Low to 0 budget, and I need some lighting!

[julimucca]

O.k., so I have been getting my studio set up in the basement.
I have made my own backdrop stand and created a black and white backdrop from bed sheets, which have worked well so far. Now the only thing that I need(besides a nicer camera, which will be a while)is lighting.
I realy have no budget right now, but people are asking me to take photos for them, and I want something that will turn out good for them.
I was told that at walmart they have shop lights for 10-20 bucks. I realize that lighting wont be the best white light, but I was wondering if there would be a good way to filter the light?
Any suggestions? or would shop lights just be the wrong thing to do?

[coffee]

As long as you shoot RAW, and know what kelvin the light is, you can adjust the white balance to that specific kelvin in PS or other. In ACR you can also use the black white or gray eyedropper to adjust white balance on something in your shot that is black white or gray, but this method doesn't always give the best results. I'm sure Jerry will be along soon to help you out further with your lighting question.

[jerryph]

If you have no budget and need lighting, use the cheapest light available... the sun!

There are many excellent places with great potential, but your basement is not likely going to be one of them.

- One of the best places is close to a large window that streams light in early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

- Beneath trees. Branches and leaves provide the diffusion.

- Shaded sides or areas of buildings.

I know that you were looking for lighting tips for your basement but honestly, with little to no budget and a camera that is not low noise at high ISO, your opportunities are severely limited.

I am not a fan of tungsten, fluorescent lighting it is either poor quality, poor or inconsistent white balance or hot and dangerous. The results are rarely as good as a flash and portability is severely limited. Also, with a little savings, an adequate flash setup is not all that expensive. A lightstand, umbrella, bracket and flash total is in the $100 range, and that is VERY affordable. If people are asking you to do this for them, I presume you are not always working for free, right? Even at this investment level, you will already be better than the (ugh!) Walmart quality level.

A battery powered flash setup is portable, strong, consistent lighting and cheap. For the best place on earth for info on this, visit www.strobist.com and look for the lighting 101 and 102 links. Even with your current setup, go there and read, study and do the exercises... that place is all about light and how to control it.

[julimucca]

Thank you!
I am glad summer is right around the corner. I do love the sunlight for my photos! Unfortunately my basement is the only place I realy have room to do portraits inside, but with the sun being out more, maybe that will buy me some time to save up more, to get set up better in the basement.
Do you know of any good websites or stores that I can get all that equipment for that price Jerry? I am very weary of E-bay, I haven't ever personally had a problem with e-bay, but I have never bought electronic stuff from there either and I have heard horror stories about it. I could definately save up around $100.00 to get that setup in a couple of months easily, so maybe I will just do outside portraits until then.
Also, I was wondering if anyone has bought lenses from e-bay. I found a telephoto, wide range and macro lense kit, with UV filters for my camera for a realy good price that would also realy enhance my portrait photos. They are sold by 24-7 electronics. My money is realy important to me and I am scared to buy online. lol
Thanks for all the feedback, it is very much appreciated!

[dkippen]

Juli - Many people are more leary of buying lenses on ebay because of the cost involved. Many of these items have been hi-jacked by unscrupulous individuals. I have made a few lens purchases over the last few months from another photo forum with very good success. If you're interested, I'll pm the information to you.

[julimucca]

That would be great Debbie! Thank you!

[dkippen]

Juli - sent you a PM.

[jerryph]

Do you know of any good websites or stores that I can get all that equipment for that price Jerry?

MPEX.com has something called a starving student strobist setup which is a great place to start.

BHPhoto.com and Adorama.com are known reputable places to purchase on other photography related purchases you may wish to make in the future.

I also do not like purchasing from eBay as I have too many friends that were misled or out and out cheated, often for thousands of dollars. I must say that the one time that I used ebay, it was for a low cost item and the transaction came out successfully, if very slowly.

Lenses and the facts of life. Even using reputable sources, you get what you pay for. Good lenses are expensive, no way around that. Rarely someone may find a "deal" on the net but it is rare. The only exception are the 50mm F/1.8. Both Canon and Nikon make consumer 50mm lenses that are very sharp and fast for around $100. Every avid photographer should have one in their bag. That aside, things can get very expensive. For example, before the end of April I will make a lens purchase in the $2000 range, bringing my total lens only inventment in photography to easily over $9000. That is *just* lenses, mind you, nothing else.

There is an important saying in photography; "Camera bodies get replaced every few years, but the 2 things that you should be buying ONCE and buying the BEST that you can afford are your lenses and lighting equipment. A good lens today will be a good lens in 25 years".

Lenses make the single biggest difference in the quality of your photos, so I have made the decision that I would rather work harder and save longer to get the BEST rather than settle for 2nd place. So far, I am very pleased that I made that decision.

