Continuous v Strobe

maddogcollins

Hi All.

I am relatively new to photography in terms of experience but I have been asked by a close friend to take their wedding images. That part I have no issue with and have another 17 months to get ready for it and am already competent with my camera. That is why I agreed to take it as I know I will be prepared technically ( The day itself will be another story).

Along with this they have asked could I do a "partybooth" for them (similar to what is offered here). I have never attempted this but would love to give it a go. I am a bit confused as to the lighting to use. Continuous v Strobe. I will be in the back end of the function room so I do not want the lights to be so distracting that it takes from the venue but also need some so that people will know I am there. I am leaning towards continuous as the setting will not change and there will not be an awful lot of movement.

Would people agree of would the continuous lights be too distracting and should I go with 2 strobe lights. If so would a basic kit like this one do?

I am open to suggestions but just felt i needed to get some more feedback on it from others.

Thank you

ScumLord

You could argue that a flash going off in the corner every few minutes would be just as distracting. At least if the lights are constant people may get used to them. Continuous lights are fairly directional too so as long as you have a partition you probably wont get too much light spilling out into the room. I have 3 of those lights and my problem is never that they're too bright it's usually that you need more then one light to get them to effectively light a scene.

Is there any reason to have the "party booth" in the function room? Could it be in a quite corridor on the way to the function room?

Ballyman

Those lights you linked would be prone to overheating as continuous lights get mental hot when used for an extended period of time. I'd recommend strobes.

pixbyjohn

Ballyman wrote: »

Those lights you linked would be prone to overheating as continuous lights get mental hot when used for an extended period of time. I'd recommend strobes.

I would second that

as they get hotter the light changes also.

AnimalRights

My god I found that site and video annoying!
I guess I'm out of the loop though if people like that type of thing.

maddogcollins

ScumLord wrote: »

You could argue that a flash going off in the corner every few minutes would be just as distracting. At least if the lights are constant people may get used to them. Continuous lights are fairly directional too so as long as you have a partition you probably wont get too much light spilling out into the room. I have 3 of those lights and my problem is never that they're too bright it's usually that you need more then one light to get them to effectively light a scene.

Is there any reason to have the "party booth" in the function room? Could it be in a quite corridor on the way to the function room?

The Bride has requested it to be in a certain area of the function room. If I can get a partition up it would solve the problem of continuous light.

Ballyman wrote: »

Those lights you linked would be prone to overheating as continuous lights get mental hot when used for an extended period of time. I'd recommend strobes.

The party booth would be required for two hours so I should defiantly take the over heating into consideration.

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I would second that

as they get hotter the light changes also.

Didn't dawn on me that that would occur but it makes perfect sense.

Thank you all for the replies. Gives me some more to think about.

kjt

You can do this really simply with only one strobe or one studio light if you have one. There won't be too much spill and everybody will have a blast :-)

This should help you out plenty!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkHWtdPhis

ScumLord

Ballyman wrote: »

Those lights you linked would be prone to overheating as continuous lights get mental hot when used for an extended period of time. I'd recommend strobes.

I haven't noticed mine getting overly hot, they're only 85w though. I've had them running for hours but usually in a very cold room.

ImagenEstilo

I would be leaning towards strobes myself, and by strobes I mean 1 decent off camera flash mounted in a softbox.

Organising the people to come out to these things is a feat in itself so having your continuous light on all the time to me is a waste. A photo booth is just a mini studio. Set up the strobe in manual, get your ISO, aperture, flash power and distance from subject sorted, get your subjects sitting/standing in more or less the same spot and the results will be consistent with each shot.

It is a personal thing. I like continuous light at times, but when it comes to a booth like that then it would be flash all the way

mehfesto

Strobes would be the handiest - you can tae them *anywhere* and on top of that they're piddle cheap.

I picked up two strobes in Conns for 30 odd quid each. I use them with my cheap eBay triggers and overall my back-up set cost me under 75 quid.

ScumLord

Are strobes much smaller?

One of the biggest pains with my cheapo lights is they keep falling over from being fairly top heavy and breaking bulbs (€28 a pop for the bulbs). Although it's happened so many times now I've only myself to blame that I don't do something to stop it happening in the first place.

FoxT

mehfesto wrote: »

Strobes would be the handiest - you can tae them *anywhere* and on top of that they're piddle cheap.

I picked up two strobes in Conns for 30 odd quid each. I use them with my cheap eBay triggers and overall my back-up set cost me under 75 quid.

Wow! would you mind posting a link?

Thanks in advance:)

mehfesto

Sure thing.

HERE is the updated model of what I have trigger wise. Here's a review of them too. I agree that you get what you pay for, but considering a pocket wizard costs about €100 for the transmitter alone, I cannot fathom how anyone can justify the price difference between these two, unless you were a full time pro. I've really warmed to Yongnuo. They definately were a second grade company a few years back, but you have to hand it to them - they give you as much as they can for their prices. I've even bought their flashes. Quality little things too - you can get the new ones for about 60 quid, ex vat. They're tastily powerful and rather rugged.

If you're only starting out, I'd recommend this approach. I'm still using the triggers and all, albeit I've upgraded some of my flashes and modifiers along the way. I've a friend who shelled out for an SB900 and PocketWizards and they sit gathering dust. If you're just starting out start small. They're always handy to have around. Nothing worse than buying something you don't need.

mehfesto

On this, I've just sen Fro talk about the new PocketWizard. Queue everyone saying the RF502s are the best things ever!
http://www.facebook.com/FroKnowsPhoto

ImagenEstilo

These Yongnuos are popping up in every post on here these days. I must get in on the action.

In terms of triggers, the Flex TT5 and Mini TT1 is an evil combination in terms of TTL off-camera flash. Up to now I wasn't aware of any Chinese trigger out there that could do TTL reliably. Has this changed?

ImagenEstilo

maddogcollins wrote: »

Would people agree of would the continuous lights be too distracting and should I go with 2 strobe lights. If so would a basic kit like this one do?

Thank you

Mad Dog, I've just had a re-read of your original post. I clicked on the link to those continuous lights on eBay. I wouldn't waste my time with them, in terms of light, the output is poor. I use something like those in a dark studio just to give me enough light to focus my camera, nothing else, I wouldn't even use them for modelling light. A flash will output far far more power than 4 of those lined up at full power. I've a Litepanels MicroPro that I use the odd time and even this little unit put's out more power than those bulbs. The only positive I can take from my buying them is the color temperature.

Dave