Need advise for Homemade Studio Lighting n Props

[hptay]

hi,

I am interested in trying a little studio photography at home, which may range from product photography to protrait photography. As I am pursuing this as a hobby, I doubt it would be wise to invest heavily in professional lighting as they range in the thousands...

I was wondering if anyone has attempted to use standard floresent lighting as substitute lighting? Has anyone had similar experience?

What material can be used for backdrop? white cloth? Read on the net someone used bedsheet.. Any idea here?

Thanks.

 

[zekai]

will post late when i have time, i also diy a lot of rubbish

 

[hptay]

Hey,

Lookin forward to ur tips. Perhaps if I'd ever get good enough, we could exchange advise

 

[Fundee]

as for flo lights..... afraid it might not strong enuff for potrait(u might want to mod it like a light panel) and colour cast is a prob unless you ps it and take alot of work n time.
as for backdrops, you can try any cloth and spray it to whatever colour you want... for black use velvet it cost around $3-$4/meter but the width is only 45". next other option you can buy a curtain material from ikea with a wider width of 2.5m, length is up to you..

happy snapping....

 

[hptay]

Hi Fundee,

thanks for the tip. Been thinkin about it today and decided to try with those energy saving blubs instead, mebi mod it with some foil for reflecting.. hahaha
will let you guys know if I ever get a prototype out. But first, gotta understand how the pro lights work before I even have a clue where to begin...

 

[zekai]

lighting is a very important issue.
like you, i am reluctant to spend on light.

it all depend in what f-stop you shoot with.

are you familar with studio set up?


i tried to recreate 500W with 2-3 200W tungsten light bulb. Not sure if it work out to be the same.

peg the cloth to a bamboo pole. easier to raise. yeah i can't get a long enuff width. so i crop my portrait tight.

 

[hptay]

Hi Zekai,

I am not familar with the studio setup and am planning to hit the books to read up a little before I experiment. Will post the results when I finally get down to settin up the home studio.

 

[reachme2003]

if you own portable flash/s with at least average power, you can modify it for use in your home studio. Try using white translucent curtain material or shower curtain or stretching tracing paper (cheap) over a wooden frame. By putting the flash behind the diffusion screen, you create diffuse light like using softbox or umbrella. Your flash should come with a off-camera syn cord.

For background holder, Vhive sells cloth hanger for $18.00. Height about 1.7m and 1m width. Enough for head and shoulder portraits and small products.