Indoor Portraits

shavoh

Hi All,

I do some portrait photography and have always tried to operate outdoors using natural light. Going into the winter though I'll need to do some indoor shots.

I think I'm fine with my camera equipment but could someone recommend some basic lighting equipment that's quite portable not too expensive and can replicate natural light pretty well.
I've never had great results with flash but that might be down to technique.

Thanks!!

Morlar

shavoh wrote:

I've never had great results with flash but that might be down to technique.

For indoor portraits I think you can get results with a good flash and a gold reflector. The onboard flash usually isnt up to much (on canons at least) but a good detachable one (like say a 580ex) will give you great results. They are not cheap though. Technique wise I would recommend if you do go that route to check this out

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Canon-Speedlite-580EX-430EX/dp/B000CQM2LM/ref=sr_11_1/102-9276327-9069741?ie=UTF8

It sounds like the height of nerdiness but its a great dvd to get hold of and you would need more than 2 or 3 viewings for the amount of info on it to sink in (I did anyway).

If you wanted to avoid flash and get an indoor lighting setup instead I have heard mixed reports of the portaflash kits that bermingham cameras sell :

http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1820

http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1819

Personally I prefer the flash and reflector as its a much more versatile solution - though I will get around to a portable studio setup at some point.

shavoh

Thanks Morlar.

That's very useful!!
I'm not particularly interested in a studio setup so might give it a go, this time with a decent flash and reflector. I use a Canon 20D so the 580ex could do the trick.

I'll have a look at that portaflash kit also.