Whats the best lighting for shooting clothing?? please help!

[ShutterEyes645]

Hello all,

I'm working as the Graphic Artist (and sometimes Photographer) for a clothing company, and we really need to invest in a studio lighting set up!! Our photos are coming out poorly. I do have a degree in photographhy, however its been quite some time since i have worked with studio lights and am new to using them with a digital camera. We finally have some money to spend and make an investment, however economic is still the keyword here. My questions are:
- Which is better lighting for a digital camera? (the kind we have is a Minolta DIMAGE 7i) Continuous lighting or Flash/Strobe lighting? or something else?
- Which brand are good quality lights yet affordable. I know of high end ones such as Speedotron and Excalibur. and they are a little too pricey for the company's budget.

Also, for additional info, I should point out that we are located in a warehouse, so the current lighting are flourescent lights hanging from the ceiling (very high ceilings that is). The backdrop we use is just a piece of white (or black) cotton cloth.

Any kind of info will be appreciated! Thank you.

[JCPhoto1]

There are a lot of people who can make a great argument for both tungsten lights or strobes. With tungsten they are a little warmer and with film you would need filters to shoot. With you having digital that shouldn't be a problem as you can set the white balance to whatever you use. My preference would be strobes. If you look at any of the forums the White Lightning or Alien Bee's are a popular choice that balance great build and they don't cost a fortune. Their 800 series lights are about 320 ws and would be fine for what you want to do. Two lights with a few reflectors woudn't break the bank but should still give you pro results. You would need to invest in a light meter too but something like the Sekonic 308B is about $175. and is a great performer.

Your backdrop should work fine but you might want to use the modeling lights on the strobes to set up the shot and turn off the flourescents. They have a greenish tint that might be a problem. It would just make it easier to get your white balance and not have to worry about a color cast from them. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. We don't always have the right answer but we can sure make one up.

[ShutterEyes645]

That helps a lot! Thanks