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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Advice about lights and equipment wanted
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 09/12/2007 04:48:48 AM · #1
Right basically I don't have any extra lights or anything yet. I've just got my trusty Nikon D50 and the kit lens that came with it in addition to an old f1.8 50mm prime.

I don't have spare money right now but christmas is coming up soonish and I'd like to get my wish list in place. I might be getting some money and my parents are quite supportive of my photography.

I'm a n00b when it comes to managing artifical light, I've shot everything just with available light so far (and the occasional on camera flash).

Now the real problem because I know what you want to shoot changes what equipment you need. Here comes my thing, I love photographing my cat *watches everyone shrink away in horror* and in particular I like taking action photos of her. She's very athletic and leaps about a lot.

So currently I'm getting shots like these:



(that last one took ages and ages to get)

I'd need some sort of a backdrop because really my living room isn't the best for a background and making well lit photos with my cat isolated on a clean background doing her normal leaping about stuff would be beautiful I think.

So how do I start gathering up the stuff I need and what do I need? Any advice? I don't even have an external flash atm. I know I have a long learning curve a head of me.
09/12/2007 05:09:20 AM · #2
im a cat lover and i love taking piccys of them and i have the same prob...i dont have proper lights or backdrops so whjat i did do was...brought a 3 spot light lamp with very bright bulbs then i went and got a very big brilliant white roller blind.(ones that go at your windows) you can put it anywhere with a hook. i find that it works great.not sure if this info will help,im sure other ppl will help you more.
p.s your cat is stunning.
 09/12/2007 08:14:09 AM · #3
Clamp lights are a cheap way to start. They use regular bulbs and are available at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Three of them may get you started, although they may not really have enough juice to stop fast action, such as your cat.

I'm a huge fan of using Speedlight units, or similar, instead of big, expensive studio strobes. Old Nikon units can still be found on eBay for $100ish, although the Strobist craze has made them much harder to find. The Vivitar 285 is supposed to be very good as an alternative, and is available new for about $90. You'll then need to decide if you are going to use them corded to the camera, with wireless triggers (cheap eBay triggers, or mucho-expensive Pocket Wizards, or Peanut slaves).

Search around here a bit, there's several threads that cover this. And of course, for the god of off-camera, small flash lighting, check out Strobist, especially the first few lessons in the Lighting 101 Archive (sidebar, partway down on the right) where they cover equipment.
 09/14/2007 09:16:09 PM · #4
I second what Odyssey said. If you haven't started reading strobist, do so. You won't regret it, after a page or two you'll be hooked and you'll be amazed at how much it will improve your photo's.
I've just very recently started the lighting 102 exercises with an sb800 borrowed from a friend while I wait for my lighting kit to arrive. Once you get on strobist he gives links to a company called midwest photo exchange that have some really good starter kits for nice and cheap.
An old nikon sb is an excellent starter (I managed to find a steal of a deal so I picked up a used sb-80dx) but with increasing popularity the prices have been getting jacked up on e-bay so for the same(or less) you can buy new. The vivitar 285 is a nice one as mentioned, and one other that I hear lots of praise about is the Sunpak 383.

Your cat's hilarious by the way, an active little subject is something that I'm really missing :)

Message edited by author 2007-09-14 21:21:14.
 09/15/2007 04:10:15 AM · #5
Thanks for the help :) great tip with the roller blinds, I'll look into that.

I'm in the UK so any photo equipment store in the States usually has very high shipping, if they ship across the pond at all. However the advice is good and makes sense.

How are the flashes when it comes to shooting in bursts? I mean to get the action photos I don't need long continuous bursts but when she leaps up in the air it's "hold the button down and get as many as possible" time for a few seconds until she lands.

Also how flexible are they with area? I mean the cat is running around all of the room and I can sort of direct her to a specific place since I'm holding the toy she's going for but I can't control her enough to be sure she's in a narrow space when doing her thing.

I have seen Strobist before but he seemed to be focused on lighting for portraits although of course general lighting principles are general lighting princples no matter what you're shooting. I'm re-reading through his 101 introduction now.

..and yes my cat is a very fun subject :) She can be a complete terror to live with but I love her to bits
 09/19/2007 08:40:31 PM · #6
As far as area's go, if you bounce the flash off of a wall or ceiling you can cover quite an area with some nice soft light. You could even take it one step further if you have a blank wall that's opposite one with windows, you can cross light and still have most of the room to work with.

I think you'll be fairly limited as far as "burst" goes though. These small battery operated flashes do need some time to cycle, the higher the power setting you have it flashing at, the longer the time between flashes.

If your iffy about the whole thing might I recommend that you find a large local camera shop that does rentals, read up on what you want to try before hand, rent a strobe for a couple days and just play with it. If you decide you want to go that way Great! if not your only out a few quid(is that slang used in Scotland too? or just England? its been 10 years since I was last on that side of the pond.)

Strobist is not solely portrait lighting, they have articles on lighting everything from watches to architecture but most of what you see is portraiture.
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