What and how many to buy?
Back on the studio lighting topic once again…..if you read my earlier posts on lens or camera body selection, you can see I’m not a huge fan of kits, for the most part. Even with Alien Bees, the kits have things like light stand bags (really?) and modifiers you may not want or use. I think it makes a more disciplined shooter to start out simple. One strobe. Learn to use it, and control light with it. Select a modifier based on your needs, whether the spread of an umbrella, the nice soft but powerful punch of a beauty dish, directional light of a softbox, etc. I always recommend spot grids, they are cheap. Also reflectors to bounce light, and black foam core to cancel out light and create shadow play. Then once you get a feel for the style of shooting you do, you can gradually add strobe heads and / or modifiers. This way, you learn to use what you have and become resourceful, and not waste money on bad purchases. Gear is expensive enough as it is LOL.
Neat thing about AlienBees that many probably don’t know, even though it’s on their “packages” page — under the kit links a ways — is that they’ll give ya a discount on modifiers/accessories/etc. when you buy a light… so you’ll actually *save* if you can save up for whatever modifier you want to get along *with* the light… instead of getting them in multiple purchases.
I started with 3 lights, 1 umbrella, and 1 softbox and that worked great for me for the look I was shooting at the time, since it was close to what a friend/mentor had. I’ve since added grids, another umbrella, and another light… but the 3 light route (2 for the background to evenly light it & 1 for the subject) worked for me…
Now though, if asked, I suggest the one light route that Jay spelled out. I say this, because really I *did* start with one-light… it’s just that I was shooting against a blown-out background, which I only do sparingly now.