There has been a few discussions over the use of lighting for portrait work. Of particular interest is the use of a continuos light source. I am looking to do some portrait work on 11x14. As always depth of field is somewhat of an issue. More important is the quality of light delivered. For the past few years I have been using strobes for my 4x5 portraits. Using 750 watt monlights has proven to be rather limiting for a good depth of field. I have used both umbrellas and a large softbox with similar results. Moving forward I would like to invest in a more powerful system to hit around f32-45.

As the work is 100% black and white my first thought is to go with a Mole Richardson setup. I have looked at both the 5,000 watt solorspot and 4,000 watt super-softlight. My feeling is that 4,000 watts with no diffusion would give ample depth of field. Placing diffusion over 4,000 watts could kill a few f-stops and may be too low for practical use. The 4,000 watt softlight may not even be enough based on the foot candle specifications from the Mole catalog. I may need to go to the 8k model. Back in the day I worked at a studio using the Mole’s for all of our catalog work. We used the 5k models for most of the work yet I never tried using for portrait work. I did do some portrait work with the super-soft 4k model yet that was on medium format. I have also looked at the HMI lights and would consider as an option although they are rather pricey.

I could also invest in a good Speedotron system. A 4800 ws pack should be enough for the main and fill light source. For shots against a white background another pack would be necessary. I am sure that a 2400 ws pack with two reflector mounted lights would be plenty for lighting a white background.

So has anyone out there worked much with Mole Richardson lights for portrait work? Does a 5k light with diffusion sound good? How about the 4k super soft light?