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01/17/2005 12:50:18 PM · #1 |
I have no lighting (not even a flash) at all but I would really like to build a mini-studio area in my basement. I would do mostly tabletop photography, so that's all I'm looking for as far as lighting goes.
1) What do you recommend and why?
2) How much would your recommendation cost?
3) Anything you would avoid?
I'm looking for inexpensive (I'll even build it if possible)...anything's better than rounding up the lamps in the house and holding white t-shirts in front of them...
Also, when would you use flash over hot and vice versa...
Message edited by author 2005-01-17 12:50:51.
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01/17/2005 12:59:37 PM · #2 |
I'd put potatoes in the basement and renovate the attic, cutting holes into the walls and roof to be fitted with skylights and windows. I'd paint the walls flat white (like snow) and use what I could find for backdrops. I would consider candles too.
I would be the only way to keep me indoors. ;-)
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01/17/2005 01:08:03 PM · #3 |
there is a flash built onto the top of your camera ;}
seriously though - for non-living things - 500w halogen work lamps work alright, i have two sets of two - set a custom white balance, and it works. my deja vue entry used these lamps, and required minimal editing. they are like $30 US each set. they get awful hot though. none-the-less i took the protective grates off the front to eliminate the shaodws they cast.
as above i would prefer to do mainly outdoor photos - but have a hard time this time of year due to extreme wind chills, and less than sufficient battery life...
supposed to feel like -45 deg F tomorrow with the wind - not ideal photo weather considering anything alive is hunkered down under the brush.
Message edited by author 2005-01-17 13:08:45.
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01/17/2005 01:13:54 PM · #4 |
I agree with Soup...I picked up a pair of halogen lamps from Home Depot (shop lights) and you can get different wattage halogen bulbs...I have 300W in one and 800W in other. Also picked up couple of reflecting umbrellas and with little minor work you can attach to the handle of lamp housing grip so they reflect back onto your subject.
I have also found very low light (flshlights and candles) and long exposures produce some excellent indoor effects for small objects. |
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01/17/2005 01:15:54 PM · #5 |
I guess that would depend on what you consider inexpensive. AlienBees has very nice, low cost equipment. What type of equipment do you think you'll need?
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01/17/2005 01:18:59 PM · #6 |
these are merely a cheap way to get light, and not ideal by any means.
someone posted a set up with umbrellas mounted on these shop lights, though i dunno where to find it.
recently got a 550ex speedlight, and will soon get a 2nd speedlight, and wireless transmitter for more controllable light. for indoor - small studio stuff i think this set up will be reasonably effective. plus they don't get hot. sunlight is by far the cheapest high quality light available...
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01/17/2005 01:54:51 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by soup:
sunlight is by far the cheapest high quality light available... |
hehe...you're obviously not from Southwestern Ontario! I'd have better luck hoping for a couple of alien bees to fly through my door than wait for sunlight!
It's not usually this bad, but the last month has been awful!
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01/17/2005 01:56:23 PM · #8 |
I guess I'd like to know more about the basics...why use flash over hot or vice versa?
Should I buy some 550ex's? umbrella important? blah? blah blah?
Why are alien bee's ideal/not ideal?
Message edited by author 2005-01-17 13:56:59.
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01/17/2005 02:04:40 PM · #9 |
Get a professional standard bounce flash and learn to use that first.
Then maybe a slave
....then lights and flashes.
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01/17/2005 02:06:10 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by thatcloudthere:
I guess I'd like to know more about the basics...why use flash over hot or vice versa?
Should I buy some 550ex's? umbrella important? blah? blah blah?
Why are alien bee's ideal/not ideal? |
I'll tell you that I hate hot lights (tungsten, halogen etc) mostly because they are just that, HOT. The tungsten lights are also used to dry automobile paint if that tells you anything. Touch them and get a nice burn. They wither and melt anything cool like flowers, plants, ice cream etc. They will heat up a room like crazy, which my sound great in winter, but sucks in summer or if you don't like to drip sweat on your setup. They are also quite dim compared to strobes, so if you want to shoot people or anything that moves, you will need to bump up the ISO to not get blur.
On the upside, they are cheap.
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01/17/2005 02:09:29 PM · #11 |
this will tell you how to use a flash with a canon EOS camera... i would start here. not much more sun here actually. but overcast skies are still diffuse sunlight...
photonotes canon eos flash photography
Message edited by author 2005-01-17 14:17:05.
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01/17/2005 02:14:56 PM · #12 |
//faidoi.buzznet.com/user/?id=787619
Subject put on a piece of 8 1/2X 11 typing paper with a white mug to bend it upwards and photographed with flash bouncing on ceiling. Poor man's studio :)
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01/17/2005 05:07:14 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by zeuszen:
I'd paint the walls flat white (like snow) and use what I could find for backdrops. |
Why white?
