What is a good first light/flash to get as a beginning photographer?

[softball]

Originally Posted by Jace

1. naked women
2. controlled studio and outdoors
3. video and stills, yes
4. Canon Digital Rebel XT
5. yes
6. not sure yet

I looked at these packages, http://www.alienbees.com/beginner.html
http://www.alienbees.com/digi.html

one thos those seems nice to start with

OK, something you might consider. For outdoor shooting, an onboard flash is a cheap and simple solution. Use it outside and your pictures will pop.

As for your studio. I would think about hot lights (lights which are always on...not flashes) The reason being, when you shoot video, it is well lit and you don't have flashes going off throughout the film and setting exposures is much easier. Invest in a good non slr camera so you don't have the mirror noise. It saves a huge amount of time and increases your output big time.

There are a number of solutions for this scenario and it kind of gets down to price. If you could give me a rough idea, I could give you a more informed opinion.