Well, one I use is the "Impact Collapsible Background - 5 x 7' (White)", available from B & H for around $60. It is a five foot by seven foot backdrop which folds to about a three foot diameter circle. One can either lean it up or I hang it from a stand. Then, by using different color light sources on it... the background color changes. Of course, using any background which is irregular in draping, then using a light source which has its own irregular shadow effects can produce a nice effect.

I prefer a plain background and project what I want on it. As to cost...see what you can improvise. You may find there are many suitable materials to experiment with, fabrics, paper, plastic sheeting, shower curtains, all sorts of things, when shot out of focus will give interesting results. These all require a small DOF of course.

My questions isn't so much the lighting. I think I actually get decent light with what I have, although I could probably use a light or two or another flash.

I am more directed at the backdrops. Tried some pictures of our baby girl yesterday and it didn't work out so well. Would you say a backdrop is a necessity? I tried with just blankets and stuff, but it was very difficult to keep anything else out of the background. I don't want to spend much money as I am not sure how much I would ever use all of it. Can anyone recommend a cheap kit?

Someone here is looking at my B & H Order.... two Photek 60" UMBRELLA w/REMOVABLE 8mm SHAFT. This allows me to get the head placed very close to the umbrella which gives another type of "hotter" center light. And a couple of the extension arms, a few umbrella mounts, the flex every which way types were in the order as well. But interestingly enough, the boxes the Elinchrome lights came in are a good corrugated cardboard, white, and when folded back on themselves, glued, and Velcro mounted on one side, painted black, these can be stuck to the extension arms covered in Velcro and are quite versatile for getting light where one wants it or blocking light from the camera position. However, duck tape or for more affluent types, gaffer's tape is indispensable for making light baffles. Oh, yeah, there were four Manfrotto stands in my order, from 9 to 13 feet so I can get a light up on top if needed.

I like the effect of the blue gel... all I have is in the yellow/orange family at present.

This is going to be fun!

zlik said:
I want to add an other option. For kids at home, a bare SB-600 (or SB-700) can be enough.

Absolutely! If your walls are pure white, a bounced Speedlight can look great. However, if your walls are off-white, you'll have color casts.

If you don't have white walls, you can also buy a 4' x 4' sheet of white Foamcore from a photo supply, art supply, framing store, or possibly even FedEx/Kinko's locations. Foamcore actually comes in 4' x 8' sheets, but some retailers stock smaller, pre-cut sheets. If, not, buy a 4' x 8' sheet, and score it half yourself (problem is, this still won't fit in most passenger cars). You can also use styrofoam insulation sheets from Home Depot. Both materials are rigid, lightweight, and provide pure-white reflective surfaces, perfect for bouncing light. Just attach it to a stand, aim your Speedlight at it, and go!

Still, one of my favorite tools for quick and dirty (but gorgeous) portraits is a 60" umbrella. Yes, they spill light everywhere, but put a Speedlight-lit, 60" umbrella within a few feet of your subject, and voila! The umbrella itself isn't very expensive--most are under $50. All you'd need to complete the package is a light stand (e.g., Manfrotto), and any generic-brand, umbrella bracket with a cold-shoe mount for your Speedlight. Then, you'd have a very nice, very soft, very "professional" lighting tool, for only a few bucks.

Here's an example of a Nikon SB-800 mounted onto a 60" silver umbrella. The umbrella is just a few feet to the right of camera. The only other light used is a blue-gelled, SB-600, hitting the wall behind the model:

Nikon SB-800 w/60" silver umbrella + SB-600 w/blue gel.

There is some great info on here. The setup studio460 suggests is a great starting kit for "studio" shots.

I want to add an other option. For kids at home, a bare SB-600 (or SB-700) can be enough.

Mounted on the camera, just point the flash head to the ceiling or one of the upper corners of the room (experiment with each direction). We often underestimate the huge potential of using white walls and ceiling as huge "softboxes.

