I'm probably going to be getting into shooting people now instead of just landscapes and etc. I was looking into buying some lights and just curious if anyone is using any on here? If so what type of setup do you run?

 

It all depends on the subject matter you wish to capture. Personally I like tungsten lighting with fill flash from either a ring or close proximity umbrella for capturing people. Flash units or strobes tend to capture a lot of pupil and you lose the intensity of the eyes because there is little or no color. Using tungsten lighting with either a soft box or defuser will help.

 

Yeah I pretty much planned on getting a softbox at some point. I figured a one light setup would get me by for a while until I can collect some more stuff. I just wasn't sure what I should start off with exactly. It'll mostly be portrait shots and some full body shots for girls with modeling portfolios and some other local artists that want new shots for publicity and etc.

 

I use an Alien Bee B800 and a Canon 580EX and 420EX as a slave. I prefer this set up since it's fairly portable. I don't do much as far as studio type of work so my lighting needs are basic.

I prefer using an umbrella over a softbox due to the catchlight. The softbox creates a squarish catchlight whereas the umbrella creates a rounder one.

 

Yeah I've been looking at the Alien Bee setups. They seem to be a really good deal on the equipment but I wasn't sure how good they were. I've been lurking on FredMiranda and it sounds like they are good just shipping is a pain from Canada. I went and played with the Canon 30D yesterday and had them put me a bigger lens than just the lens kit on it. I think that's what I'll end up using, I need to buy some stuff within the next month since now I have people calling me asking about shoots because they saw some of my old b&w stuff