Here you’ll find all the gear used in Scott Kelby’s Photo Recipes Live 2 DVD/book. Everything is listed out by lesson, so just choose the lesson you want and you’ll find all the gear used in each one.
Scott uses the Nikon D3 throughout the video. He uses the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 most of the time, but also uses the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 sometimes as well.
We also use sandbags on our light stands throughout the video. These make the stands more stable, thus providing an added layer of safety. We generally use one or two 15-25 lb sandbags on each stand, depending on the weight of the light and modifier. When ordering sandbags, check to see if you’re ordering empties or ones that are pre-filled. It costs more to ship a 25 lb sandbag than an empty sandbag that will hold 25 lbs :).
You’ll see C-Stands listed throughout the guide, but they’re not always necessary. For most of these setups, a basic but sturdy light stand will be perfectly fine. We were using C-Stands because that’s what the studio had available to us, no other reason.
And one last note before we get to the gear guide. Remember that it’s just that… A guide. The exact gear used in the video will be listed here, along with any specific gear that was mentioned but not necessarily used. But in the end, it all comes down to the basic principles discussed in the video. If you use a different brand of light, great! This guide is a starting point that lists the gear we use (and prefer), but that doesn’t mean you have to buy the exact same gear to pull off the shots from the video.
Now, on to the toys, er… gear!
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Just window light on this one! All you need is your camera and lens (the Skyport on top of the camera isn’t on).
Nikon SB-900 Speedlight and (optional) Nikon SD-9 Battery Pack
LumoPro Light Stand with Umbrella Swivel/Flash Shoe Adapter
Elinchrom Midi Octa 53″ Softbox
Impact Multiboom Light Stand / Reflector Holder
An explanation on wireless triggers – In order for your lights to fire when you click the shutter on your camera, there has to be some form of communication between them and your camera. That’s where wireless triggers come in. If you want each of your lights to fire reliably each and every time, you’ll want a receiver for each one. But most lights have optical triggers built in which detect flashes of light. This means you may be able to get away with just a trigger for your camera and a receiver for one of your lights. The other lights should be able to see the flash and fire at the same time, as long as they are in a position to do so.
So, here’s the bottom line – If you prefer to save money and don’t mind manually adjusting power on your lights, you may only need one receiver for one of your lights. If you prefer reliability and the convenience of adjusting the power of your lights from camera, you’ll want a Skyport receiver for each of your Elinchrom lights.
Nikon SB-900 Speedlight and (optional) Nikon SD-9 Battery Pack
LumoPro Light Stand with Umbrella Swivel/Flash Shoe Adapter
Elinchrom 17″ Minisoft Reflector (aka Beauty Dish) with Diffuser and Silver Deflector
Elinchrom Style 600RX Monolight
C-Stand with Avenger Extension Arm with Grip Head and Pin – When you mount lights on extension arms, make sure the arm tightens on itself. This way if it starts to slip under the weight of the light, it stops itself.
Westcott Background Support System with White Seamless Paper and A-Clamp
Impact Multiboom Light Stand / Reflector Holder
Impact Light Stand – We’re just using this one to help hold the reflector up
Elinchrom 17″ Minisoft Reflector (aka Beauty Dish) with Diffuser and Silver Deflector
Elinchrom Style 600RX Monolight
Elinchrom Style 600RX Two Monolight Kit
Elinchrom 7″ Grid Reflector (x2)
Elinchrom 7″ Maxispot Grid, 20 Degrees (x2)
C-Stand with Avenger Extension Arm with Grip Head and Pin – When you mount lights on extension arms, make sure the arm tightens on itself. This way if it starts to slip under the weight of the light, it stops itself.
Westcott Background Support System with White Seamless Paper and A-Clamp
Manfrotto 368B Light Stand – This is a basic but sturdy light stand. You don’t have to get this exact one, but you’ll need four stands for this setup – one for each of the lights and one for each flag.
Matthews Flag – 18×24″ or Westcott Collapsible 18×24″ Flag Frame and Fabric – You’ll need two flags, one to block each of the lights behind your subject from firing into the camera.
Avenger Grip Head – You’ll need two of these to attach the flags to the light stands.
Plexiglass – You can pick this up from your local hardware or home improvement store
Elinchrom 17″ Minisoft Reflector (aka Beauty Dish) with Diffuser and Silver Deflector
Elinchrom 27″x27″ Rotalux Softbox
Elinchrom Style 600RX Two Monolight Kit
Elinchrom Style 600RX Monolight
Elinchrom 7″ Grid Reflector (x2)
C-Stand with Avenger Extension Arm with Grip Head and Pin – When you mount lights on extension arms, make sure the arm tightens on itself. This way if it starts to slip under the weight of the light, it stops itself.
Westcott Background Support System with White Seamless Paper and A-Clamp
Westcott Spiderlite TD-5 Kit (includes light stand, TD5 fixture, bulbs, 24″x32″ softbox, and case)
Lastolite 78″x78″ Skylite Reflector Kit
C-Stand (x2)
Lots of Sandbags
Elinchrom 17″ Minisoft Reflector (aka Beauty Dish) with Diffuser and Silver Deflector
Elinchrom Style 600RX Monolight
C-Stand with Avenger Extension Arm with Grip Head and Pin – When you mount lights on extension arms, make sure the arm tightens on itself. This way if it starts to slip under the weight of the light, it stops itself.
Elinchrom Style 600RX Two Monolight Kit
Elinchrom 7″ Maxispot Grid, 20 Degrees (x2)
C-Stand (x2)
Nikon SB-900 Speedlight and (optional) Nikon SD-9 Battery Pack
LumoPro Light Stand with Umbrella Swivel/Flash Shoe Adapter
Elinchrom Midi Octa 53″ Softbox
Elinchrom Style 600RX Monolight
Elinchrom Style 600RX Two Monolight Kit
Elinchrom 7″ Grid Reflector (x2)
Elinchrom 7″ Maxispot Grid, 20 Degrees (x2)
C-Stand (x3)
Red Fabric – You can pick this up from your local crafts store
Matthews Flag – 18×24″ or Westcott Collapsible 18×24″ Flag Frame and Fabric – You’ll need two flags, one to block each of the lights behind your subject from firing into the camera.
Avenger Grip Head – You’ll need two of these to attach the flags to the light stands.
Manfrotto 368B Light Stand – This is a basic but sturdy light stand. You don’t have to get this exact one, but you’ll need five stands for this setup – three for the lights, and two for the flags.