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stephboucher

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Steph
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Hi all,

After many years away from photography, i have recently bought a Canon 60D with 17-85mm lens, followed up with the purchase of a 700-200 L IS USM. Thats my lot !!!

I have been reading various forums on here and am really interested in some indoor, close up work utilising the equipment i have.

Ive looked at making a 'white box' and now want to appreciate the whole aspect of lighting the subject - can i do this by simply using lighting i have around the house and the built in camera flash, or do i need to purchase 'lighting' ?

Your thoughts would be very welcome.

Possible subjects - cats, still life, smoke, water drops etc etc.
 
What lighting you have in your house will do to take some pictures and is certainly enough to get learning with as you may start to see just how moving a light affects shadows, and what you can do to increase or decrease them, change the subjects apparent shape or highlight a part of the picture so go play !
However, you may also soon find that you want more control, power etc...

Water drops, smoke and anything that moves may be out of reach with home lights but there is no need to go spending to start - however, when you do feel the need to spend do look at Lencarta as for me they seem to provide the best compromise of quality, features without silly expense. However there is a serious investment to make on full studio equipment which you may not want or need - after that the worst part of owning such things for me is the setting up and packing away then storing it all between shoots !
There are plenty of people here who use cheaper studio flash equipment so you may be able to get a second hand set cheaply, or you may want to go with a flashgun or two.
If you are handy, it is easy to make a light box, reflectors, basic modifiers for a flashgun etc but I think that the first thing to do is try with what you have and see what you then feel you want or need. Don't forget that daylight through a window is an easily modified source of light too !
 
Steph - it is always so easy to suggest spending loads of someone else's cash, and you will find there is so much more you can do with some proper lights, but unless it is burning a hole then keep it there until you have had time to work out just what you want and need.
I used a bedside light and some white card to start with, and while there is still an awful lot to learn it did help me start to see the effects of different lighting. Don't forget to adjust your white balance to suit the bulb you are using though..
 
I think there is a serious danger of missing out on a fairly cheap but priceless learning curve when buying lighting. Once the best light source for your style is established, you then need to deliver it. At home, you are not embarrased by any heath robinson set up that works and so this is the cheapest way to learn a great deal by trial and error. There are innumerable ways to deliver light, whether you invent your own kit or buy something invented by someone else made for retail. I would start with some good quality daylight flourescent bulbs with as high a CRI rendering index (at least over 90) as possible, some flexible lamp stands,and a large roll of white and black paper for a seamless backgrounds. Then just faff around with mirrors, silver foil, white card reflection, to set up some basic shots, playing with moving the light via reflection. Then use the foil etc to shape into some temporary simple snoots, tracing paper to make mini softbox effect/diffusion. Take a series of pics of an object chosen from the things you want to photograph, with daylight flourescent, tungsten, incandescent, plain daylight and the on camera flash. The differences in colour temperatures of these various light sources is amazing and will make you look deeper into camera settings and lighting.

That will keep you busy, cost very little and rather than just trusting whats available developed by others, you will have a bit more of a clue about what the various kit will do with the 'best light' for you personally.

I would avoid light tents, they are a good example of what someone else designed, for people who.... complete crap if you want to understand and use lighting properly.

I just photograph still life stuff, nothing that moves fast, know nothing about flash, and started from scratch, My knowledge about my own lighting set up, is priceless to me I know why it works as well as it does becouse learned it the hard way.

Next on the agenda....is seeing if flash is really better than what I have developed with continuous lights, for my style.

Just my 2000000 pence worth;):lol:
 
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