April 21, 2010 / Tips + Tricks
Lighting Journey: Shopping Time
Photograph by Gene Higa Lighting Journal entry # 2 - one year ago...
Every girl loves to shop. And as a total tech geek it doesn't get much better than this. I can't wait to get to work with the grea...
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Photograph by Gene Higa Lighting Journal entry # 2 – one year ago…
Every girl loves to shop. And as a total tech geek it doesn’t get much better than this. I can’t wait to get to work with the great equipment I’ve chosen, all from industry leaders in the world of lighting technology. Here’s what I’m getting to launch my lighting learning:
Strobe – I was immediately drawn to Profoto because of their incredible reputation as a leader in the industry. Their products are consistent (with both color balance and burst power), durable and reliable. Most important for me: Profoto is known for shaping and creating absolutely gorgeous light.
Reflectors – My first exposure to California Sunbounce was at a Greg Gorman workshop in Mendocino – btw – his workshops are AWESOME. I have always admired Greg more than any other living photographer for his ability to manipulate and capture extraordinary light. At the workshop I saw that Greg really utilizes California Sunbounce to create his dramatic portraits. So, I decided to learn from the best and work with their products too. Plus, California Sunbounce offers tons of great options and is known for helping many leading photographers emphasize light to create the right effect in an image.
Lighting Supports – I choose these from Manfrotto for several reasons. Since I am constantly moving around quickly during shoots, I need stands that are reliable, durable, and easy to manipulate (I don’t want to lose my awesome, brand new equipment because of tripping over a stand!). Since these Manfrotto supports are incredibly well designed I know that they will be practical and easy to use during shoots.
Photography Support – I have owned a Gitzo since age 16 and have never looked back or even considered anything else. I have always depended on their cutting edge products and finally decided it was time to upgrade from the durable tripod I purchased in college ten years ago (am I dating myself?).
Continuous Light – I noticed that many professionals are using Lite Panels for both video and still photography. I have heard a lot of impressive things about their products and am really excited to take work with this fairly new technology. The Lite Panels products very well made, light weight (very important for me) and eco-friendly making them a perfect piece of equipment. Plus, they are also cable free, reducing the number of possible things to trip over at a shoot!
All of these products are made by great brands and I’m very excited to get started working with all this high quality equipment.
Lighting Journey Blog series sponsored by: Profoto, California Sunbounce, Manfrotto and Gitzo
thanks so much for your comments greg, I am loving the medium chimera with grid (36×48″) but also really enjoy working with the small. Thanks for the tips regarding the light panels, i look forward to sharing my experience!
go ahead and purchase a 24X36 soft box with a grid. Saved the day for me on numerous occasions. Totally digging the octa box look lately. Have not used one, but looks like a versatile piece of equipment for many photographers.
The light panels are popping up all over hollywood. They are great for location work. Quick, easy, and manageable. Price is expensive if you plan on 2X or 4X the grids. Best part, they are not hot and some models have custom WB dials.
have fun shopping Catherine,
Greg Martin
Fun stuff! Don’t forget to add a battery pack to your list if you don’t have one already. ;) Are you going to use softbox(s) or some other type of diffusion?