I am looking to start shooting with off camera lighting and would appreciate any feedback on the setup as well as if you can offer answers to the questions in bold.
I shoot as a hobby only, mainly landscapes, but I have been shooting some portraits/small groups lately.
In the coming months I expect to shoot outdoor portraits & large groups with diffused lighting, as well as an indoor daytime event. I would also like my setup to work for indoor portraits, and it'd be great if I could use it to light some night scenes as well.
I currently use a Sony A7RII, and I plan on using my 24-70 f/2.8 GM & 85 f/1.4 GM in these scenarios.
I was thinking of replacing my Sony on camera flash for a Godox system, one V1 and two AD200PRO and use them as following. I know that I should be aiming for more power, but considering that I am not making money off photography, I'd like the setup to not go too much over 1k.
1) Outdoor portraits: AD200 with the AD-B2 twin head (bare bulbs) to get 400w of power in a deep Softbox. What kind of Softbox should I get?
2) Outdoor large groups: V1 on camera with one AD200 on each side to light the whole group. Which head/attachments should I use for the V1 and AD200?
3) Indoor event: V1 on camera with diffuser, two AD200 backlighting from each corner. Would the fresnel head with a grid and barn door on the AD200 be a good solution?
4) Indoor portraits: How could I make it work with these lights?
Which light stands would you recommend? Keep in mind that they would need to be extendable to 10-12 feet for scenario #3.
Thanks!
Hello,
You've got a lot of questions here, and a simple call to anyone at B&H's excellent customer service will answer almost all your questions.
Just to address a few points:
What is your level of experience with flash, on or off camera? Do you use manual flash, or only TTL?
Flash, in certain ways, can be even more complex than learning how to use your camera in manual mode, so I would humbly suggest to take it easy - learn how to master TTL flash on camera, then learn manual flash on camera, then take it to additional speedlights off camera.
A few points to consider:
Why are you using the ad200pro's? They cost more than the regular ad200, and their single advantage is more consistent color in the light output, something that for the type of work you are talking about would make zero difference.
Regarding the outdoor shots: Based on what seems to be your current level of experience with off camera flash, may I recommend that you skip it altogether and use natural light. It takes time and experience to learn how flash works. First get a grip on it indoors, and once you are comfortable with that, take it outdoors. However, the general idea is to place a speedlight on either side of the shot, 45° angle from the crowd, with a simple shoot through white umbrella. Something like 32" would be just fine for this. You really don't need anything more complex than that.
Group photography is channeling enough just getting everyone into the right positions, having to worry about flash power, diffusers, and more will just over complicate things. Until you are confident with it, I would not suggest adding it to the equation.
Regarding the indoor flash use, your ad200's do not need any modifiers on them at all. Just place each one in opposite corners, pointed up at the ceiling anywhere between 45° and 80° approximately.
Regarding heads and attachments: I would almost always use the fresnel head on the ad200. The bare bulb is a lot more powerful, and takes quiet some knowledge to master. It also throws light everywhere, usually in more places than you want.
Regarding the V1, I have found that the only really useful attachment is the dome diffuser, or the white bounce card, they both allow more light to be bounced forward than when leaving the head bare. The other attachments in the kit are more for creative work, and wouldn't be as immediately helpful to you at this point in time.
For light stands, any impact stand from b and h will do the job, get one that can go at least 1.5 times the height you want it to, that way it so be able to hold up the weight of the gear that you are putting on it without bending/sagging. Also look into some sandbags to hold everything down, as there are too many stories of lightstands toppling over and speedlights being smashed to smithereens.
Hope this is all slightly helpful to you, and good luck.