Genuine question, as I am mid a debate on that myself. I understand white as opposed to something that will give a colour cast but .....
I recently turned by garage into a studio. I painted the cream coloured walls pure white (as is the ceiling).
After the first model shoot I realised I had made a mistake, or at least I believe I have.
With white walls and ceilings I get too much light bouncing around and lose the control over it I need, especially as I love high contrast shots. I have got around it with the walls by hanging black sheets, but a) it is a pain and b) the ceiling is still white.
I am about to repaint the whole flipping riddy thing a dark/neutral grey to precisely get around the problem of white walls. A pro friend of mine instantly suggested this when he saw this photo of my studio.
Yeah, going to be a dark dingy room, but being a garage it's not a problem for me.
Any reasons I have not thought of for deliberately sticking to white?
(Not a dig at the white comment in any way, just really do not want to paint again and regret it).
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01/17/2005 06:38:59 PM · #14 |
Depends on your price range and what you want to do.
Least money, can turn out cheap-looking results if you don't get a handle on how to set it up:
halogen work lights
I bought a set of these and as long as you take some things into consideration they can be a good, inexpensive way to get into this. You are probably going to need to be willing to shoot quite a bit to get a feeling for how much light they produce and how to handle the color casts. You will also have to custom make your own light modifiers or be careful about using things like sheets or plastic as these lights tend to get hot and burn or melt anything that comes into contact with them and sometimes the housing (which can produce distinct and onerous odors).
The next step up would be a modest flash unit like a Vivitar or SunPak that might cost you $50-100 USD. These units don't have much in the way of talking to your 300D so the camera won't adjust their output for you but they aren't going to cost you an arm-and-a-leg and you will be forced to learn about setting flash strength. You can more easily modify these items as there are off-the-shelf pieces like StoFen OmniBounce and ProMax LumiQuest modifiers that you can purchase (either prolly around $20-30 USD). Batteries are gonna cost you though as you learn how to use these.
Next up would be a slightly more "intelligent" flash like a Metz or Canon. You have flashes from either manufacturer that can simply respond to the camera and adjust its output accordingly but cannot be configured manually (Metz 36AF-3C, Metz 44AF-4 or Canon 420 EX). These styles are followed by their larger counterparts the manual flashes that give you all the automated features of the previous units as well as the advantages of being able to set their power manually, use them in high-sync mode (faster than 1/200th sec) or even use them to fire off compatible flash heads (Metz 54AF-1, Metz 54MZ-4, Canon 550 EX or Canon 580 EX). These latter units start to approach the low end of the monolight range. Again, these flash units can be modified with off-the-shelf items but they will give you a lot of area to cover in learning about lighting finding a vision for yourself.
Finally we come to the bottom of the line (as far as cost and power) in monolight strobe heads. There are any number of vendors but I chose AlienBees because they are inexpensive and give me all the functionality I wanted to start with. Each light costs between $200-300 but then you start adding modifiers for $25-100 per unit and the price quickly escalates. A single light would be a good place to start if you decide that you want to get into this and you can always use an inexpensive reflector to help you direct your light.
The advantages to these units (all the ones I listed) starts with cost at the top of the post and works its way down to modification. The latter items I listed afford you more ways in which to modify your lights and they give you more control over your lighting. You decide where you want to start because this is one of the most important facets of your photography (how you create your light versus your composition, your effects at the time of the shot or even your post-shot editing). You'll spend many hours playing with your lighting and probably whatever solution you choose to start with will eventually only be one piece of the puzzle when it comes to how you choose to light your compositions.
Good luck and let us know what you choose.
P.S. - my tutorial on monolights if you haven't read it and you think you might want some monolight strobes it may give you a little more to consider.
Kev
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01/17/2005 07:44:55 PM · #15 |
I went and bought one of those 1000W setups from home depot for $30 today. Here is the setup I was playing around with:
And a picture sample:
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01/17/2005 08:57:04 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by sparkly:
I went and bought one of those 1000W setups from home depot for $30 today. Here is the setup I was playing around with:
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I had some success with those, but nowhere near as much as with real lighting. However, I agree that they are a great budget way of getting some strong light on a subject. Main problem I had, maybe exasperated by living in a hot climate, was the amount of heat they generate.
This photo was done with one of those lights, possibly exactly the same floor level light as in your example there:
I did find though that a) I had far less control over the lighting, and b) I always had to do a lot more work in PS. However, can't fault them at all as far as being value for money :)
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01/17/2005 09:10:56 PM · #17 |
Total cost: $30 and a little bit of time invested...
Samples...
--
Fact is, it doesn't matter if you light your scene with $5000 'professional studio lights' or something and I light mine with $10 computer lamps and 80 watt bulbs -- if my white balance and exposure are correct, and yours are wrong, my results will be better every time.
Message edited by author 2005-01-17 21:16:11.
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