500 w halogen

thoughts on using a 500w halogen lamp for white out background? using a gobo

to avoid the backlighting eating the edges and keeping a good amount of

distance between my subject and my seperately lit white background. other

suggestions for light bulbs welcome. im not really looking to spend more than

what i would find at the corner hardware store although professional lighting

kit sounds nice... thanks everyone

also curious of the color temperature of such qaurtz 500w bulbs (work lights) because it didnt say on the box. although, i guess that can be corrected with filtering all and all as long as im able to get 1 1/3- 2 or so stops difference from my subject. just looking to see if people have used these bulbs with success as i have not tried. thanks again-chuck

Light bulbs don't really matter as long as you correct for the colour accordingly. When using Halogen's, use Tungsten film or adjust white balance if shooting digital. If shooting still life, be prepared for long shutter speeds (you need a tripod). If shooting people, you will have to use high ISO film/sensor setting and a large aperture (shallow depth of field) to get a reasonable shutter speed. For an alternative to do this on the cheap, you can use a large piece of White translucent fabric (e.g. shower curtain) positioned so it's backlit by the sun.

Chuck, I started the very same way. I bought 2 500w halogens at home depot for $10 EA. If you shoot raw, and adjust your white balance in editing, it works fine. You can use a couple of peices of cardboard (gobos) to block the light from spilling onto your subject. Good Luck.

 

Mike