DIY Continuous Lighting?

I'm working on portraits on the 10-year-old rescue dog we just adopted before Christmas. She's very timid, and the flashgun frightens her and causes her to scurry off.

I'm thinking that continuous lighting may be the solution, as I don't think it will alarm her.

I have lighting stands (Manfrotto Compact Stands . . . 11lb payload capacity) and 42" convertible umbrellas. My studio is in my finished basement, and there are a lot of power outlets. I have several tripods, and several different kinds of heads.

I'm using a black background, and I'm going quite low-key.

Does anyone have some budget DIY solutions? When I write "budget" I'm mean virtually free.

What about a couple of clamp on lights with the appropriate light bulb? Very inexpensive and usefull for other things as well.

Heya,

Just put some normal incandescent bulbs or whatever bulbs you have in your lamps/fixtures behind those umbrellas and crank the ISO up and do a custom white balance.

Very best,

gjl711 wrote in post #17866971
What about a couple of clamp on lights with the appropriate light bulb? Very inexpensive and usefull for other things as well.

Arrgghh! I had a whole bunch of lights like those for our reptile enclosures. I donated them all to the Calgary Humane Society after they seized 200 reptiles and needed supplies. Darn it. I never envisioned this purpose for them. Maybe I can find one in the house that I previously missed.

Looking at the other lamps on the page, we have a work light hanging in the garage that might be a possibility.

MalVeauX wrote in post #17866973
Heya,

Just put some normal incandescent bulbs or whatever bulbs you have in your lamps/fixtures behind those umbrellas and crank the ISO up and do a custom white balance.

Very best,

I will see what I can come up with. In addition to the work light I think we have in the garage, we have some more lamps.

I also have a heavy duty clamp that I've got an umbrella/cold shoe adapter on. I could clamp the umbrella to a table and plunk a lamp on the table.

I was able to find a remaining dome light in the house. It doesn't have a clamp, but it does have a dimmer dial on it.

I'll see how it works. I just clamped it at the front and ran the cord around the umbrella post.

If you want a big soft source grab a frosted shower curtain and blast it with light from whatever source you have. It makes a big, albeit somewhat inefficient, softbox. But a tube fluorescent fixture, or tungsten workligjt will do in a pinch.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17867082
If you want a big soft source grab a frosted shower curtain and blast it with light from whatever source you have. It makes a big, albeit somewhat inefficient, softbox. But a tube fluorescent fixture, or tungsten workligjt will do in a pinch.

When I was digging around for the dome light I came across a few t5 aquarium fixtures that I didn't realize I still had. I also found some LED aquarium fixtures that might be useful. I'll see what I can turn up for diffusers for them.

Since I've been laid-off from my very high paying job in domestic oil and gas pipeline construction, I've got ample time to fiddle around with DIY lighting solutions. I'm getting some great ideas here. Thank you!

the clamp on lights can also be used with LED Flood lights like those I found at Home Depot. Cost of the LED bulbs is a lot higher than normal incandescent, but you get way less heat and they last forever! ( I got 3 in 2009, they are the "always on" lights in the shop)

The ones I found have a very nice warm incandescent like color.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17867170
the clamp on lights can also be used with LED Flood lights like those I found at Home Depot. Cost of the LED bulbs is a lot higher than normal incandescent, but you get way less heat and they last forever! ( I got 3 in 2009, they are the "always on" lights in the shop)

The ones I found have a very nice warm incandescent like color.

I've switched out all my incandescent at home to LED and it's made quite a difference in our monthly bill. But I think for photography the LEDs do not have a very good spectrum. From what I remember it cuts out in the red and is missing a good chunk of the cyan spectrum.

gjl711 wrote in post #17867192
I've switched out all my incandescent at home to LED and it's made quite a difference in our monthly bill. But I think for photography the LEDs do not have a very good spectrum. From what I remember it cuts out in the red and is missing a good chunk of the cyan spectrum.

The spectrum depends on the brand and quality of the led. Some are full spectrum and most are closer than cfl or vapor bulbs.