Studio Lights

[vimerla]

This is my second year of a second shooter at weddings. As from this year, my boss also started giving me small weddings so that I start shooting by myself.

In a couple of weeks I am going to start setting up my home studio. The size is very limiting (10ft wide by 23ft long) but at least it's a start.

At the moment I am looking for advice regarding studio lights. What shall I buy? Shall I start with a kit? How much light power do I need? There are kits of 480W, 600W, 1800W and even 2600W. For sure, I do not to have a "hot" setup where the lights are on all the time.

TIA

[tim]

Did you read the FAQ?

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138912

[Curtis N]

Whenever you ask "What shall I buy?", it always helps to know where in the world you're located.

[Rudi]

Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit. For your studio space, that is way more than enough power.

[DaveG]

This is my second year of a second shooter at weddings. As from this year, my boss also started giving me small weddings so that I start shooting by myself.

In a couple of weeks I am going to start setting up my home studio. The size is very limiting (10ft wide by 23ft long) but at least it's a start.

At the moment I am looking for advice regarding studio lights. What shall I buy? Shall I start with a kit? How much light power do I need? There are kits of 480W, 600W, 1800W and even 2600W. For sure, I do not to have a "hot" setup where the lights are on all the time.

TIA

For what it's worth I just got a pair of Alien Bee 1600's (600 w/s or thereabout). They are nicely controllable so they could be used in your home studio. They also have a fair bit of horsepower and I used them for lighting a large (80 people) group shot. The lower powered AB's would save money but probably not in the long run.

As for your studio the limiting factor could turn out to be the ceiling height rather than the square footage. The easiest way to get rid of eye glass reflection is to raise your lights, and in a low room this could be difficult. And if you are planning on doing summer portraiture you should probably look into getting a really good air conditioner. If your client is uncomfortable it's unlikely that you'll get a good shot.