What kind of lighting kits?
 

What types of lighting kits work best for you guys? For still type photography. Looking for good quality, mid priced stuff.

www.alienbees.com go cant go wrong with them

Awesome link...some nice packages...

Are the flash lights the best? Or is it easier (better) to have the constant light?

the hot lights can affect makup and make the girls uncomfortable. If you need constant you can go with Kino Flo's but they are not cheap and you can't shoot very fast with them. The Alien Bees Strobes sound right for you.

Do you want to shoot video in the future? If not, small portable strobes taht run off batteries would work well for a variety of locations.

If you had lighting, would you still need a softbox

Batts

i concur with the alien bee suggestion...also, models are usually more comfortable in front of strobes - there is a reason they call continuous lighting "Hot Lights" !


:)

i like a softbox for flash - but using a shoot-through white umbrella has almost the same effect with constant lighting. if you might shoot video, try a tungsten lighting kit. you can turn the lights off when you don't actually need them.

hopefully this link works:
b & h photo rocks!
they have lighting kits starting at very low prices - and going up to very high prices *lol*

We Run Balcar and DynaLite Strobes with PLUME and Chimera Softboxes
Balcar can be a bit pricey, but most of ours are 12 - 18 years old with well over a million exposures on the systems

Would seriously recommend these units if you?re going to do any type of volume:

POWER PACKS:
Balcar A3200 4-Head Asymmetrical Power Pack - Price Each: $4,799.00

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...ype=P RDINDEX

STROBE HEADS
Balcar Power Z Flash Head - Price Each $799.99
Go with 5 ? 6 heads for an average lighting set up

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...ype =PRDINDEX

Run 2 heads per pack with Pocket Wizards as your triggers.

If Balcar is too pricey go with Dyna-Lite:

Dyna-Lite M1000wi Power Supply with Built-in Receiver ? Price each $1,149 per pack
(Get three packs to start with so you can run enough power to light a medium size set.)

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...ype=PR DINDEX

STROBE HEADS:
Dyna-Lite 2040 Blower Cooled Flash Head ? Price each $377.50 (Get about 6 of them ? 2 per pack)

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...ype=PR DINDEX

LIGHT MODIFIERS:
http://www.plumeltd.com/wafer.htm

We use 2 Plume Wafer 200 (190 x 135 by 65cm deep) as Main and fill with a Wafer Strip 140 (135 x 50 by 50cm deep) as a hair light over head

Then a 7" Reflector with a 20 degree Grid with 1/4 CTO on it as a kicker

Produces a Kick ass light when shot with the Canon 1Ds Mach II camera

Would highly recommend this setup for any serious shooter as we have used it for nearly 20 years. Should be able to do the whole set up for about $14,000 to $23,000 or so and it will last!

mole richardson and hensel - end of story

Ahhh yes another game of whip out....

would you shoot a squirrel with Remington 600 Nitro Express?

Would you shoot a charging Rhino With a Benjamin Pellet rifle?

Every job has its tools, a professional knows how to match the tools to the job.
Without knowing your job how could I recommend the appropriate tool?

this thread wouldn't be complete without a pic of Skufty's balls

http://www.hjorleifson.com/skufty/balls.jpg

Skufty can suck my salty balls.

Elinchrom 400 BX monolights are unbelievable.

Been shooting forever with profoto top of the line, but these little suckers rock.

$500 per monolight 400 ws and adjustable in tenth of stop increments. I just don't think there is a better deal on the market today, cuz Elichrom is the shit.