I'm still in the beginning stages of photography. I shoot on a part time basis, and other than using my 580EX flash, I utilize natural light as much as possible.

I'm getting ready to take the plunge and purchase some lighting equipment. This will be a first time for me, and I'm looking for some guidance. I shoot w/ a Canon 30D. Was wondering if anyone could suggest softboxes/ lighting to go with for indoor portrait sessions (mostly headshots).

I've heard some local photographers say good things about WestCott, and Alienbee. I would love to know your thoughts on these two products. Or, if there is another product that would be better than either one of these I would like to know about them. I'm looking to spend between $500-$800.

Suggestions please! :-) Thanks in advance for your advice.

Love my AB's...

love them.

For your budget, and getting started, you could get one light, a pair of pocket wizards, a medium softbox or shoot-through umbrella (stands etc...) use a reflector for fill...

That's what I would do. :-)

AB's are excellent for the price, really hard to beat. Christina has good recommendations, for your budget I would recommend a AB 800, heavy duty light stand, umbrella and a pair of pocket wizards. I prefer a regular umbrella to a shoot through but you can always get a convertible that will do both. Eventually you can add a softbox but I would start with umbrellas as they will teach you more about where your light is really pointing that a softbox will. Plus, softbox light is kind of boring when used by itself, imo.

Ebay it, you can find really nice used stuff for pennies on the dollar (people buy it thinking they'll use it and rarely or never do)..... ABs or Photogenics (1250's around $300 used)... Softboxes from westcott, photogenic, photoflex, or even Auroras will work.... You might want to check out some of Dean Collins' videos.... He used to shoot with one light and get the effect of 3 or 4 lights.... As he used to say, "Reach into your mind, before you reach into your wallet"....

Yeah, for your budget I would put most of the money into a light, and then get a modifier like a softlighter.

I'm teaching this at my workshop right now - natural light photographers who want to step into lighting.

I highly recommend the following for you...

Because of your budget, if you can't do the Westcott Apollo 50x50, look at the alien bees collapsible softboxes. If you are traveling, get something collapsible... the WA is great for traveling because it folds up like an umbrella - very easy to work with.

Stick with a large softbox, whatever you do - don't get stuck with simple umbrellas, etc., or you may end up hating the artificial lighting before you even see what you CAN get from it, making it look a bit more natural. I use larson and the Westcott Apollo the most, but I have other modifiers as well.

Alien bees are great for the price. I have 4 of them, and have owned ABs for 4 years, and honestly, I have never had any issues wtih them except every now and then a sync cord goes up - easy fix.

As far as pocket wizards - yes, they are nice, but not totally necessary (I'm looking at your budget and thinking instead of using them, invest in a better softbox instead). I have them, and some days I feel like using them, some days I don't. When I am switching between multiple lights, I usually just grab a sync cord.

Hi Crystal,

I have two AB 1600's and several monlights by photogenic. I can honestly say that I dont notice a difference in the quality or durability between the two. For the cost and quality I'd go with AB's and a light modifier of your choice. Pocket wizards are a nice item to have but not a neccessity.

Jim

i strongly disagree. sync cords are not only out-dated, but they're a pain in the ass. also, once you're shotting with packs (much better and much easier) you'll want to have the best triggers available... pocket wizard receivers are built into a few top-brand packs nowadays.

get a set of the PW Plus II Transceivers, you won't regret it.

also, i dont know if you have a light meter, but check out the Sekonic L358 on B&H (www.bhphoto.com) it's a great meter that doesn't break the bank, and can be wireless enabled with a $50 pocket wizard module.

Good luck!

Ummmm Trevor... yes, sync cords are "outdated" but if someone is on a very strict budget, they are not a complete necessity the minute they get their lights - it is definitely something that you can get later on after you start out learning your lights. Personally, I would think if you line up the priorities in that budget, the PWs can slide down the list, at least for the line-up of first purchases.

I shot with sync cords only for about 3 years until I finally got PWs... and again, I have to say I don't use the PWs 100% of the time, so to me personally, they aren't a complete necessity - if I had to choose between better modifiers or another strobe vs. a PW, I would choose the better modifier or another strobe before the PWs and put the PWs on the next big purchase list.

It all depends on what you place your priorities in... if someone is *JUST STARTING* with lights, they need some time to learn their lights anyway.... I wouldn't tell someone to get "packs" right out of the starting gate either... I woudl advise them to take some time and learn their equipment with each step they make.

She specifically said she was doing portrait headshots... nothing wrong with using a sync cord for a while with doing them... her budget of $500-800 is not very much, so I would definitely consider that.

I recommend reading Strobist head to toe and then check out one of the Strobist kits on Midwest Photo exchange.

I went to a Strobist seminar in Paris last month and can mimic any Studio setup with my 2 580ex, an old Nikon Speedlight and another cheap flash I got from Ritz Camera. I can also fit everything in a small duffel bag and take it anywhere.

Sean

I used sync cords for the first few months of our business. I was always nervous of kids tripping over them (we do lots of kids) that the PocketWizards quickly made it to the top of the list.

But really, it depends on what you're doing. I've been using umbrellas for four years and don't hate artificial light. I got an Apollo softbox and really can't figure it out. I'm really slow sometimes, but it would take me 1/2 hour to get it set up and then it was a real PITA to change anything on the AB800 it was attached to. I must be missing something.

For me, one shoot-through umbrella for the main, and one 60" bounce for the fill works very well.

adam - great point to be made with the pocket wizards vs. sync cord - the PWs are so worth it to reduce the liability of someone tripping over a sync cord!

as far as softboxes - it should NEVER take you 30 minutes to set one up - look into photoflex boxes - they are really nice. I have the Q39 series in three different sizes - very easy to set up and nice quality overall.

Budget..... How about photo slaves? You can pick some up on ebay for less than $20... Since it's in your studio (i.e. dark), they shouldn't be a problem.... Plus most of the mainlights (I know photogenic has them) have built in photo-sensitive slaves so you only have to trigger your main with a sync cord, or as it's been suggested ONE Pocket Wizard, or even a cheaper versions of radio slaves.... I know there are threads about these on this forum somewhere...... Hope this makes sense....

Adam: want to sell your Apollo?