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05/31/2007 11:14:29 AM · #1 |
Can anyone give me some suggestions on lighing/reflectors and the like that I can buy say at Wal-Mart or Target to practice with while I save up money for real lighting equipment? I don't want to buy real equipment until I have learned how to do lighting.
Thanks in advance
Bubbles |
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05/31/2007 11:17:42 AM · #2 |
| when you find out let me know:) |
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05/31/2007 11:23:43 AM · #3 |
Practice with a window using black or white fabric as reflectors to modify the light (virtually free).
Cheap clamp-on floodlights from a hardware store can also be effective on small subjects if you use bright, daylight-balanced bulbs. |
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05/31/2007 11:40:06 AM · #4 |
| I use a car wind shield reflector, mine is silver on the one side and blue-silver on the other. I folds up nicely and is cheap. You could always just glue some aluminium foil on some cardboard. For my macro work I used to use some desk lamps with energy saver bulbs (they don't get hot like regular incandescents). I have since picked up a cheap third party flash. |
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05/31/2007 11:55:49 AM · #5 |
I use camping mats as reflectors. They are silver foil on one side and white foam on the other. They only cost about £1 ukp ($2.00 usd) and work great.
For back drops I bought cotton sheeting from a fabric store. Sheeting comes in double the width of dressmaking fabric. Its a fraction of the price of buying backdrops from a photography shop. I added a few eyelets to one edge and use them to hang it over nails in a wooden batten. |
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05/31/2007 12:37:46 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Mr Bubbles:
Can anyone give me some suggestions on lighing/reflectors and the like that I can buy say at Wal-Mart or Target to practice with while I save up money for real lighting equipment? I don't want to buy real equipment until I have learned how to do lighting.
Thanks in advance
Bubbles |
Home Depot is a better place to find all your experimentation lights that you would need.
If you use your imagination, you can find reflectors from there insulations area.
I can not tell you how many times I have gone to Home Depot for simple things one would not think of using for a lighting set up. Not just me, but in the industry I have a career in, we use a lot of stuff from Home Depot, Leow's, OSH, what ever, in order to get the job done.
Home Depot IS the poor mans lighting source.
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05/31/2007 12:42:40 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Mr Bubbles:
I don't want to buy real equipment until I have learned how to do lighting.
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I suggest windows and reflectors. North facing windows (in the northern hemisphere, south if you're below the equator) will give you the most diffused light.
Lighting is lighting is lighting. Natural lighting (that big hot light bulb in the sky) just happens to be free, if you are patient enough to use it.
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05/31/2007 12:54:11 PM · #8 |
First... perhaps more expensive then DIY lighting but still less than even a single strobe would be the PhotoFlex First Studio Portrait Lighting Kit. You can learn a lot from starting with continuous lights and then the stands and umbrellas can be reused later with a strobe.
This is not to say I'm not a fan of DIY... but in many cases I have realized that I would have spent less and learned more by starting with this kit.
On the DIY thought, I love full spectrum fluorescent. While not portable, you can get a fixture for about $8 and full spectrum bulbs for about $3. Two of them will create some nice soft light... not a lot of it, but it's nice.
Message edited by author 2007-05-31 16:55:14.
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05/31/2007 01:33:57 PM · #9 |
| Thanks for all the ideas. |
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