homemade studio lighting????

[Lisa Marie]

I know we have some really talented and creative people out there and I was wondering if anyone has ever made their own studio lighting for portrait type photography and if anyone had any tips?????????????? THANKS so much...

[Lisa Marie]

Sorry guys, I just realized this should have gone in the "Studio and Lighting" section. I will try to be more careful about where I post in the future. Wish there was a way to remove this thread since I just posted it minutes ago.

[Packard]

I know we have some really talented and creative people out there and I was wondering if anyone has ever made their own studio lighting for portrait type photography and if anyone had any tips?????????????? THANKS so much...

The way to do this is to start with one (1) light and an umbrella. If you have a shoe mounted flash, go ahead and get an umbrella (40" is good) and an umbrella bracket. There are many different types of brackets for this ranging from $10.00 to $40.00. The umbrella will cost about $30.00. You will also need a light-duty lighting stand (Testrite or Manfrotto). And of course your shoe mount flash.

A modeling light is nice but with just one umbrella you should be able to mentally visualize the effect after shooting just a short time. Lest you think that one light is a joke, the covers of COSMOPOLITAN were photographed by Scavullo for years and he used just one large umbrella for all his shooting.

A plus to this set up is that nothing will go to waste if you decide to get professional grade equipment later on. The flash will work on your camera for candids; the umbrella will work with the pro equipment, the light stand will work for a back light or to hold a reflector, etc.

Good luck.

[Asylum Steve]

Wish there was a way to remove this thread since I just posted it minutes ago.

Remove it? Nope. How about "move" it. That's easy...

Welcome to the site, LM. Finding lights for your studio is the easy part. It's learning to modify and manipulate that light that is the key to successful images.

And so, most anything can be used for starters. If you already have a flash, and are comfortable with it, then yes, Packard's advice is good. If not, you might consider hot lights such as inexpensive 500w or 1K halogen work lights. Chances are you'll learn lighting much more quickly when you can see the effects as you go along.

You can still use umbrellas with hot lights (no softbox, though, too much heat buildup), and easily make your own light panels (both white for diffusion and black to block unwanted light) and reflectors.

This and similar topics are discussed up all the time in this forum. I suggest you sift through the archives and look for other ideas folks have come up with...

[Lisa Marie]

Thanks so much for the info to both of you! I have taken your advice and just started playing around with different lights and set up. Having tons of fun but also have a long way to go and I am pretty sure if I continue to let my 3 year old daugher wear lipstick, she will let me continue to use her as a model... ha, ha.

Thanks again. I love this fourm and all the wonderfully talented and helpful people. You rock!

Lisa

P.S. And thanks Steve for moving my thread. That was rather silly of me to post it in the wrong spot.