No Budget Lighting

<p>As a guy currently working on a budget between nothing and next to nothing, it should come as no surprise I've been experimenting with DIY lighting. I'm armed only with a single SB600 and the typical household odds and ends (with the exception of enough mic stands to mic a full church choir). I'm curious about others' budget techniques and resulting images.</p>

<p>To start:</p>

<p>A shoe-mounted SB600 with a plastic-bowl-and-grocery-bag diffusor. <br>

<img src="http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/345/faceme3.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>For about $100, you can get everything you need to mount a hot-shoe flast on a stand, shoot it into an umbrella, and trigger it (albeit with a cord). Even one flash on an umbrella can do a lot. Assuming that your camera has a hot shoe but no PC port, you need: (1) a hot-shoe-to-PC adapter, (2) a long enough PC cord, (3) if your flash does not have a PC port (or some other kind of wired control port) a PC-to-hot-shoe adapter, (4) a stand-to-hot-shoe adapter, preferably one of the ones that also holds an umbrella, (5) an umbrella, and (6) a stand.</p>

<p>If the SB-600 does not offer manual power control, you might want to invest in an old, basic flash that does, like a Sunpak 383 Super or a Vivitar 283 or 285-HV.</p>

<p>And by all means, check out the Strobist website (<a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/">http://strobist.blogspot.com/</a>).</p>

 

<p>A 100 to 500 watt frosted household bulb in a Smith Victor reflector is a beautifult budget light. I have even shot people on 16x20 film with it. </p>

<p>The best way to save cost for DIY is to avoid the overpriced flashes from the camera manufacturer. If you are willing to determine your exposure manually using your histogram and trial and error, you can use almost any flash that has a manual-mode off-camera with a PC cord. However, you do need to be sure the PC voltage is low, some older ones have a high voltage that can fry modern cameras. There is an internet site that lists the voltages for older flash units. Or another alternative is to use the "safe sync" hot shoe to PC adapter from Wein.</p>

<p>I buy old used hot-shoe flashes on ebay for $30-$40. In the past, I have improvised all types of diffusers, some look like homemade kites with tissue paper or white garbage bags stretched across them. To simulate a soft-box, you want a big diffuser, as close as possible to the subject. Recently, I bought a setup similar to what Dave describes, again on ebay, but this time new, from one of the Chinese stores.</p>

<p>With a multi-flash DIY setup, you can get similar results to a high-end setup. The light output won't be as strong, so you can't shoot only shoot one or two people. You may need to use ISO 400 sometimes, but most modern mid-range cameras are very good at ISO 400. And, it is more cumbersome to setup and adjust.</p>

<p>Two cheap flashes, one to the left with a tissue paper diffuser, another in the back for rim lighting.</p><div></div>

<p>Beautiful Matthew!</p>

<blockquote>

<p>However, you do need to be sure the PC voltage is low, some older ones have a high voltage that can fry modern cameras.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Or you can read the manual for your camera which in most cases will say that voltages up to 250v are o.k.</p>

<p>I fyou don't mind the Heat, you can purchase a continuous light kit with 3 light, but I would be careful about the diffusers. Great portrait by the way !</p>

<p>You can also check diy-photography.net (just delete the dash) for other, extremely cheap mods for you flash...;-)</p>