Maureen Loc: Holly Springs, NC

I have taken many portraits of my family without any lighting equipment. I've been asked to take a headshot. Does anyone have a recommendation for a beginner lighting kit. Thank you for your help!

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

You didn't mention what lenses you have.

Get Close Up. Get a lens with a long focal length attached to your camera – or get right in close so that you can just photograph a part of your subject.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

What camera are you using, and which lenses do you have? Then comes the big item... how much are you willing to budget for thus?

Go to ebay and search on some variation of "lighting kit". There are two bazillion options, that range from not much to expensive. Perhaps ideally what you want is a kit with 2 or 3 strobes/umbrellas/stands, but that might be more serious than you want to afford.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Give this a look over. A different approach

https://youtu.be/v51lGZfro-k

Maureen Loc: Holly Springs, NC

I use a Canon 6D. I have an 85mm, 100mm and a 50mm all Canon but not the L series. I'm new to the full frame camera. I do have a tripod.

CO

Using a studio strobe with umbrellas is a good way to do that. You can get both shoot-through and reflective umbrellas. A reflective umbrella produces light that wraps around a little more than a shoot-through. Umbrellas have a lot of light spill and will create additional fill light from light being reflected off walls and the ceiling. A soft box or octabox will control the light more. On-camera speedlights are too small and will give you harsh lighting unless you bounce flash. You'll want to get a couple of radio triggers. I use an incident light meter to take readings in the studio but you don't really need it.

Adorama camera has their Flashpoint series of strobes that are very economical.
https://www.adorama.com/l/Lighting-and-Studio/Flashpoint~Monolights-and-Strobes

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Maureen is asking about lights, not lenses or technique.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You may want to try starting small. The link provided by Dirtpusher is what I normally do. Sometimes I will set up a mini "studio" in my garage that consists of some Home Depot rigid insulation board, covered with different materials, for a background, and I shoot near the open door. If I want some fill on the side opposite to the open door I will use a second board with the white side positioned to gently illuminate the darker side of the face. The light is soft, diffused and very pleasant. Lastly, depending on the person's face, I may use one of those inexpensive folding reflectors to add some additional light from below the face.

Here are some ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1S4wjXM6_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJO9IZPQnKM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E4pHGOiBBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks5UeG38Yrk


Umbrellas and softboxes and strobes and lighting stands are all fine and good, but not essential for pleasing portraiture. To get it right you will spend considerably more than the $20 or so you'll spend to get insulation board, shelf brackets and a couple of short pieces of 2x4. If you need it to be portable, you can make a smaller, car friendly sized one. A speedlight, umbrella, stand, radio triggers (or long cable) and reflector for fill set you back a couple of hundred dollars, and the results will not be as pleasing compared to using a large bounce reflector for a key light and another reflector for fill.

This is a great site to get all sorts of advice on technique and gear:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Putting as much distance as you can between the camera and the subject. Too short a lens brings you closer at the expense of introducing extension distortion and narrowing of the face, producing a "horse face" perspective. Using a longer focal length forces you to move back to fill the frame with the same head and shoulders, and you can take advantage of the compression provided by the longer focal length to make a more flattering portrait. If the subject has a long narrow face, the choice is a longer lens, and a wide flat face could be helped a bit with a shorter lens.

https://petapixel.com/2012/08/12/how-focal-length-affects-your-subjects-weight-in-portraits/

erinjay64

Cost wise, you may want to consider two, or three, photo flood lamps...continuous lighting, rather than flash lighting. They are: bright, hot, and quite affordable. They should only be on for brief periods. I still use an old set which I have....for product photos, and portraits. I have diffusing screens which fit over the lights. I place one light on the left, and one on the right, sides of a product. For portraits I vary it somewhat, but usually put one light on the side of a person-at 90 degrees from their face, aimed at an ear, and the other light on the opposite side of the body at about 45 degrees from the face. These lights may be anywhere from 6 to 10 feet away from the model. I may also put a weaker, third, light behind the model's back, and low down, aimed up, and slightly back towards the wall...to light a background. Other times I put the side lights each in front, at a 45 degree angle to the face. Experiment a bit, and see which looks best to you. If you only have one such light, you can use reflector screens to bounce it's output around, to cover more than just one area of the model's face. You can also use colored reflectors-gold foil, blue, etc-to tint the light hitting the model.

greglincal

I would purchase a monolighting kit which cost less and you can get one with soft box and umbrella and barn doors to close down lights. I just saw a kit in Adaroma for $400 dollar range.

Maureen Loc: Holly Springs, NC

Thank you for all the help and suggestions. I'm going to have to try with the least expensive route right now. I'll have to see after this first headshot if it's something I can possibly make money on.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I second Gene's suggestions about going to Strobist.com and going through their various (free) courses. As they will point out, you can begin with a flash and an off-camera cord, move to an umbrella, stand and trigger and then add the second (or third) flash, stand and modifiers, such as an umbrellas or softboxes as you progress. If you choose a 3rd party flash such as Youngnuo, you can get started for ~$100, add an umbrella and stand plus trigger for another $125-150, and add the 2nd flash and umbrella and stand for another $150-200, so you can do it in stages.

CO

If you get a speedlight and umbrella you will want to add a swivel umbrella bracket. The hole that goes through it for the umbrella shaft is at an angle. It's made that way so you can have the speedlight aimed more at the center of the umbrella. I have a swivel umbrella bracket made by Kupo. Its large clamping area clamps very securely.

Maureen Loc: Holly Springs, NC

Thank you! Training is what I need.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Unless you are a working professional, or plan to be one soon, I wouldn't spend too much time figuring out if you can make money at this because the answer is an emphatic maybe. It would be my suggestion that you approach this as a learning experience, so using only reflectors is a good place to start as that would give you the most bang-for-your-buck. Above that, there many considerations and even more choices. If you actually are making money at this then the more expensive equipment will pay big dividends in terms of quality of light, flexibility, endurance, travel ease etc.. There are also interim steps which begin with taking an inventory of what you do have and figuring out how to proceed by maximizing your purchases. Lighting can be a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, expensive, and, at times, frustrating and/or rewarding. Best of luck with your journey.