Help with lights please

First, I have to say that I tried reading the stickies, but those topics turned too complicated too quick

What I am trying to do is get a couple of lights to make something like a home studio. I am taking pictures just for fun, not even a hobby at this point, so studio is really not the right word to describe it. Basically the lighting in my house sux, so I figured if I get a couple of lights - I would be able to take pictures indoors. But when I went to Adorama, the number of lights available is just overwhelming for a noob like me.

I would be taking pictures mostly of small items, such as fine-scale models I build occasionally, as well as the rare portrait of my daughter when I can get her to stay still for more than a second.

I am trying to get something that would basically give me extra light (flood light maybe?), but I don't know which would be better in this case - tungsten or fluorescent? Don't even have the will to venture into mono, packs, flash and all the differences...

Based on guess-timation, I've found this light on Adorama: http://www.adorama.com​/SVKT100.html
Of course it's unavailable, but would this type of light give me the "flood-light" feel, without making it look like I've shot against the sun? (I will get a diffuser, as well) Can I just replace the bulb with, let's say 100W, if I want less powerfull ights?

And also, what would be the difference between the light I linked to above and one of the cheap bending floor lights from Walmart? Is the lightbulb any different?

I know, a lot of questions for something so simple, but I hope someone can shed some light on this one for me

It used to be that one needed a true photoflood bulb, because the tunsten-balance color film was tuned for one specific color temperature, which was output by photoflood...standard tungsten household bulbs were not the right color temperture for tunsten-balance color film. That was the reason for Smith Victor lights.

Fast forward to the digital age...software like Elements or Lightroom easily corrects shots to any color balance which you must shoot in. Suddenly common, ordinary incandescent lights from any source (including the hardware store) are suitable for use...the only issue is whether or not it happens to be bright enough to furnish sufficient light to permit a reasonable shutter speed and DOF.

I have the 500 watt version of them lights and most of the time they aren't bright enough, I believe the base of the bulb is a different size, and you have to order them from smith victor

Thanks for sharing the interesting stuff. Keep updating.

For these, what you do with the light makes all the difference. It doesn't matter at all what kind of light it is. It's not as "quick & dirty" as using a box, but I prefer to put the reflections I get where I want them to be. Look at the knife & Browning threads here:
FAQ - Studio Lighting
One of them shows an example using just one light source.

This is a completely different situation, so since it's "rare", I'd try to shoot her near a window, or take her outside: Angeline outdoors

So basically the type of light source doesn't matter?

I forgot to mention that I would be doing this in our basement, which only has one tiny widnow, i.e. unlike the Browning photos, I would not have any decent ambient light.

atlrus wrote in post #12190587
So basically the type of light source doesn't matter?

Yes and no.

Yes, the type of light source (as a generality) no longer really matters, since WB adjustment in post processing makes it no longer a major issue.

Yes, what really matters about lighting is how large (or small) the apparent source is, as seen by the subject...small source (sun) is 'hard' or 'harsh', large source (overcast sky) is 'soft' source. The use of modifiers (e.g. umbrellas, reflector panels) controls apparent size of a light, turning a 'small source' into a 'large source'.

But, No, there are additional considerations in the choice of light source...

• Incandescent or fluorescent will usually not be as bright as flash, so they require a slower shutter and/or faster lens aperture and/or high ISO to make a photo
  
• Fluorescent can have issues with shutter speeds which are faster than the AC cycle rate...e.g. in USA, you can have issues when shooting at shutter speeds faster than 1/60 sec. because the actual color temp can alter significantly during one cycle of the AC power.
  
• Bright incandescent can be very hot in the summer time!
  
• The benefit of fluorescent and incandescent is that you can SEE the result of light placement without ever taking a photo.
  
• Speedlights allow relative fast shutter speeds, but force you to take photos and chimp them in order to visualize the effects of light placement.

atlrus wrote in post #12190587
I forgot to mention that I would be doing this in our basement, which only has one tiny widnow, i.e. unlike the Browning photos, I would not have any decent ambient light.

Put a white 30X40" card to the side of the subject & put a light on it. Now you've made your own "ambient light".