“Flitter” (2014)
I hear it all the time…. “I want to get in to studio lighting, but I just don’t have the money.”
Well, you actually do. And if you care that much about the studio/ engineered lighting world, jumping in to it is actually MUCH EASIER than you might think, and much more affordable! There are a host of amazing options out there to help you get in to the studio lighting world for a fraction of the cost of strobes.
Working with the kit I’m about to show you has changed the entire look and feel of my imagery, and allows me to communicate a more beautiful, effective message with the images I create….
Ever since that day, I knew I couldn’t go back to just natural light shooting. The experience of working with engineered flash opened my world to an entirely new way to create, and I’ve been using my lights now for years. When I got in to the flash world a few years ago, I didn’t have very much money at all, and my career as a photographer had only just begun. I made a very small, very affordable investment in to a few pieces of key gear that I still use to this day when I travel and when I create in very cramped or dangerous settings.
Currently, this is my super affordable, studio-powerhouse kit:
Cowboy Studio Flash Stand
Neewer 24″ Softbox and S-Type Bracket
Yongnuo RF-603 Triggers
2 Neewer High-Visibility Sandbags
…And the KEY ingredient, the flash unit itself. This is obviously the most expensive piece of gear, and also the most important. Right now, I work with the Aperlite 500C Speed Light. They’re a company based out of China, with a focus on creating affordable flash units for photographers looking to break in to the world of Studio Lighting. I think they’re doing an awesome job – their flash units are everything I look for in a Speed Light: lightweight, well-designed, have TTL with an infrared lamp, have multiple zoom and firing modes, and most importantly, they are AFFORDABLE as HECK! These babies go everywhere with me, and they light 90% of the most recent studio images you see in my portfolio. Here’s a couple shots of me using the lights:
The total cost of this kit comes to exactly $151.58 USD at the time of this post (August 10th, 2015), which is an amazing value to be able to create studio images. Of course, this is a budget level kit. It’s not going to stack up against strobes, but for anyone looking to get in to the studio flash world to see if it’s worth the investment, or if you want an affordable travel and location kit like I have, this is a great option.
The Aperlite 500c
Aperlite is also sponsoring my upcoming teaching courses with some FREE gear. At these workshops, I will be showing students the special, KEY ingredient to light studio shoots perfectly. In addition to teaching about speed light studio lighting, I’m giving away an Aperlite in each of the cities I am traveling to, including Rio, São Paulo, Sorrento, Jaipur, and Melbourne.
I’m really excited to show my students the power of using an affordable flash kit to enhance their imagery. Finally, here’s my quick tip on how to light a studio shot well almost always:
This is a basic lighting setup that I use often, something I call the “Oblique Upper Right” lighting. There’s probably a more technical term for it; I don’t care. I like to use this technique to really isolate my subject from their background. I teach more about this stuff at my workshops, you can visit the workshop page to learn more. I’ll be teaching all over the world, including England Brazil, Italy, India, Japan, Australia, and Ireland. Thanks for reading! Subscribe below for more tips!
About The Author
David Talley believes in a necessary resolution. An internationally recognized photographer and educator operating out of Portland, Oregon and Sydney, NSW, his work exhibits the darkest moment before an explosion of light. A story broken, but changed for the better, and the ability to transform the present problem in to a prospering future mark his imagery. David is the founder and creative director of the worldwide conceptual photography movement, Concept Collaboration, and teacher of the artistic-creation workshop movement, Create From Your Heart. You can find more of David’s work on his website, and say hi on Instagram and Facebook. This article was also published here and shared with permission.
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