Professional studio light sources generally fall into one of two categories: you can get a kit with a flash head and a power pack, or you can get a monolight kit. A head and power pack kit consists of the flash head and a small power pack that acts as the generator that supplies energy to the flash head. The flash head contains flash tubes that emit light once supplied with high voltages. There are two kinds of power packs: symmetric power packs and assymetric power packs. Symmetric power packs split power equally between multiple flash heads. Assymetric power packs allow the user to vary the power supply to different flash heads. Monolights, on the other hand, are compact substitutes for a power pack/flash head combinations. Their size limits their power, but they are often desired for their portability.

The most common types of light modifiers are umbrellas and softboxes. Reflecting umbrellas produce a diffused and soft light due to the larger size of the reflecting surface. They are mounted in such a way that the strobe light is actually facing away from the subject or model. Light flies from the strobe head hitting the inside of the umbrella and then bounces back towards the subject. There are silver-lined, white, and gold tinted umbrellas. Silver-lined umbrellas are the most efficient and can focus light more  narrowly than the other types. White umbrellas offer a wider spread of reflected light, and gold umbrellas produce a warm tone.