[iht]

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I'm looking to do my first engagement shoot. I was hoping to experiment with LED lighting doing some nice romantic portraits in pretty dark environments.

I've never worked with LED lights before, so I was planning to get something cheap like this one.

I can't really gauge things like how powerful these lights are, and how long the battery would last for, and whether or not they are any good in general.

What are your thoughts? What kind of things should I be aware of when using these lights? Thanks in advance

[Bob from Aus]

I have four similar led lights, but I use mine for still life subjects and fill light with wildflower photography. I find them really useful when you don't want to kill a photo with a flash and really sharp detail isn't an issue. They don't throw light a long way at all, but I love the quality of the light of mine.

I have not used mine for people photography as I have a range of preferred setups. I think it is worth a try as you could get some really romantic photos. I use my LED light for wildflowers on a flash bracket. I think it might be worth a try or you could even get someone to hand hold it for you.

let us know how you go, I am interested in what you come up with.

[iht]

Thanks for your comment Bob. I'll see what I can do.

It doesn't look like the light can be tilted though once it's on a stand. Does that mean it has to be hand held if I want proper directional lighting?

[Bob from Aus]

It doesn't look like the light can be tilted though once it's on a stand. Does that mean it has to be hand held if I want proper directional lighting?

That's right and that is why a flash bracket is good. The advantage in doing photography for 4 decades is you collect bits and pieces so I have lots of attachments and bits and pieces for flash brackets. Getting someone to hand hold is likely to provide the most magical photos. When hand holding flash, I get them to start hand holding will above my shoulder. The real advantage of the light is you can see the affect and the shadows. i guess you will need both hands to hold the camera steady where you can get away one handed with a flash.

the lack of depth of field will be great for isolating your subject.

Just one more thing, while they don't light up the landscape they are dam bright to look at. Another reason why having an assistant to hand hold might be a good idea.

[iht]

Or would this one be better? It seems to offer adjustable head?

Getting someone to hand hold is likely to provide the most magical photos.

Yeah, as long as someone is willing to do this for me! I would like the option of fixing it on a stand and have it adjustable so I can shoot from whatever direction I want.

The real advantage of the light is you can see the affect and the shadows.

Yeah, definitely love the idea of WYSIWYG, which is why I'm looking into this. I do own a AF540FGZ, which is obviously capable of off camera work as well.

[Bob from Aus]

Or would this one be better? It seems to offer adjustable head?

that could work well for macro or on top of a fixed inflexible stand

Yeah, as long as someone is willing to do this for me! I would like the option of fixing it on a stand and have it adjustable so I can shoot from whatever direction I want.

A stand will work as far as technique goes, but parties are more like wildlife photography than portrait where the victim cooperates. If you have a stand it needs be a foot or 30cm above your photography position

Yeah, definitely love the idea of WYSIWYG, which is why I'm looking into this. I do own a AF540FGZ, which is obviously capable of off camera work as well.

I have a really weird looking system that has worked well for me. I have a flash lead, flash bracket (very tall one) and a largish softbox over the flash. I can have a second flash on the hotshoe and bounce it from a ceiling.

PS Friday afternoon - thanks for the distraction from work

[JimJohnson]

adjustable aiming of LED light-
I have one of the fixed direction LED lights - like others, my primary use is close focus, and less often, higher shutter speeds. I already owned an old adapter to add swivel & tilt to PC cord connected flashes which can be mounted on either a flash shoe or tripod.

The fixed direction lights tend to be less expensive for the same lighting features. If you don't have or otherwise need a flash bracket, you would need to weigh the combined cost to that of buying an LED light with built-in adjustments.

[smf]

Some of the LED lights i have seen advertised can be dimmed, which would seem to be an advantage.
Also, some are powered by batteries which can be bought over the counter. Others might have proprietary, "built-in" batteries.

[BrianR]

It doesn't look like the light can be tilted though once it's on a stand. Does that mean it has to be hand held if I want proper directional lighting?

How are you mounting it to your stand? I didn't see the specs but from the pictures it looks like this one has a standard female thread on the bottom and could be screwed onto a regular tripod head or onto a gorillapod like device. Or you can look for an "umbrella swivel", they come in flavours that have a stud to screw the light on or accept hotshoe mounts like a standard flash or both.