Advice regarding portable LED lighting

I'm planning on getting into portrait/people/modell​ing shots. From what I know, my cousin has taken some pretty nice shots using natural lighting but from common sense, that can't be the case all the time.

So I was looking into investing one of these http://www.7dayshop.co​m …=777_1&products​_id=109451 and also the price really appeals to me.

Would this be suitable for lighting people faces and do people on here have any examples of pictures taken with that or something similar?

Let me start off with indicated that the light requirements for video are MUCH lower than for still photography.

For example:

A DSLR video shooting 1080p video shoots at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. That equals a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second.

A still shoot in a DSLR with a flash, or even continuous lighting is usually shot at about 1/125 at a minimum.

So you can see there is a huge difference in the amount of light required for the same exposure.

That product in your URL link is meant for video, not stills. That light is meant for doing an interview where the subject is about 3 feet in from of a camcorder. It would be very under powered for still photography.

They do make very high powered continuous LED lights. Think Hollywood movie budgets. These high powered LED lights can cost up to $20K and up. So they do make LED lights that could be used for portraits, but the cost would be so high, you could get a set of high-end pro level strobes for much less.

So, what you really need is a strobe, not a LED.

For an very inexpensive strobe, you can go with something lie a $300 Alien Bee or a Canon $400 Speedlight. Then you have to decide your budget for how many lights will you need, usually portrait work utilizes at least two -- one as a main light and another as a fill or hairlight. Some setups require 4-5 lights. You style could also be just one light. So the point is you need to research lighting techniques to decide which style you prefer, but the best way to start is with an inexpensive strobe light -- and not an LED light.

Ah thank you But what about for portability? For instance (excuse this as probably the most amateur question ever asked on this forum) Is there some sort of remote flash that could be placed behind the subject whilst the camera's own flash does its thing too?

Sure, They are called wireless triggers.

You can attach a trigger to a stobe or a Speedlight. Strobes usually run off of AC, but you can buy external batteries. If you want small and portable, then a Speedlight flash is the answer, they already run on batteries.

What camera are you using?

To decide what triggers you should buy depends on your camera and your budget. Low cost triggers start at about $60 a pair and go up about $400 a pair.

High-end Speedlight = $400
Low-end Speedlight = $150 (roughly)

I'm using a newly acquired Canon 400D and I will check out those Speedlight Flashes!

Ok, now do some research about "Off Camera Flash".

The flash that is built into camera will always have a particular look, a straight on flash.

Moving the flash off camera to the side it a different, more pleasing lighting technique.
So you won't be using the built-in flash on the camera. So a two light off camera setup, requires you to get two lights.

Then you get a wireless trigger you place on your camera, and then two wireless transceivers on each flash. Then when you place your two flashes off camera, your camera will talk to the two flashes.

Thank you again and I'm on it!

Also, what about Slave flashes or a 'slave' controller? If you could enlighten me please

Start here.

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com/2006/03/lightin​g-101.html

Usually the term "slave" refers to when one flash is set to master, and the other is "slave" mode.

If you get wireless triggers, it it best to use all flashes in manual mode. This way you set exactly what light power you want on each flash directly - AND you learn what you are doing with each flash, and you don't have to worry about master and slave.

The high end standard for wireless triggers are Pocket Wizard. So if you buy top of the line Canon 580EXII Speedlights and Pocket Wizard wireless triggers, that is a pro level portable setup.

If you want cheaper, you can get a Canon 480 flash and Cactus V5 triggers.

My advise is to save and get the 580/Pocket Wizard combo, and then learn with that gear. If it doesn't work out, that gear has high resale value if you want to sell them in the future.

Appreciate it guys