I'm sure others on here will join in with more expert information, but here's my take on it, from the standpoint of someone who started off with digital portraiture. (Waits for thrown shoes
)
I had some continuous lights that I used at first; a pair of 1000 watt hot lights, and did they ever live up to their name. I used them precisely once, during which I discovered a number of things.
1. They do not produce the light output you'd think. I was forced to use a tripod for everything in order to get a reasonably good exposure. I'm sure there were things I could have done to improve even with those lights, but I was not happy with it at that time.
2. They were HOT. I could practically see the subjects melting. Not good.
I switched to a set of White Lightning strobes, with a softbox and reflectors, and Pocket Wizard transmitter/receivers. I was able to unhook from that tripod and move freely within the set area I had built. The results from that second set (same subjects) were absolutely fantastic.
Again, this is from my digital experience. I have yet to venture into large format portraiture, though that is my next project. I will not be hauling out those old lights again.
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