Studio Lighting and Your Wallet

I have been a professional photographer for 22 years and one thing that I learned many years ago is to not be cheap when it comes to lenses. Go ahead and pay more, it’s worth it. Camera bodies are usually a little more flexible. A good quality DSLR can be found in the mid-range area. Lighting is something entirely different.

I have had the opportunity to work with top of the line lighting and also with lighting that is much (MUCH) less costly. What I have found is that price has little effect on your final image.

Pretend for a moment that you mortgage the house and shell out for some really expensive German gear. It recycles a little faster and the consistency is a (very) little better from one flash to another. You can drive a truck over the equipment and it will still work.

Now take that same photographer only this time they don’t mortgage house. Instead they stock up on less expensive lighting. We aren’t talking cheap. We are talking less expensive.

If you look at the final images from that photographer I doubt you will find much if any difference at all no matter which lights they used. This photographer may have to wait a second longer to shoot, which in most caes makes no difference at all. He will have to avoid running the truck over the lights, but now he has no mortgage on the house. He can acquire more lighting, spend less and still get the same images.

Some lights are poor quality. A little bit of research can help you weave through this maze of lighting.

I shoot exclusively with Westcott Lighting. I used to shoot with a very expensive brand of lighting and the truth is that I really just can’t see a difference other than in price. I also used to work with Alien Bees. I am not going to sit here and tell you that they are bad lighting. They aren’t. I just found that the quality and price of Westcott is more appealing. They are better quality. They are relatively inexpensive and still have the feel of higher end lighting and function fantastically.

The appeal of expensive lighting is the same appeal in owning a super expensive car. A Bentley will get you from point A to point B just like a Ford Focus. That Bentley sure makes ya feel good though doesn’t it? Same goes with lighting. The one argument to be made is that there are definitely marked differences in comfort and amenities with the Bentley. The differences are far less noticeable with less expensive lighting.

A tech guru and gear geek can certainly wax eloquent about how great the differences are between the lighting companies. I had a buddy once go on for a long time about the differences between his expensive Nike golf ball and a less expensive Titelist. Which golf ball does a pro choose to play with? The one that endorses them – as long as they can perform at the top of their game with it. The same goes as a photographer.

Westcott has chosen me as one their Top Endorsed Pros. I work with them because they endorse me and I can shoot at the top of my game with them. The results of my shoots are no worse between them and the uber expensive lighting I used to work with. I could be endorsed elsewhere, but I chose Westcott. The customer service is so much better than that expensive company that I used to work with and that matters to me a lot more than the recycle time.

I was speaking with a rep from a high end lighting company and he relayed a story about a day at his company’s factory. He explained how he passed a room where there was a bank of lighting from an inexpensive company that was firing over and over and how all of the engineers were trying to figure out how the quality could be so good at such an inexpensive price. You won’t find that story on that company’s marketing materials.

No matter what company you choose to go with ask yourself if the cost/benefit is really worth it. Drive the Bentley if ya can, but don’t get confused. It won’t change the destination, but it will make you feel more important. Just get ready to be saddled by the bill.