Yep, agree with that.

I suppose it entirely depends on what it is you want to do.

Hi Moonie I have a 430 EXII speedlight at the moment,
I want to try my hand with some studio lighting, my grandson is a willing
Participant ( he does not know it yet ) but he will be fine he is 3yrs old so a sweet or two and he will be happy ( I hope )

Cheers Gordon

You can do some great stuff with just one or two speedlights, and a brolly or even better a soft box

Do check out the strobist website,Zack Arias, and Joe McNally though

Thanks for that Moonie I will give it a look 2moz as I am off to bed now.
I am up for work at 5am
thank you all fot taking the time to reply.

Cheers Gordon

No probs x

Some interesting links and advice, I'll check that site out myself Suzi

xx

The main players in the budget lighting kits seem to be Lencarta and Elemental. Both have a good reputation. I think they are both Chinese manufactured and rebadged. I have a set of 3 300w Elemental Genesis (I think) with softboxes. They are standard Bowens s fit, have wired or wireless triggers, adjustable power, air damped stands and am quite happy with them. However I rarely have the opportunity to set them up. I could do with a studio, and some models!

More use are my Nikon SB800 speedlights (similar I guess to the Canon 530s). I have some stands, brollies and an Ezybox so that tends to be compact and portable. I trigger using Yongnuo RF602's. Again, nice little set up.

I'd get the proper studio gear if you can justify it, or some cheap modifers if you just want occasional use. The latter is pretty cheap, the studio gear tends to come up pretty frequently in forums, ebay or even the websites seem to have special offers. If you have a shed load of cash get something like a lencarta safari.

Any advice for setting up a mini studio for photographing the rats? I want much better light than I have at the moment - not happy with my rat shots really - and currently only have the one SB900. What do I need to use it off camera? Can anyone recommend any remote triggers? Artificial lighting is so far a bit beyond me!

xx

Have you tried a light tent for your ratties, I would think it would be perfect for seamless, with rats

What's it made of? They shred any material at all! Currently I shoot inside a box with white posterboard - which works OK - but I'm not happy with how the light comes out - and know I need to take the flash off camera.

xx