But if the walls are not white, things get more complicated...

studio460 said:
Are you talking about the Skyport Speed transmitters?

That's right, Skyports! Pocket Wizards are so much better.

mtkmmt said:
2. Never, i mean never, trust that transmitter to work. Allways take the pc-sync chords that came with the set with you.

Are you talking about the Skyport Speed transmitters? Well, I guess I'm glad I went with PocketWizards, then. They're heralded for being the most reliable triggers available, and in my limited use up to this point, they've proven as such so far.

Hey, guys, thank you. I was going with my experience from the 1960's, 70's as to the need for 400Ws. We had a high key area about 30 feet wide and used five or six units at times. Also, I am used to using a large number of light modifiers particularly blocking the light with flat panels, black on one side, white on another. All of this was balancing out the light across the scene in the studio as we had minimal ability to do so post shoot. I will sometimes shoot through a "hole", of various shapes, in order to contain the light.

My personal preference is to not use more glass in front of the lens, again probably due to the "old school" idea that the glass would all drop resolution, so we would place more diffusion in front of the lights, like putting two covers on the Elinchromes. I have used black reflectors inside of umbrellas as well to alter the shape of the "soft" light and the highlight in the eye.

So, I have a lot to learn. The D4 will go to ISO 50, so this will help if needed, although I most likely will try to shoot at 100. Once all this gets put together, I will try to give a report.

One other thing. There was something "new" in the Elinchrome D-Lite 4 it units I received. Maybe an auto power off for the transmitters, or something like that. In any case, I now have three transmitters in case one goes amiss, and I take the batteries out when storing. They really work well, except for a small synch error on the high speed sync as the curtain was cutting off about 10% of the bottom of the image at 1/250th second. I have not double checked this, but the problem corrected when I shot at 1/200th. I suspect I may have adjusted something incorrectly, or it could have been in the D200 I used for my test of the units.

More to come once I get all set up. I did order a Sekonic light meter from B & H so I can more easily set the units up. The really nice Gossen meter was about $400 and the Sekonic less than $200 so I went with the less expensive as I just wanted a starting place.

MsMoto, those Elinchromes are really good. We have about 10 of them in studio. 250's, 400's and 500's! They are really reliable and well made but you have to remember two things -really!

1. Never leave the battery to the on vamera transmitter. It will run empty on it's own.
2. Never, i mean never, trust that transmitter to work. Allways take the pc-sync chords that came with the set with you. The trasmitter is good when you have open space but it can be tricky with poles, corners, concrete structures etc. Syncing one strobe with chord and setting others as slave is sometimes the only working solution.

Happy shooting with those strobes, Elinchromes are the best you can get in that class.

donaldejose said:
1. For home or small studio use do you think the D-Lite-2 (200Ws) would produce enough power?

Again, a small caveat about minimum power . . . the problem I had when lighting a studio still life a while back was that my 400Ws Dynalite Uni400 Jr, through a 24" x 36" Photoflex softbox, was too much light, even at its minimum power setting. While the 25Ws minimum power output of the D-lites is fairly low, the 4Ws minimum output setting on the Paul C. Buff Einstein E640 is, I think, unmatched. For the ultimate in control in a studio setting, the Paul C. Buff CyberSync system, coupled with several E640 monolights, I believe, would be bested only by the priciest Broncolor or Profoto head-and-pack systems.

In the photo below, my 400Ws Dynalite's softbox was hanging just above the objects on the table--at its bare-minimum setting of 1/8th power. Plus, I had to add one-stop of ND, clipped to the strobe head for an equivalent of 1/16th power. The shot was taken at f/16 at ISO 100, which shows that 1/16th power from a 400Ws strobe at close distances is still a hella lot of light:

donaldejose said:
2. Speedrings. Does D-Lite use normal Elinchrome speedrings? I noticed one e-bay entry for a Elinchrome speedring which said "not for D-Lite" so it suggested D-Lite has a special speedring mounting system.

