Julie DeGuia and Kim Weiss question - light/novatron kit

[Avas Mom]

okay... please dont laugh... or think i'm crazy... but i saw a novatron 440 plus light kit posted locally on craigslist. A local photographer is retiring.. i kind of though of purchasing. I'm definitely NOT a professional photographer, but would love to take pics of my friends' babies/kids... I especially love some of the newborn pics I seen of Kim Weiss (baby on the scale) and Julie DeGuia (black and white of parents hold baby in hands)

heres a link to julie's pic [baby book(r)]: Baby Book (r) - Digital Scrapbooking Ideas - DesignerDigitals

sorry i dont have a link to kim weiss's pic.. but her website is kim weiss fresh art photography

So here are my questions:
1. for those taking newborn/baby pics professionally/semipro, how many umbrella lights do you commonly use?
2. the asking price is $250.. which seems a little steep considering they are 10yrs old.

Thanks!
Carie

[Julie DeGuia]

Carie - I am not a technical person.... so I am not a good one to give advice on wether this is the light for you. However, the layout/pictures you are referring to were done with natural light. I had the parents standing in their dining room (backdrop behind them) with the doors open for a nice diffused light. You can do A LOT with natural light and a reflector. Speaking of Kim Weiss (as long as we are talking about the same one) there was just a post on her blog about my friend Pascale Wowak who has a book out about starting your own photography business. Not necessarily what you are wanting to do, but the information on photographing sounds like it might be helpful to you. And, she pretty much just does natural light. Fresh Art Photography - St. Louis Newborn Photography

However, if you really want a light to play around with then you might want to look at the Alien Bees brand of strobes. A lot of good information on that site as well as a forum. AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment If you want to use lights then you can start with one and play around. You can get really fancy with lighting using up to four or five (main, fill, hair, background) and there are all kinds of modifiers (umbrellas, softboxes) to put on the lights as well depending on what kind of output (harder or softer light) you are after.

What is in the "light kit?" I would look up the brand and what similar kits are going for elsewhere on the internet.

Hope that helps a little.

[Avas Mom]

Thank you Julie!!!
In the light kit: four lights and stands, with two umbrellas. i did check prices (briefly) ... i see novatron kits that have a similar # of lights, but retail for quite a bit more-- i imagine that this light kit is an older model, so i dont know that i'm comparing apples to apples.

I hear alot of people talking about alienbees --- i will definitely check out that link.

thank you!

craigslist posting id
1411436958