Studio lighting?

I am a beginner and i want to buy some umbrella lights to do some photography in my home. I don't want the best, i just need something as a beginner. What wattage should i get? If anybody knows of a link for a good set, let me know.

I don't own them myself, but Alien Bees has become the most recommended brand for value, reliability and customer service.

Here's a basic home basement studio setup using Bees (scroll down to Misc. Equipment):

http://www.nagelhome.com/phototest/

If you fire the URL over to the Bee Hive they'll tell you what gear he's got.

http://www.alienbees.com

HTH
V2K1

All I would say is to ask an expert Photographer and what they use. Im sure they could tell you.

Good Luck and
God Bless

Alien Bee AB400 or AB800

This is a great studio light that will cost you less than a good on-camera flash. You will have a real tough time outgrowing this light even if you get more professional.

You could spend days on the web researching this and you will probably come to the same conclusion. The AB lights are amazing value and bang for the buck.

Since you are just learning, buy an incandescent kit. It will cost you far less than flash units and will teach you how to "see" how the light works in the studio. These are the lights used in photography schools to teach studio lighting.

Link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/27...

What I use: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/46... and a 42" reflector for fill.

Later when you have the big bux, then you can buy some studio strobes (around $4,000 or more for a good set up) The studio strobes I use:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/76...

I agree the Alien Bees are good lights, especially the new Zeus models.

As for wattage, if you are only going to use them in your home, you can get by with much less, something in the 500 watt range. But I really suggest you go ahead and spend a little more for more power, something in the 1800 to 2000 watt range. This will give you the ability to go on location and use them in a larger area if need be, plus with more power you will not always be forced to use very wide apertures to allow in more light. For most single person head and shoulder shots you will probably want about a f2.8 to f4 for a nice blurred background. Be sure and focus on the eyes nearest the camera. If shooting a larger group you will want a smaller f stop, maybe an f11, to keep everyone in focus... that is when you will need the extra power in the lighting.

At any rate, you will have to do lots of testing to get all the camera and light settings balanced, a light meter can be a great help also.

Steve

Go to shutterbug.com and Search for the Interfit EXD200 Kit. It was reviewed in the Oct. 2007 issue. It seems to be a very complete kit and had a price of $499.99 at time of publication. You can also read about it at interfitphotographic.com.

In terms of bang for your buck I would say Norman, or Alien bees. I would say that 400 watt seconds is probably as much as you need. An important factor you might want to consider too is how much light modifiers cost as well as if they are available for that system. Umbrellas are nice, but softboxes are better in some respects and you may want to try them out.