Lighting: Strobe vs constant

So, my question is.... What do you like best. Strobe lighting or constant lighting? I have strobe and want constant but I want to know what you all think. Is it best to have both?

Thanks!! Jennifer

Unless you're doing video, stay away from constant. Strobes not only give you heaps of power, but they also give you the ability to change your strobe exposure independent of the ambient exposure, as they aren't affected by shutter speed. There really isn't any reason to use hot lights for still work...

bieber wrote in post #5595576
Unless you're doing video, stay away from constant. Strobes not only give you heaps of power, but they also give you the ability to change your strobe exposure independent of the ambient exposure, as they aren't affected by shutter speed. There really isn't any reason to use hot lights for still work...

what would you suggest for over head lighting?

bieber wrote in post #5595576
There really isn't any reason to use hot lights for still work...

IMO,there are lots of reasons to use constant lighting. However, its not as easy to work with vs strobe, and thus many tend to convince others to stay away. I can understand that, and it makes sense. But if you can live with its limitations, and use those to your advantage, its a great source of light that can open up other creative ideas and opportunities.

I've got a studio full of studio strobes, but I like to use constant lighting as well. It has different properties and a character I like, and its really useful when you want to shoot with slow shutter speeds or wide apertures and the strobes are just too powerful. I also tend to mix strobes and constant lighting a lot for effect. I just like the look of the two mixed together. Also, the tungsten lighting gives a much harder edge than most strobes, so if you really want that sharp edge, tungsten can give it to you.

There are lots of examples of images taken with Tungsten lighting here on my Flickr Set. dedicated to constant lighting.

Constant lighting is cheap enough its reasonable to grab a couple and play with them. You can get 3 500WS lights for about $150 with stands, or $75 if you find them on sale.

JenniferLShort wrote in post #5595587
what would you suggest for over head lighting?

A strobe on a boom. It doesn't matter whether you use strobes or hotlights there, either way you just stick it on a boom...

Thanks all!!!

Strobes and if feel the need to shoot with a constant light, just leave the modeling light on and don't trigger the strobe.

JakPot wrote in post #5598771
Strobes and if feel the need to shoot with a constant light, just leave the modeling light on and don't trigger the strobe.

Will give that a try! When and if I get my constant lighting. Thanks!!

color correction with modeling lights is a pain, and they are usually pretty weak. They barely do their job in giving me a general idea of where the strobe will hit.
Don't forget the newest entry to constant lighting: Fluorescent. Daylight balanced, no color shifting, 1/5th the power needs, a tenth of the heat.

c71clark wrote in post #5601451
Don't forget the newest entry to constant lighting: Fluorescent. Daylight balanced, no color shifting, 1/5th the power needs, a tenth of the heat.

Where can you find the newest lighting?

Start by a search for KinoFlo to get you started.

I've used the Kino Flo lights and they are nice, but pricey and underpowered compared to a strobe. You are still shooting at slower shutter speeds and wider apertures as you would with tungsten for example. But on their plus side they are cooler and use less power.

There is another company out there with a similar product. This one is quite configurable in that you can add additional tubes as needed to increase coverage or power. It was an interesting design, but when I evaluated them for our studio, they were very pricey at the time for the amount of light you would get out of them. I couldn't' see the justification for stills, but it was almost tempting for the video side of the house.

This is covered in the FAQ.

tim wrote in post #5602308
This is covered in the FAQ.

What is covered? If you mean the topic, I wanted othere photographer's opinions and why they felt that way. But thanks for letting me know that.

sfaust wrote in post #5602098
Start by a search for KinoFlo to get you started.

I've used the Kino Flo lights and they are nice, but pricey and underpowered compared to a strobe. You are still shooting at slower shutter speeds and wider apertures as you would with tungsten for example. But on their plus side they are cooler and use less power.

There is another company out there with a similar product. This one is quite configurable in that you can add additional tubes as needed to increase coverage or power. It was an interesting design, but when I evaluated them for our studio, they were very pricey at the time for the amount of light you would get out of them. I couldn't' see the justification for stills, but it was almost tempting for the video side of the house.

Thanks! I need three more light units and one more soft box. I will def. look into these!!

Speedlights are highly portable and fast to set up. But you have to GUESS (or chimp!) to see the effect of lighting setup. So I resort to speedlight for group shots only, where optimizing lighting for one person portrait is not feasible. Studio flash is less portable and slower to set up, but the modelling lights are invaluable for seeing the effect of lighting without taking a shot, so you can optimize light placement while you are constantly altering the pose of the subject!