studio flash advice

[maggiebea]

hey!

i've recently just branched out into doing some white seamless fashion shoots in my home studio.

on a shoot last night, one of my flashes blew. not sure if it was the bulb or something else, but loud noise, and now the flash doesn't work!

i cant seem to find a replacement bulb to check if that was what is was, possibly as the unit is about 5yrs old (i purchased from an ebay auction).

Long story short, I need a new flash unit for lighting my model, and/or to find out where to purchase a new globe for an old 'SLTec 200c'.

Am also wondering, if anyone knows whether it would be fine to purchase a couple of high powered red heads (as in constant lights) to blow out my background, and use the flashes i currently use on the background, to light my model, rather than purchase a whole new flash unit (I'm trying to keep costs at a bare stingy minimum at the moment).

Any advice would be very appreciated! I'm in panic mode

Cheers!

Mag

[nick351]

Look into Alien Bees from Paul C Buff www.paulcbuff.com.au, pretty cheap and very versatile flashes.

[bigdazzler]

I wouldnt use continuous lights. They are hot and uncomfortable and models generally hate them. Even for backgrounds they will make your set very uncomfortable to work in.

If youre looking for a new kit for the long run ... these FlashPros will serve you well. Ive used these flashes a fair bit and they are rugged, consistent, and super reliable.

The Elinchrom D-Lites are a good option as well.