Inexpensive Lighting alternative

[flumpki]

I am looking at trying to create a studio. I am relatively new to photography and have mostly done landscape type of shooting. I am a recently graduated, but unemployed college student, so I am trying to do what I can on a budget. Anyway, I found some cheap ($9.99) work lights on sale at Sears (Craftsman 500 Watt Tripod Light with Portable Stand ). I was just wondering if these might be okay to get me started before I have enough money to invest in better lighting. Thanks

[flumpki]

They also have a 1000Watt Tripod available for a little more. What do you think?

[TeeJay]

They would work - maybe bounce the light off a white wall/ceiling - and use a custom WB setting, but just be careful how close you get to them, they'll get EXTREMELY HOT! (not very comfortable for any model!)

There are some threads on POTN that feature this type of lighting - sorry but I haven't time now, but use the search facility and see if you can find them.

[John Sims]

Originally Posted by flumpki

They also have a 1000Watt Tripod available for a little more. What do you think?

An interesting thread as I have also being trying to bodge it on a budget .

While I understand that continuous lighting can be very effective, and far easier to see in respect of shadows, the main issue as I understand is heat. High wattage bulbs produce colossal heat. The outer casing on the 500w lamp will be too hot to touch within minutes and the light produced will wilt flowers and melt plastic objects if left in the line of fire after a very short period.

Also, it might be difficult to control the strength of the light - although moving it back wards or bouncing the light around will perhaps get around this.

Inspired by the Strobist site I have elected to use multiple flash guns on radio releases. The releases are now cheaper than PC leads on fleaBay and old,second hand or cheap simple flash guns can then be deployed in single or multiple set ups.

I've only just started, so much of the above is just speculation or with reference to the comments of others far more qualified than myself. It may give you some food for thought though.

[MikeMcL]

you also need ALOT of continuous light to equate to the shutter speeds a flash can give you. Curtis N has a sticky on this i believe. Look through the stickys on the flash main page.

continuous lights are alot easier to work with for setting up an image, and can be alot more forgiving to a beginner. just know the downsides.

nice thing about sears is you can return it if you dont like it after a couple days. Buy it and try it.

[Curtis N]

Originally Posted by MikeMcL

you also need ALOT of continuous light to equate to the shutter speeds a flash can give you. Curtis N has a sticky on this i believe.

It's not a sticky, but you can find my quantitative comparison of strobe vs. halogen continuous lighting here.

Almost any kind of light can be used for shooting inanimate objects. For shooting people, continuous lighting only works for extremely cooperative subjects with a fair amount of heat tolerance. There are very good reasons why studio photographers use strobes.

[Titus213]

I'd say go for it. Just install a couple of tanning beds for use during down time.

[PhotosGuy]

Look here for some ideas: ** IMPORTANT LINKS: Studio Lighting **"