Beginning Strobes On a Budget

Using external flash in an umbrella
Starting out with an external flash in an umbrella is okay - by Wesley Oostvogels

To put together a decent strobe lighting setup it is not necessary to spend a huge amount of money. You can, if you have the cash, but it’s not necessary to get good results.

There are three basic types of strobes: Monolights, Pack & Head systems, and external flashes.

Monolights, which have the plug and all the circuitry built in to the flash unit. Monolights have the disadvantage of needing to be plugged in all the time and are primarily for indoor use.

Pack and Head sets are lights that come with a separate battery pack and can be used outside. They’re not conveniently portable, but they’ll move.

The other option are external flashes, which run on batteries. If you’re just starting out, external flashes are okay. You can mount them in a softbox or umbrella and get good results, though you may be limited at the distances you can use them. You’ll burn through more batteries, but they’re a lot easier to pack around and very versatile. The only downside to external flashes are the lack of a built-in modeling light. You have to take a picture to pre-view the results. Less of a problem in these days of digital cameras.

What you’re giving up with low end equipment is build quality, recycle times, and fine tuning. High end studio flash units can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars and are color balanced to incredibly fine tolerances. In these days of RAW image management and the available fine tuning and batch processing available in post-processing, I’m not sure how important that is anymore.

There are mid-range professional lights like Paul C Buff’s AlienBees that are more than adequate for most professional applications these days.

AlienBees B400 in an umbrella
AlienBees B400 studio flash in an umbrella - by Paul C. Buff

If you’re new and piecing together an external flash setup on a budget, you can pull it all together for around $300. This is all equipment I’ve tested personally.

YN-467    $70

Can be used on camera for with compatible TTL with Canon cameras and is a surprisingly good flash unit. My only niggle with the design is the battery door feels a little flimsy. Power can be an issue with external flash units, but the YN-467 would light up the night in my testing.

YN-460   $45

Has a setting to operate as an optical slave, easy to change power settings.  These make fine slave units.

Light stand w/ umbrella   $39 x2 = $78

I’ve found ring lights and umbrellas to be my preferred way to light portraits over the years.

Background paper  $20

I’d start with white and decide if you need a pattern later.

Reflector  $13

Clamp it to a light stand if you don’t have an extra set of hands to hold it.

Flash trigger  $34

You’ll want to upgrade this eventually, but all you need starting out is to trigger the key light and the slave will trigger the fill.

A highlight light, which can be any kind of spotlight or an extra flash on a snoot.

Or you can buy a low end introductory studio kit for about the same money.  The disadvantage is you can’t move those outside without running extension cords all over.   This is not equipment you’d want to build your business on, but it will get you through the learning stage without breaking your budget.

Beyond the introductory kits, then you’re into piecing together your studio lighting from higher end suppliers. I would recommend starting with a lower-cost system to gain experience before going out and dropping a bundle on equipment that you’ll want to keep for years.

The next investment I’d make after the flash units is a digital light meter. I’ll talk more about that and how to use it in another blog.