I was wondering precisely that as well, since a large part of the attraction to Elinchrom products, for me at least, is their modifiers. At the Elinchrom site, on the D-lite product page, I found these two references to its mounting system:

1. "D-lite IT what's new: New reflector bayonet with speed locking, accepts Rotolux softboxes up to 135cm."
2. "D-lite IT facts: Elinchrom Reflector Bayonet--fits EL-Accessories."

SInce the majority of Elinchrom's current line of softboxes and octoboxes are Rotolux-branded, the phrase, "accepts Rotolux softboxes up to 135cm," should be self-explanatory. So, based on that statement, I would assume that the D-lite uses the "standard" Elinchrom bayonet mount. This is good news, since the Rotolux line of products spread across more of the product range than I thought (after a quick look at B+H). Rotoluxes have a cool feature (which I think is similar to the Paul C. Buff softboxes), where instead of inserting pins into the box' fabric inserts, they open up like umbrellas, making set-up and tear down much faster than with standard Photoflex and Chimera softboxes.

Also, since most of my existing modifiers are Photoflex-brand, I also searched Photoflex' site for Elinchrom speedrings. This is the only one they list for Elinchrom:

http://www.photoflex.com/Pro_Products/Connectors/Strobe_Connectors/Strobe_Connector_9014ELR_for_Elinchrom/index.html

If this fits the D-lites, that would be an additional plus for me.

msmoto said:
I seem to be talking to myself . . .

Don't worry--I do that quite a lot on forums--helps me think through my solutions more clearly, and I can always reference what I've written at a later date. This relieves me of having to research the topic all over again, once I've finally decided to actually purchase a piece of gear that I may have considered months earlier (plus, if my endless babbling helps anyone else with similar goals, all the better.)

Glad you're happy with the D-lites. Since they come with built-in Skyport triggers, you may want to consider the hot-shoe mountable Elinchrom Skyport Speed transmitter--it's only $120. I don't think it supports power control on the D-lites (apparently, it does on the BXRi and Quadra RX units), but for only $120, you'd have a complete remote wireless triggering system (how are you triggering now?).

If just starting out with your lighting acquisitions, you still have the opportunity to stay all-Elinchrom. That way, with the very affordable Skyport Speed transmitter, and all Skyport-supporting Elinchrom heads, you won't need to spend a dime on expensive PocketWizard triggers (unless you want to trigger Speedlights as well).

Well,

donaldejose said:
Checked them out. They look very good. The original poster seemed to be talking about taking photos of his kids in his home.

Questions:
1. For home or small studio use do you think the D-Lite-2 (200Ws) would produce enough power? They cost $170 less. My guess is that 200Ws would be sufficient but you have experience with the 400Ws size. As you gain field experience with them perhaps you could comment on needing the 400Ws size for large rooms and large groups such as a wedding group posed in the front of a church and the 200Ws being sufficient for home or studio use.
2. Speedrings. Does D-Lite use normal Elinchrome speedrings? I noticed one e-bay entry for a Elinchrome speedring which said "not for D-Lite" so it suggested D-Lite has a special speedring mounting system. I have plenty of stands and sofboxes so I would just need the monolights and speedrings.

I actually know very little about the various rings. And, these will be used primarily for interior shots, people. I prefer to have a bit of extra power. And, once I get my new light meter, I will have these set up in a studio, and.... a heck of a lot of experimenting will go on. Once I get some exposures in the bag, I will post to this forum and maybe to Photo-A-Day. So, far the build quality is very good. Durability is always something to be seen over time. The design is excellent and the light quality out of the soft boxes is much nicer than I had expected.

For the money difference between 200Ws and 400Ws units, I would suggest the 400Ws as the light can be moved around via reflectors and this does eat some light. It is easy to reduce the light, but a bit difficult to find light when one is maxed out.

