above that gets blue tones and under that gets yellow tones. This is different than wattage. For wattage go as high as your budget can afford. Studio strobes can be turned down to give off less light but you can't turn them up more than their max output. I've got one 400 watt light I use for my main light and two 200 watt ones I use for fill/hair lights as needed. www.interfitphotographic.com/sections/ex-studio-flashes.htmlYou can also use a standard hotshoe flash on a light stand with an umbrella (much cheaper) and a remote trigger. A couple of resources if you haven't found them yet are strobist.blogspot.com and my favorite book is This is Strobist Info by Dustin Diaz. I love that he shows the final photo then shows how he set it up. |
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Post by julieinmd on Nov 14, 2014 0:23:47 GMT
Wow! This is terrific information! I'm off to look at the book by Dustin Diaz. I really appreciate you taking the time to share all this with me. It is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. You are awesome!
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