your opinion on my cheap studio lighting ideas

First, let me start off by saying, "Please excuse my inexperience." I have a tight workspace with an even smaller budget. I have claimed stake in a 13 x 12 room (the largest I was going to get) in my new house and I'd like to put together a small studio. Mostly for fun and hobby, I have no ambition to do professional work at this time.

I have already purchased some tin work lights from the hardware store with some 100w tungsten bulbs. I have actually gotten a few really good shots using them, but the unavoidable and constant hotspot is killing me. I can't find a way to properly diffuse them and the yellow/orange tint is getting frustrating.

I have to scenarios for studio lighting that I would like to put out there for your advice.

1. The dreaded cheap strobe light set up from ebay.

I realize you get what you pay for, but I had to ask your opinions...

http://cgi.ebay.com …7QQtcZphotoQQcm​dZViewItem

2. My other idea is to get 2 430ex flashes, tripods, and omni-bounces.

Thanks,
Kenn

genericoffset wrote in post #2901008
100w tungsten bulbs... and the yellow/orange tint is getting frustrating.

2. My other idea is to get 2 430ex flashes, tripods, and omni-bounces.
Thanks,
Kenn

I only want to saw off part of your question.

The orange tint is easy to solve. Just set your camera to a tungsten lighting color balance or better yet accomplish a custom white balance. Consult you cameras manual to determine how to do either of these easy steps.

If you want an inexpensive off camera flash light solution do not go with the very expensive and/or very hard to adapt Canon Speedlights. Get two Sunpak 383 units (only $80.00 each). Look in the stickies at the top of this forum for a review of this flash by Curtis and info on how to set it up for off camera use.

Enjoy! Lon

Continuous light is fine, as long as your subjects have no pulse and you can use a tripod. Otherwise, flash is the way to go, and it doesn't need to cost a fortune.

This thread for some basic foundation info on off-camera flash.

The Strobist blog for lots of really good ideas, both technically and creatively.

Welcome to the forum Kenn, stay away from most eBay lighting kits like the plague. The ones that are actually strobes (flash units) have non-user replaceable strobe bulbs that rarely last long enough. The whole process to get it replaced is to send it into the company and for a fee (usually close to what you actually paid for the unit) they'll replace the bulb.

The new rip-off are these lighting kits that are just a bulb. Thats it, a bulb and a power cord, maybe two stands and two umbrellas. 40watts. Think of what Curtis said and multiply that by a bunch more. Umbrellas already kill your light intensity, killing 40watts worth of intensity - wow, not much more than a mere night light?

I've been researching the strobist way of doing things myself, I just hate lugging around my studio lights on location when I could basically work with a strobe setup. Read the strobist blog Curtis posted - lots of great information and the guy is a Marylander like us. Too bad he doesn't offer any local seminars of the art.

Here's another vote for the strobist blog. Don't waste your money on the canon flashes, they're overpriced and have limited use (it requires line of sight in order to work properly in wireless ettl mode, so they have limited range). I have two nikon flashes that I use, both cost me under $100 each (actually, one only cost me $12 total, got a sweet as-is deal) and they provide most of the lighting I need. STart at lighting 101 @ strobist and you'll see that great lighting doesn't have to be expensive.