If you're interested in keeping it portable with speedlights I've been using the Westcott Apollo line of modifiers with my sb-900s/910 and I quite like them. The 50 inch softbox is large yet extremely easy to work with.

But as others suggested, white shoot through umbrella on a stand is a great place to start. Check out Dave Hobby's web site for a great look at fast strobist set ups.

Checked them out. They look very good. The original poster seemed to be talking about taking photos of his kids in his home.

Questions:
1. For home or small studio use do you think the D-Lite-2 (200Ws) would produce enough power? They cost $170 less. My guess is that 200Ws would be sufficient but you have experience with the 400Ws size. As you gain field experience with them perhaps you could comment on needing the 400Ws size for large rooms and large groups such as a wedding group posed in the front of a church and the 200Ws being sufficient for home or studio use.
2. Speedrings. Does D-Lite use normal Elinchrome speedrings? I noticed one e-bay entry for a Elinchrome speedring which said "not for D-Lite" so it suggested D-Lite has a special speedring mounting system. I have plenty of stands and sofboxes so I would just need the monolights and speedrings.

I seem to be talking to myself, but this is my quick test of the Elinchromes described above (Elinchrome D-Lite-4 IT 400Ws 2-Light To Go Set (90-260VAC) ).

Using both units with the diffusers, at 100Ws each, I calculated a guide number of about 80 in a 20 foot by 20 foot room with furniture, lights about 15 feet from the opposite wall. Thus a guide number of about 160 when using 40Ws setting on both units. These are a dream to set up, and having absolutely nothing to compare with in the modern world, the adjustments, synch, power, modeling light settings, etc., are so wonderfully straight forward and logical even I can use them. One of the big bonuses.... a 16 foot long cord for each unit. This means to me, about 10 feet to the outlet as I always have a small Velcro fastener to attach the cords near the base of the stands. This also is used to bind the power cords when storing the units.

So, my suggestion is to give very strong consideration to these Elinchrome D-Lite-4 IT 400Ws units from B & H. I doubt one can buy this quality any less and when working, I was always wanting everything equipment wise to be perfect. In fact almost always had back up cameras, even Hasselblads, as the client does not like any hang ups when shooting.

OK, Here is the verdict! I just received the Elinchrome D-Lite-4 IT 400Ws 2-Light To Go Set (90-260VAC) and it is very easy to get going, that is after reading the directions and watching the excellent video. Massive amounts of power, recycle instantaneously. I had them on "2" power and this is 25Ws each of two lights and in a room at 12 feet... ISO 100, f/22 with two lights going. The wireless trigger is super, just goes into the hot shoe and you don't think about it. Nice soft light from the standard diffusing tent. Have not tried it with an umbrella, but the light has two separate umbrella brackets, including one on center. For the money, about $800 from B & H, this is a lot of bang for the buck. And it comes from Switzerland. Hope this helps.

Ms. Tommie Lauer

CORRECTION: Having never used the D90 with a studio strobe, I did not realize the "Auto ISO" function was on and would read the light before the flash went off. Thus the above info is incorrect as to exposure. However, I will be testing the other two sets of the Elinchromes, so I will attempt of do this correctly. Sorry folks, just learning..

I've found continuous lighting kits like the one you mentioned to not be strong enough for my needs. Personally, I would look for some studio strobes as others have mentioned. If you are looking for relatively cheap ones to start out, you could go with the Flashpoint series (like the 320M) that they sell at Adorama (I think it is their in-house brand). I've used these, and they seem to work well when working on a budget.

All options are good possibilities with different pros and cons.

One thing has not yet been mentioned: I find Nikon's CLS flash doesn't work well on dogs and some people because they start to blink at the preflash so you get partially closed eyes. For most people it isn't a problem. For those who have the quick reflex you cannot use softboxes or umbrellas mounted off camera controlled by the CLS because the subject will always be caught in a blink reflex.

Perhaps you might want to consider taking steps.

