[dmbaile2]

I am looking for a basic portrate set up, something that will give me a lot of flexibility and not be too expensive.

YN 560III Flash
RF-603 N1 trigger system

PBL Pro Heavy Duty 8' Light Stand: Amazon.com: PBL Pro Heavy Duty 8' Light Stand, Air Cushioned, for Photo or Video: Camera & Photo

And a black and white combo umbrella.

What do you guys think? I'm looking to take pictures of my fiance and I and our baby when she gets here next month.

Thanks!

[adpo]

you'll need an umbrella swivel to mount your flash onto your stand and a coldshoe if the swivel doesn't come with one. I'll link a few suggestions below

swivel - Manfrotto Lite-tite - Industry standard and built to last, definitely lives up to the industry standard title
Amazon.com: Manfrotto 026 Swivel Lite-Tite Umbrella Adapter: Camera & Photo

cold shoe - Stroboframe locking cold shoe - because you can never have enough extra insurance that your lights won't fall off your stand
http://www.amazon.com/Tiffen-300-SHO-Stroboframe-Bracket-Mount/

[Tanzer]

I think one thing missing is some gels. If not a more thorough assortment, at least a sheet of CTO. I think it normally comes as 1/4 density, and you can layer it to make it warmer as necessary. The kit I bought came with gels (including greenish for florescent lighting and blue for twilight) but I haven't had occasion to play around with them, so I don't want to sound like I'm super experienced.

[tuggie76]

If your just taking family photos you might want to figure out a location with a nice background and somewhere to bounce light from, I now my wife grimmaces everytime I mention getting lights and stands etc for portraites! A few semi posed, semi formal shots will be a lot easier, especially with a baby to consider!

By all means get the studio set up, but I think you'll find a quick set up will be more useful! :-)

Tuggie76

[dmbaile2]

If your just taking family photos you might want to figure out a location with a nice background and somewhere to bounce light from, I now my wife grimmaces everytime I mention getting lights and stands etc for portraites! A few semi posed, semi formal shots will be a lot easier, especially with a baby to consider!

By all means get the studio set up, but I think you'll find a quick set up will be more useful! :-)

Tuggie76

So your saying to just get the flaw and triggers and ditch the stands/umbrellas?

[maxfield_photo]

You probably don't need a heavy duty air-cushioned stand for a speed light, that's more for $1500 monolights. You can find spring-cushioned ones for less if you're really worried about it, but for speed lights, I prefer something that collapses down to travel size. I would look for a 4 segment stand, and some sand bags.

There the umbrella bracket I use. FlashZebra.com: Deluxe Umbrella Adapter with Clamp Style Shoe (Item #0200) Notice that the hole for the umbrella shaft is on the upper section. That's important, because the umbrella maintains it's position relative to the flash as you tilt it.

[Johnyb3000]

I am in the same kind of search. I have a 2 year old and a wife. I have been wanting to do some off camera flash for a while now. Speed and ease of use are huge when you are balancing keeping the kid happy, wife involved and engaged, and the photography equipment functioning. I have enjoyed the blog Strobist: Lighting 101 and have found it to be very helpful. The author has a link for a light stand, umbrella, bracket, and corded flash sync for around $110. I might pull the trigger on that but am leaning towards a lumiquest softbox III and a way to mount a coldshoe to my camera tripod. Any recomendations on how to do that?

[atupdate]

I am in the same kind of search. I have a 2 year old and a wife. I have been wanting to do some off camera flash for a while now. Speed and ease of use are huge when you are balancing keeping the kid happy, wife involved and engaged, and the photography equipment functioning. I have enjoyed the blog Strobist: Lighting 101 and have found it to be very helpful. The author has a link for a light stand, umbrella, bracket, and corded flash sync for around $110. I might pull the trigger on that but am leaning towards a lumiquest softbox III and a way to mount a coldshoe to my camera tripod. Any recomendations on how to do that?

These will mount to a tripod.

Amazon.com: High Quality New Speedlite Cold Shoe Hotshoe 1/4 Screw to Flash Hot Shoe Mount Adapter Nikon Canon H6800R: Electronics

Amazon.com: Vello Cold Shoe Mount with 1/4" Thread: Electronics

Tim