[jerryph]

Juli - Many people are more leary of buying lenses on ebay because of the cost involved. Many of these items have been hi-jacked by unscrupulous individuals. I have made a few lens purchases over the last few months from another photo forum with very good success. If you're interested, I'll pm the information to you.

Debbie, why not post it here for all to benefit from? I am sure the administration won't mind.

BTW, I love your signature (doing at 50 what I should have done at 20)... that is so "me" as well... lol That is ok, though... we have a few things we can show those young whipper-snappers! :D

[dkippen]

Okay - here is where I've gotten some good lenses lately. Admin, if not appropriate, please delete.

www.fredmiranda.com/forum

You have to register and I have found the buy/sell forum a great place to find good gear at reasonable prices. It's also been a good resource for general photo info.

Jerry - I just changed the signature. I have found myself wanting to take more adventurous trips that I would never have thought of doing at 20, so the new signature fit well.

[julimucca]

Thank you!
I found a lense kit on ebay for about $75.00. It has a 2X telephoto lense, a wide lense and a macro lense, with a couple of different filters as well. I have a photoshoot on the 18th this month, just for practice, but I would like to add to the quality of the photos if I can,(I just have a 4X optical zoom, point and shoot camera) and the filters sound fun too. So, I agree that saving up always gives a great reward with being able to buy good quality. Do you think it would be worth it to get the lense kit before the 18th, or do you think they might be cheap quality that might not make much of a difference?

[dkippen]

Juli -

JMHO - This may be a case of "you get what you pay for". Are these the "short/flat" lens that screw onto another lens? If so, it may not be worth it and the quality of your shots may suffer. In the long run, it might be wise to save for good quality lenses.

[jerryph]

Debbie has the right of it. You get what you pay for and in this case, I think you would be very disappointed with the results.

As I often say, in the world of photography, there are only 2 things that one should buy the best of, and buy only once... lenses, and lighting equipment. Especially when it comes to lenses, will I never compromise. I would rather do without a lens on my camera for a period of time, and work and saver longer and get the best one out there. I never settle for #2 because I know the results will not be as good as #1.

Besides, a good lens 25 years ago, is *still* a good lens today. Consider that an investment in your photography future.

Those screw on filters that magnify and are cheap in construction... all they do is end up putting a LOT of distortion into your pics. I would suggest that you stay away from those.

[julimucca]

I am so glad I am a part of this forum. Thank you for your advice, its nice to get good advice from people that have the same interests as I do! :)
I realy do appreciate it! I think I will go ahead and just save up for a lense that I am not unsure about with the quality. : ) Thank you so much!

[jerryph]

Thanks Debbie. :)

Julimucca, I have a small link for you. It is the trip of someone else working on their portrait photography. The thing that impresses me is that they use just ONE light source. It may be manipulated and controlled with light modifiers or controllers (scrims, reflectors and so on), but these things are not near the price of another flash and most can be made yourself for little to no money.


Check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snapify/3068044243/

[julimucca]

Thanks Debbie. :)

Julimucca, I have a small link for you. It is the trip of someone else working on their portrait photography. The thing that impresses me is that they use just ONE light source. It may be manipulated and controlled with light modifiers or controllers (scrims, reflectors and so on), but these things are not near the price of another flash and most can be made yourself for little to no money.


Check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snapify/3068044243/

oh, thank you! I don't know why I didn't see this earlier, but I am still 9 months later not sure what to do with my lighting, lol so I think this will help me a lot. Thanks!

[jerryph]

If over the last 9 months, you've had a chance to read and study the info from the strobist sites, you may have likely started saving up the nickles and dimes for these items or similar:

- A light stand (new, about $25)
- A light stand swivel adapter (around $16)
- Some low end Cactus triggers (around $28 for a receiver and transmitter)
- An umbrella (about $10-$15)
- the most expensive part will be the flash. An awesome flash for the money is a Vivitar 285HV (I own one and love the light from it). They go around for $90. If you do your shopping wisely, you could find these all for under $200.

With this equipment you can accomplish a lot, learn the basics of off camera photography, and get properly lit photos in your basement.

If you were to look for the perfect Christmas gift, I would suggest the OneLight DVDs made by Zack Arias... there is a TREMENDOUS amount of valuable info on each of the two DVDs and I highly recommend them.

Hope that helps.

[Pat]

How to Make Homemade Photography Lighting (http://www.ehow.com/how_2364330_make-homemade-photography-lighting.html)
Studio Lighting on the Cheap (http://www.studiolighting.net/studio-lighting-cheap/)
Studio lighting on a budget (http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Studio-lighting-on-a-budget-4742)
:)