Stella Pro LED Lights for Indoor and Outdoor Photography

Over the past year I’ve been searching for a continuous lighting source to use for my photography sessions. There are many options on the market for photographers but the one I found works best for me is the Stella Pro Lighting series from Light & Motion. Not only are the Stella Pro Lights rugged, small and compact, and even waterproof…but they run for an hour or more on battery backup. As a children’s photographer I love that I can work with the Stella Pro Lights in studio and not have to worry about having cords running through my set. The cordless feature of the Stella Pro lights makes them a wise choice when considering the safety of your studio setup.

I have been convinced of Stella’s usefulness in the studio, but what about outdoors? Recently I set out to test the Stella Pro Lights in the woods on our property to see how they would fair in an outdoor setting. The Stella lights, with their small size, are easy to carry through the woods in a backpack, and as we set up in a damp boggy area for the shoot I wasn’t afraid to put the lights right on the ground because they are completely waterproof up to a depth of 100 meters (328 ft) and can withstand drops of up to 1 meter.

The Lighting Setup

My plan was to use the Stella 2000 light inside a lantern. In the past I have used Photoshop to add lighting effects inside lanterns in my final images. It was amazing to be able to capture an authentic starburst light effect right in camera, with no need for post production tricks thus speeding up my editing workflow.

Our shooting location was in dense forest so even though we were shooting in mid to late afternoon on a sunny day the light in the forest was remarkably low. I used the Stella 5000 Pro Light mounted using a hand held umbrella adapter and a basic shoot through umbrella from Westcott. My assistant held the light approximately 4 feet away from the model to add extra directional light towards her face and upper body.

I was impressed by the amount of light and the consistency of the output and color temperature. The Stella Pro Lights easily lasted through my 1 hour photo session, set to their highest settings, on battery power.

These continuous LED lights pack a lot of punch into a small and durable package and I’m keen to use them in more outdoor sessions in the future. You can explore all of the lighting options available through Light & Motion website and find the perfect lighting solution to fit your project!

This image was featured on the amazing photography website Photography Talk !