Question Using LED lights for Portraits

[rollsman44]

have been shooting for almost 50 years. Always Use strobes with diffusers and Soft boxes.
Using LED lights is an option BUT having constant lighting cause the subject to squint.? and not a Soft light.
I know you can use a diffuser material to cover the LED light but then that cuts down the Power and have to increase the ISO or open the aperture more. I mainly shoot F5.6-8.0 for my portraits. Can someone explain this option to me. I would like to use LED lights ( rotolight) or similar but the Hard light and possible squinting is my concern. Thank you

 

[MGrayson]

have been shooting for almost 50 years. Always Use strobes with diffusers and Soft boxes.
Using LED lights is an option BUT having constant lighting cause the subject to squint.? and not a Soft light.
I know you can use a diffuser material to cover the LED light but then that cuts down the Power and have to increase the ISO or open the aperture more. I mainly shoot F5.6-8.0 for my portraits. Can someone explain this option to me. I would like to use LED lights ( rotolight) or similar but the Hard light and possible squinting is my concern. Thank you

I have no first-hand experience. Mark Mann uses rotolights (or a ring light) almost exclusively, but shoots portraits at f/2.5 - seldom more than f/4. More units in an array would help, but would be expensive.

I recently acquired a Falconeyes 22" round LED panel. Not in the same quality league as the rotolights, but it's large and produces a softer light. (I use it in my living room, not for photography!)

 

[rollsman44]

Hi Matt, thank you for sharing this. I have NO problem even shooting F4. What I have done recently, I have 3 Rotolights ( original ones I bought for a good price) and Use them to light up my background. I can adjust the brightness and I can see first hand how it looks. Does NOT work for my portraits . The light is small in diameter and Too Harsh. Dont want to use the diffuser as it cuts back on the power. Thank you Dennis

 

[Greg Haag]

have been shooting for almost 50 years. Always Use strobes with diffusers and Soft boxes.
Using LED lights is an option BUT having constant lighting cause the subject to squint.? and not a Soft light.
I know you can use a diffuser material to cover the LED light but then that cuts down the Power and have to increase the ISO or open the aperture more. I mainly shoot F5.6-8.0 for my portraits. Can someone explain this option to me. I would like to use LED lights ( rotolight) or similar but the Hard light and possible squinting is my concern. Thank you

Not sure if this is of any help, but we have this setup for head shots and are pleased with them. To me personally it still feels a little bright for the subject but the results are consistent and pleasing.

Flex Cine Peter Hurley Bi-Color Travel Kit

Kit developed by portrait photographer Peter Hurley Ideal for creating professional headshots Complete 3-light kit with dimmers, power adapters, mounting hardware, and wheeled storage case High output flexible LED mats Daylight-balanced with impressive CRI of up to 96 Flex mats backed by an...

www.fjwestcott.com

 

[rollsman44]

Thank you Greg. Great System but too much money for the little I do

 

[benwulfphotography]

have been shooting for almost 50 years. Always Use strobes with diffusers and Soft boxes.
Using LED lights is an option BUT having constant lighting cause the subject to squint.? and not a Soft light.
I know you can use a diffuser material to cover the LED light but then that cuts down the Power and have to increase the ISO or open the aperture more. I mainly shoot F5.6-8.0 for my portraits. Can someone explain this option to me. I would like to use LED lights ( rotolight) or similar but the Hard light and possible squinting is my concern. Thank you

I use some nanlites sometimes. I still use flash for most of my portrait work but I think I'll slowly transition to the constant light when I get more comfortable with it. I havnt had a problem with squinting but the light does FEEL different which is odd. I too often shoot portraits at F7 and the nanlites have been cool. BW

 

[rollsman44]

Hi Ben, Thanks for sharing this. I will continue to use Flash/Strobes. Continuous lights are still not strong enough and then I would have to use a Much Higher ISO

 

[benwulfphotography]

No probs. BWx