lighting and shadowing - two questions

[sightminer]

I'm trying to decide on the best flash gear I can get on a fairly limited budget, to be used in wedding photog. I don't even know the "buzz words", but I need a left and a right light. My boss uses Lumidyne and I about choked when I saw their price tag - no can do. But are there any kits out there that come with all the bells/whistles and do the job of a Lumadyne? Probably a silly question, but finances force me to ask.

Next question - shadowing. I saw a cool B/W pic on Pbase with a coffeecup, and the lightsource around the 2 o'clock position. Very cool effect. I'd like to work on that with objects as well as people. Any suggestions on the type of gear to get. Do I need a high wattage light source or can I improvise with household lighting?

Obviously newbie questions, which would be what I am - a newbie.

I'm going to continue experiementation in the meantime, but please, if you can aid in my quest for knowlege, I'd be obliged.

[jypsee]

http://strobist.blogspot.com

it should help you