The first step would be to purchase a more powerful flash and bounce light off the ceiling or walls. The SB-400 is a great little flash for fill flash use but a SB-600 to SB-910 units are more powerful and more versatile. I use a flash diffusion product such as this on top of the SB-600 with great results. http://www.amazon.com/FlashRight-Diffuser-Pentax-Vivitar-Speedlight/dp/B0051GES06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329314162&sr=8-1

The second step would be to purchase a light stand with umbrella (or softbox designed for flash) and use your SB-600 to SB-910 Nikon flash off camera controlled by the NCLS. The D80 pop-up flash can serve as the controller in the Nikon Creative Lighting System and can also provide fill light. Additional fill light can be provided by a simple foam core white poster board or a collapsible reflector such as this placed on the opposite side of the subject. http://www.amazon.com/Collapsible-Portable-Photographic-Lighting-Reflector/dp/B003UYILFE/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329315705&sr=1-2 Walls will also provide some fill light.

The third step would be to purchase and use more than one Nikon strobe with more than one light stand so you can have main, fill and background lights all controlled by the D80's built in NCLS.

The fourth step would be to purchase and use continuous lighting.

The fifth, and most expensive step, would be to purchase and use monolights. You may find you never need to get to the fourth and fifth steps because somewhere along the progression of steps one through three you have been able to get the results you wanted.

Finally, don't forget to try shooting outdoors early or late on a hazy bright day so the diffused sunlight can be your main light and you pop-up flash (or SB 400) can be your fill light. If you shoot outdoors in the right natural lighting conditions using your SB 400 for fill light you may be able to get the shots you want without buying an new equipment. I have a sunroom with large windows on three sides. On a hazy bright day I can get great portraits in that room using Nikon's automatic pop-up flash fill flash feature. You may have some large window in your house which will be sort of like a large soft box on a hazy bright day. The SB 400 pointed up and bounced off the ceiling or pointed at the opposite wall and bounced off that wall or the SB 600 twisted to point at both the wall and ceiling may be all the fill flash you need for great photos.

leroy said:
This recommendation is spot on. I would just add the following comments...

The speedlight softboxes recommended above are excellent. My question to you would be, are you going to use them on a regular basis after this family photo shoot? If not, go for the most inexpensive soft box you can and go with the most inexpensive triggers possible as suggested above; I use the cowboy studio cheap triggers and softbox for occasional portrait use. One thing you should learn to do regardless of which flash or softbox you decide to use is learn how to properly set your white balance so I suggest buying a collapsible grey target to make sure you get accurate color to start. For portrait use you will likely want to slide the warmth slider a little warmer from accurate color but accurate color is the best place to start in post.

For head and shoulders portraits if you like a low key background, then one light with your small softbox and a wireless trigger is all you need. If you want a high key background or if you want the background lighting to be close to brightness of the person (but typically slightly under exposed compared to the person in the photo) then a second flash and radio receiver for your trigger would be good. typicaly you would not need a softbox for this one as its for raising ambient light levels so you can point it at the ceiling with a wide spread but this is dependent on the room you are shooting in.

If you want to watch some nice videos on this subject for just starting out, go to you tube and search for the adoramaTV videos with Mark Wallace. These are well done and very useful for new photographers at your learning level.

studio460 said:
I personally would spend a bit more money, and start learning to light with strobes. Here's some suggestions:

1. Order a copy of "The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes" by Joe McNally from Amazon.
2. Consider a Lastolite 21" x 21" or 30" x 30" Ezybox for hot-shoe flashes for your SB-600, 700, 800, or 900 Speedlight.
3. Buy a couple of cheap RF triggers to fire your flashes wirelessly (Phottix or Cactus).

