I want to by some lighting equipment. I have decided on going with Alien Bees. This will be for my home basement. To start, I will mostly be learning to do still life, isolation, food, etc. shots. But I want to be able to also use whatever I purchase for eventually learning to shoot people.

I currently have two light stands and two umbrellas at home. Below is what I am thinking of getting. Is there anything missing that I should also get right from the start.

1) Either Three B1600's or Three of the new Einstein's
2) One 13 foot Air Cushioned Stand
3) One Giant Softbox
4) One Cyber Commander
5) Three Cybersync Receivers

Is there anything I am missing that I should get now? Should I get a second softbox (and stand)?

I would appreciate any suggestions or comments so I get the right equipment from the start.

Thanks.

Thanks Herman.  Good points.

I do not sharpen for stock. I only sharpen before I print and only for the version being printed.

But on many images for stock I do some local contrast adjustments which is sort of a form of sharpening.

Thanks Everyone.

If I buy studio lights I want them to be powerful enough not to have to upgrade at a later time.

STOKFOTO/ARAMINTA, the combination of hot shoe flash and studio flash is making a lot of sense to me. That seems best and most economical. That way and I can have a studio setup now and always continue to add to it as needed.

I am looking to buy some lighting equipment in the next few weeks. Initially this will be mostly for still life work, Isolated images, etc. But whatever I buy, I want it to be good enough for use in the future for people shots too. I do not want to start over again buying new equipment, but rather I will keep adding to what I have. I will also try some people shots with whatever I buy now, but probably not too much yet.

Currently, I have two light stands, Two white umbrellas (can be used both as reflective and shoot through), 1 pair of Pocket Wizards, 1 Canon 430EX Flash, 1 Vivitar 285HV.

I plan on spending up to a max of about $1,200 for new equipment.

So far, I am considering getting:

1) Two Alienbees B1600 flash units
2) One Heavy Duty Light Stand
3) One Softbox

I would appreciate any comments and/or advice that anyone may have.

Some specific questions I have are:

1)Should I purchase Three B1600's instead of Two? I am thinking maybe I will need too so I have a background light for blowing out backgrounds.

2) Alienbees has several size softboxes. 24X36, 32X40, 30X60. Which should I get? Is it best to get the largest one?

3) Is there anything else I should get now that I will have a hard time getting by without?

4) Will I be able to use these flash units in slave mode or am I going to need additional remote triggers? (Pocket Wizards since that is what I have now).


Thanks for any help you can provide.

My last purchase with stock money included the 24-105 L lens. It replaced a Sigma 24-70 that I fell with and smashed a while back. I do not think you will regret buying it once you make the purchase.

My next purchase will be a good carbon fiber tripod. The tripod I use now is about as good as using no tripod at all.

Had my first sale late last week. Yes, the Euros are nice.

Also, 2 or 3 times I uploaded a photo that got a pretty quick response with ratings and for a day or two those photos seemed to sell well on other sites. I think maybe people see photos on mostphotos with high ratings and then look for it cheaper on other sites.

Thanks for the link and the interpretation. I am really not sure what I am supposed to change. I have the category set as Lakes and Oceans (because it is a lake). The title is "A Lake in the Wilderness".

Does anyone know where I am supposed to make a change?

Thanks for the responses.

I now can get to the queue and see my photos. The error is gone. I also see the approved status. Not being able to see these photos before and the associated status is why I was a little confused.

I'm off to upload some more.

Has anyone used a Dane Compact Flash with the Canon 40D? I bought a 4GB Dane card and it will not work. It actually locks up my 40D and I have to remove the battery to get the camera working again. My other flashcards work fine so I am sure the problem is not the camera. I am not sure if this is a general problem with Dane brand or if it is just this one particular card.

Thank you ptlee. I will look into them more and will probably try them. The prices are very reasonable and it does look like you can print at any dimensions..