Portrait lighting help?

[potblack]

Hi, i am completely new to all of this.. and i am very keen to learn. I am getting lost every few minutes when there are so many things to learn. I will try to keep it short in hope that i actually get some help.

I really enjoy taking portraits and showing emotion in facial expressions. I dont know where to start with Lighting, flashes, umbrella's.. etc etc, and i dont know which of these things are essential to start off.

I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on cheap (well cheap-ish) flashes.. lighting and what not. I have just bought a canon 1000D twin lens kit and i only ever take pictures outdoors because i love the lighting and dont know how to get that result indoors. Also, what is on my 'Need to get' list on accessories for newcomers?

I have attached a few pictures on the lighting i usually get whilst outdoors, and if someone can fill me in on what is best for this kind of picture indoors.. i will be so thankful.

Thanks, and im so happy i have found such a great, helpful website!
Ohh and if the lighting in my pictures is not good, please let me know.. i need some help in every aspect!

Shell x

My Collection.

[zona5101]

You images are nice. Since you like to shoot outdoors with natural light, have you thought about using a reflector rather than lighting?

Back on equipment, if you want a high degree of portability and lower cost then you are headed in the direction of "strobist" using battery powered shoe mount strobes off camera. Essentially need a flash, an umbrella or modifier of ome type and a way to trigger the flash.

Lots of choices for the flash...new used... vivitar 285... nikon sb24, sb25s etc...pretty much any well made flash that you can manually set the power output.

[potblack]

Thanks for replying,
Well to tell you the truth, i dont know ANYTHING about lighting, reflectors etc.. but i would really love to learn. I bought a reflector ages ago on sale.. its interchangable (with a silver cover, gold, black, & white covers) which cover will be better? Im still trying to understand the little bits and pieces.

As for top mounted flashes, is it a bad idea to buy one off ebay? should i stick to well known brands? and do the power inputs change on different models?

Sorry for 100 questions, but this is the closest to understanding that ive been yet!

Thanks again!

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by potblack

Thanks for replying,
Well to tell you the truth, i dont know ANYTHING about lighting, reflectors etc.. but i would really love to learn. I bought a reflector ages ago on sale.. its interchangable (with a silver cover, gold, black, & white covers) which cover will be better? Im still trying to understand the little bits and pieces.

As for top mounted flashes, is it a bad idea to buy one off ebay? should i stick to well known brands? and do the power inputs change on different models?

Sorry for 100 questions, but this is the closest to understanding that ive been yet!

Thanks again!

The color of the reflector you use will depend on the color of light you want reflected onto your subject.

For your main flash, I'd suggest sticking with a Canon flash for your uses. It will give you the most flexibility and consistent output (imo). However, Sigma makes decent flashes (I've been told but never used one.) for less money.

And, yes, the amount of light a flash outputs varies depending on model.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by potblack

Thanks for replying,
I bought a reflector ages ago on sale.. its interchangable (with a silver cover, gold, black, & white covers) which cover will be better?

As Gadget says the cover will depend on what you want to do. White will be mostly a neutral color influence. Gold will warm, silver will be brighter. The size of the reflector will make a difference too. It is a light source, so bigger will produce softer, wrap around light just like increasing the size of the umbrella or softbox .

Originally Posted by potblack

As for top mounted flashes, is it a bad idea to buy one off ebay? should i stick to well known brands? and do the power inputs change on different models?

ebay is ebay. I have bought stuff there and not had a problem by sticking to experienced, well rated sellers. Keeping with a well known brand is a good idea because they will tend to be better built. Power inputs? not sure i understand this, for portable flash the power source will be batteries. If you mean the output, yes it will be different depending on the model you choose. For the most part more power is better. Power for a portable flash is generally stated in Guide Number. The bigger the better. Look for a GN greater than 90 to ensure you have enough power to shoot through or reflect off of an umbrella and still light your subject.
Ask more. Good luck.

[CiiVii]

I recently purchased both an SB800 (good Nikon flash) and a cheap Yongnou flash with manual controls + radio triggers. Boy am I mad that I spent all that money on the SB800! If you don't want to fork over a lot of cash, I recommend going the cheap ebay route at least while you learn. I'm actually enjoying the Yongnou more than the sb800 because the controls are simpler and therefore cause & effect are easier to piece together.

[inkista]

Um, before swallowing the Red Pill and going Strobist, may I posit that perhaps before learning lighting, you may want to invest $100 and get an EF 50mm f/1.8 II?

Maximum aperture is something you need to learn the importance of, and a 50/1.8 is going to give you more than eight times the light your 18-55 can at the 55mm end of the zoom range. A fast prime gives you available light capability without having to pop a flash.

While lighting can do miraculous things, there are times available light is the way to go--popping someone in the face with a strobe a dozen times tends to change the equation of action/reaction drastically. "Candid" and studio-lit tend not to go together.

CiiVii: I still think you'd prefer using the SB-800 if you were going to be shooting a wedding with on-camera flash. 360° swivel and the extra power can be really helpful when you're bouncing. Different tools for different tasks. And the YN-460 has, er, a dubious reputation in terms of build quality. The 465 and 467 seem to have a better reputation, but those early 460s were pretty spectacular in the many ways they failed.

[CiiVii]

Originally Posted by inkista

CiiVii: I still think you'd prefer using the SB-800 if you were going to be shooting a wedding with on-camera flash. 360° swivel and the extra power can be really helpful when you're bouncing. Different tools for different tasks. And the YN-460 has, er, a dubious reputation in terms of build quality. The 465 and 467 seem to have a better reputation, but those early 460s were pretty spectacular in the many ways they failed.

Yup, I'll be familiarizing myself with both for all the reasons stated