Compuwar, so you recommend the lighting set? Since I don't do studio shots really, but mostly Macro if anything, wouldn't a Nikon R1C1 macro flash set also work for portrait work?
I know we don't see eye to eye some times, but your opinion really counts for me in this because, while you are amazingly critical mostly, you actually can back your stuff up
So, what do you think? I also have a couple of SB-800 flashes that could be remote controlled with the R1C1 kit.... Creative lighting
An R1C1 won't work as well as a set of strobes and modifiers, but if you do a lot of macro, it should make itself worth getting no-matter what. I'm not a big fan of ring flash for portraiture, and i think it's overused because of the price of the ABR800 (as well as the fact that it's much more difficult to light without a lot of bad shadow with multiple heads.)
With portraits, a lot depends on the situation. For instance, a 5' strip box works well for body-length shots, but a 20x30 is fine for head and shoulders... Personally, these days I tend to use shoot-through umbrellas because I really like round sun-like catchlights and I can travel with them and setup is much, much easier. The fact that they're less expensive is a bonus if you haven't already gotten the softboxes.
If you're shoooting outdoors a lot, but don't need to overpower the sun, perhaps another SB800 or two (or two SB600's) as well as some Justin Clamps and a couple of smaller softboxes would be a better idea- but if you really want to do actual portraits, indoors or out, the Elinchroms should be good- so long as you get bright enough units and a good battery pack.
Here's the decision process I'd encourage you to use:
If you want to enhance what you're already shooting, go with a couple more portable flashes and the ring flash, clamps, modifiers and perhaps a set of wireless triggers for the times when CLS won't work. You learn to use that equipment and you'll produce better versions of what your're shooting inside of a couple of weeks. You can still do very creative new stuff, especially with the Lee Filter sample packs and some drinking-straw grids as well as a softbox or two. You can knock yourself out with strobist-type location portraiture too- and your macro stuff will be much happier. The clamps, flashes, softboxes and triggers will fit in a small bag- so you'll have the chance to light everywhere- if you're the small/light/fast kind of photographer then that's a good thing.
If you want to really stretch into creative studio photography- both people and things, as well as full-daylight outdoor portraiture, then get the studio strobes- but be prepared to work at a much slower pace. If you can make anything off of senior and child portraits, then the gear will eventually pay for itself, and if you study a lot, you'll learn so much more about lighting.
There's no wrong answer- but most people don't really think very hard about the fact that photography is about light- and the more you control it the more you can do.
I've got two sets of studio strobes plus an SB800 and two SB600s, Justin Clamps and the Cybersync radio triggers. I find it's generally more difficult to get the results I want with the smaller "strobist" set-up, so I have to force myself to try harder and work at it- I think that's a positive thing even though for people and products I can bang out a good setup really quickly its starting to get formulaic (good for product work, bad for creativity.)
In both cases, I'd get a copy of Light: Science and Magic. Joe McNally's book isn't bad either- but it's not really diagramed up enough for my tastes- his work is incredible, but I really didn't get a good enough sense of why he chose a particular setup or what the alternatives would have been.