The Lastolites are great! I have the 30" x 30" that I use with my SB-800 (triggered by my pricey PocketWizard TT5s), and plan to get the 21" x 21" as well for more stealthy location use. They're easy and super-quick to set-up. They're ultra-portable (they fold-up flat like a FlexFill) making them great for location use. And, they work extremely well. Note that if you go with one of the Lastolite Ezboxes, make sure it's the model made specifically for hot-shoe mount flashes.

Note: While Nikon's IR-based CLS remote TTL/triggering system is good in concept, it's virtually useless outdoors. High ambient light, and more importantly, any amount of humidity, makes CLS completely inoperable. Go with inexpensive RF triggers instead, or if you want TTL control, choose PocketWizard TT1/TT5 triggers for Nikon (expensive!).

This recommendation is spot on. I would just add the following comments...

The speedlight softboxes recommended above are excellent. My question to you would be, are you going to use them on a regular basis after this family photo shoot? If not, go for the most inexpensive soft box you can and go with the most inexpensive triggers possible as suggested above; I use the cowboy studio cheap triggers and softbox for occasional portrait use. One thing you should learn to do regardless of which flash or softbox you decide to use is learn how to properly set your white balance so I suggest buying a collapsible grey target to make sure you get accurate color to start. For portrait use you will likely want to slide the warmth slider a little warmer from accurate color but accurate color is the best place to start in post.

For head and shoulders portraits if you like a low key background, then on light with your small softbox and a wireless trigger is all you need. If you want a high key background or if you want the background lighting to be close to brightness of the person (but typically slightly under exposed compared to the person in the photo) then a second flash and radio receiver for your trigger would be good. typicaly you would not need a softbox for this one as its for raising ambient light levels so you can point it at the ceiling with a wide spread but this is dependent on the room you are shooting in.

If you want to watch some nice videos on this subject for just starting out, go to you tube and search for the adoramaTV videos with Mark Wallace. These are well done and very useful for new photographers at your learning level.

Rifqi said:
Like studio460 says, the lastolite ezyboxes are great but, when just starting out, an umbrella is more than enough and it's a lot cheaper.

I bought a 60" Photoflex silver umbrella over 15 years ago (which I still have), and started with just one Speedlight, and a pile of Vivitar 283s with VariPower modules, triggered by $10 optical slaves. It's true, it's dumb-a## easy to make a pretty head shot with that thing. I still use it as my "go-to" umbrella.

Let us know how you like the Elinchroms. I might pick up a couple of those myself. Their 90VAC minimum requirement make them excellent candidates for use with portable AC inverter/batteries (which can fall below nominal 120VAC under heavy use), such as the Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini Lithium battery packs, of which I already own two.

Ask me in a couple days. I have a couple of the Elinchrome D-Lite-4 IT 400Ws 2-Light To Go Set (90-260VAC) arriving from B & H tomorrow. Each of the two lights in the set puts out 400Ws. Because I am a nut case and like to have very high level control and shoot at about 1/4 power, I have three sets coming but one set would work well for doing a super job on full length either stacked or at a distance. PM me in a week if you like and I can give a report...

Ms. Tommie Lauer

...and Rifqi, if you are online now you are up very, very late or very, very early, ha, ha, ha..

Like studio460 says, the lastolite ezyboxes are great but, when just starting out, an umbrella is more than enough and it's a lot cheaper. I don't have any experience with continous lighting but I would still recommend getting a flash, if nothing else than for the added flexibility (quick bounce light on camera for family gatherings would be one example). You can go with Nikon's stuff or, if you want to keep it cheap, I would recommend either the LP160 or YN560, I've got two of both and they're excellent. I wouldn't mind a bunch of SB-910s but here's the rub: you can get 8 YN560s for the price of one SB-910...each to his own. However, what you have to be aware of is that the flashes I've recommended are completely manual, so they won't be great for run and gun scenarios but will be just fine for the kind of portraits you have in mind. As for triggering, stick your SB-400 on the camera, point it up and set it to lowest power, that will trigger the other flash via optical slave without any problem as long as you stay inside.