..beginning photography with household lamps and bulbs

I have written about the idea of setting up a little photo studio in

an (indoors) antique and collectible mall. I have now set up that

space and have had two clients...by appointment.

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I had some 18" x 7' or 8' panels that I hinged together and threw a

canvas painting floor cloth over for a back drop. I threw a sheer

white curtain over the canvas to brighten it up a little.

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I have only household lamps in place with halogen and florescent

bulbs. The lighting is barely enough I found out, and also, seems to

be the cause of strange coloring which I am not sure the white

balance will fix.

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This is a financially necessary situation for me until I am paid for

a few more jobs. It's a kind of pay and grow business, but it's

better than nothing which is what I had for a studio before.

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I'm including a photograph from one of the sessions. The children

wore orange. Can you please give me a color critique, and a color

correction critique of this lighting setup?

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Also, I have found stronger lights than the ones I have, but I have

not found a "holder" for the lights. What can I get to hold a 250

watt bulb? The lamp stand I have, and the clip on lamps I use all

asked for nothing above 60 watts. I can get around that some by

using florescent and halogen lights, but there must be

something "meanwhile affordable" that will hold brighter lights.

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Thanks as usual

I don't think stronger hot lights are the answer. You'd probably get more satifying results with a couple of inexpensive flash units (e.g. Vivitar 283), one on the camera but bounced, the other triggered with a slave "peanut". Maybe lower the power of the on-camera flash & bounce straight up, then use the slave at about a 45-degree angle as a main light. It'll take some experimentation to get good results, but you can practice on yourself with the camera's self-timer until the results are consistent.

 

The subjects in your posted image seem too close to the backdrop, and the backdrop is too strongly lit. Subjects' faces are lost in shadows, backdrop lighting is overwhelming them.

 

If you're insisting on continuous lighting, try the 500w halogen lamps from any Home Depot, Lowe's, or Walmart. Look in the electrical section for utility or worklights.

As far as I remember color temperature of continous light sources shifts during their lifetime. Get at least a set of similar lamps and use them together. Think about ironing your backdrop curtain next time. Your color seems quite O.K. on the other hand why don't you throw it away and look for more sophisticated lighting setups in b&w? - Cheap, easy, and good for learning... - Just a idea.

I think you are trying to do it the ?right? way, and I think that may be the

wrong thing to do. In a certain view, the photo of the kids isn?t far off.

I mean, you don?t have the experience or the equipment to do it the ?right?

(PPA) way as other established ?Professional? photographers are doing, but

you appear to be attempting to go that route. I think you should stop before

you are worn down by frustration. Don?t do it their way, do it your way.

Your Magnolia photos are some of your best, see your clients with those eyes

and only show your clients that style. I bet you?ll enjoy shooting more and

sell much more.

 

Your Magnolia images have a softness imparted by the limited depth-of-focus

characteristics of the macro lens. I suggest designing a lighting construct

that enables you to mimic this sense of light while adding ambiance to your

studio, such as fluorescent shop-lights with ?daylight? 5000k tubes hanging

vertically and horizontally from the ceiling and lots of diffusion material

covering provisional stands pained white. The stands could be made from

coffee cans or milk jugs (or something with a broader base for increased

stability) filled with cement supporting a vertical steel pole, to which you

could attach the shop-light or a ?T? or ?L? from which to hang material (be

sure to tape down or otherwise secure your cords and keep a clear path for

your clients). Home Depot or Lowe?s will have all needed materials except

the cloth. I?d try Wal-Mart or some such and consider tulle or something

similarly sheer, old wedding dresses (who knows?). Wal-Mart has a clearance

table on which all material is only $1.00 /yard. Fluorescents have 2

distinct advantages over tungsten and halogen, the first is greater

diffusion while maintaining directionality and the second is far less heat

and less chance of igniting the material. With all this hanging material the

background will be taken care of, the light diffused and the ambiance set.

Shoot digital for color balance and sharpen the eyes if necessary. Make sure

the subjects? eyes are on the same plane, so that all subjects appear

in-focus. Check out this place; www.printroom.com <http://www.prinroom.com/>

and consider letting go of dealing with sales. Lastly, get some insurance.

Just a thought, dq.

 

?With limitations new forms can be derived?

 

PS-

I shot my "Pitcher with Blossoms" using a $6 flo from Wal-Mart and $8 in

paper from an art paper store. I like that shot.

Quartz work lights (500 watts each), which come with stands, are an option.

 

Possibly under $50 for a 2 head unit at a builder's supply.

 

Use the tungsten setting on digital or 80A filter on film.

You might try AC slaves. They can be synced to the camera or fired using an on camera flash. I have some that I use with umbrellas & softboxes and they are great. If you are shooting digital, you will be able to see right away if settings or lights need to be tweaked. You can use a simple Polaroid camera to check lighting if you are shooting film.

 

KC

Dan Quan, Thank you in many ways for your post. What a wonderful idea for a studio, at all, much less one like my "Antique Mall" space!

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(I don't know how to get around saying this, but my current intellectual environment really challenges me at moments-always one to think creatively, take the rules past themselves a tiny bit, as much as I could, I now found myself in an environment where I am totally being watched (I don't mind that) and censored (I do mind that). Southerners tend to get very close, closer than I am used to, and don't mind asking the most personal questions. I try to dismiss as much as I can, but it's never nearly enough.

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So thank you for filling in for my (temporarily, I hope!) absent brain. I love your thoughts and ideas.

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And that I was trying to do it "the right way", I keep forgetting that I have never done anything "the right way".......there are so many other lovely paths to wherever....but sometimes I am worn, and I feel like Enid Bagnol's character in "The Chalk Garden" when she has retired to the country, and she sees her friend, the judge's reaction to her yelling out the window to warn some children playing ball to near her house, she responds, "The light and shade have gone out of me." It says so much to me.

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I have yelled and complained so much I have lost my own thoughts!

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So thank you very much, and thanks to ALL who answering my plodding questions.....<div></div>

This will cost you only a little money. Buy a couple of used Vivitar 285 flash units, stick them on cheap light stands, and bounce them into cheap white umberllas you can buy on Ebay. It will increase the quality of your lighting quite a bit. Want to get really fancy? Buy one of those $30 Sunpak digital slave flash units and hang it upside down from the cieling as a hair light. Hey, don't laugh, it works! Anyway, use a piece of black cardboard taped to the back of the flash to prevent light from spilling onto your background.

 

Definitely move the kids away from the background if you have the space. You want the background as out of focus as possible, and maybe you can try tie dying a background using a white sheet and very light and medium gray dies to break up the pattern a bit.

 

Also, try hanging brite white sheets on either side of your little studio, out of the picture view. I'm assuming you have very restricted space. This will help bounce the light a little more to fill in under their chins, etc.

 

Finally, you can also try using a very dark - black - piece of material behind them such as felt. It will make your background go dark if you move the kids away from it a little.

 

Set a custom white balance every day if you are shooting digital!

 

Have fun! You'll never know unless you try! And why not ask an experienced photographer to visit your studio and offer suggestions? Some photographers will see you as competition, but 90% of them would step in to help you out and offer suggestions. You never know what this could grow into if you take your time and learn.

 

Get a volunteer to come in during off hours, and experiment on them like crazy. What've you got to lose?