Mini "tabletop studio" setup?

[Broric]

I'd like to understand lighting/flash better so I thought I'd set up a little tabletop studio to practice with and run through some examples from tutorials, etc.

At the minute I have a Canon 430EX as well as two cheap YN-467s with radio triggers. These are all battery operated and as far as I'm aware there's no way to plug them in so I'm wondering if I need a more permanent light-source as well and if so, what?

Does anyone have a recommended setup?

Cheers

 

[Phil V]

The advantages of studio lighting are:

Power
Quick recycling
Modelling lights
Availability of a wide range of modifiers.

But all light is light, so let's look at what you'll lose:
Power - but for a 'table top studio' you don't really need much of that
Quick recycling - but your subjects are static so you don't need it
Modelling lights, but if you're shooting static objects digitally, trial end error works so long as you have the patience.
Availability of a wide range of modifiers, to recreate the behaviour will require imagination and resourcefulness and DIY skills.

Get 'the speedlighters handbook as a starting point, before you buy another thing.

If you were planning to shoot people I'd recommend a starter studio light kit, but you can do table top stuff with speedlights.

 

[domino1999]

^ this. For tabletop work your speedlights will be fine, although you will probably benefit from a diffuser/umbrella, depending on what you're shooting and the result your after.

 

[JennyGW]

The problem with Speedlites for product shots is that they don't have enough power when large dof is required, especially if you are firing them through any type of diffuser.

 

[Steve T]

Why use speedlights when probably have eveything you need to learn about and understand small product lighting already somewhere amongst your household stuff.
Example-
http://learnmyshot.com/light-difusion-tutorial-soft-light-vs-hard-light/

Once you know the look and style of lighting/shadow you like best for your particular product, you can try to improve on that with speedlights. My bet is that unless you need the speed you will stick with long exposures and continuous lights. I found that 'what you see is what you' continuous lighting was a lot simpler to get my head around than flash when I started.