Basics of lighting.

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Richard Black
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I'm Very new to photography of a half decent level as a whole let alone lighting.

I had my car photo'd for total vauxhall yesterday and a fantastic photographer (Chris Wallbank) Was doing the shots.

He had 2 lights, and a speed light on the floor and got some fantastic shots.

Can this be done on a budget? With Halogen lights? I have a 12v Halogen light int he garage, for working on cars. I wondered with some decent bulbs and a stand could you get half decent results? Any tips or advice on what to try or buy?

Cheers
So far i have a 300 ADF Jessops flash gun... Should i be ashamed?:shrug:
 
Should i be ashamed?
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For having the passion and enthusiasm to try something totally new? What do you think? :LOL:

You can get some good shots with almost any bits of odd lights and kit you can get your hands on. If you're a pro like the guy that shot your car the other day, then some good and versatile kit is kinda essential. But that's because he has to be able to turn up, get some ideas, shoot some images with a good variety and get it all done in a smallish time frame.

Take away some of those constraints and you're far more able to take your time and experiment. When you're a bit fresh to working with multiple off camera lights, it's actually far easier to use constant lights than flash as you can see what you're doing all the time. :)
 
I'm far from Pro, Its my aim though. Cant see it happening, but its an aim all the same!
Cheers for the link Kungfukid, I'll have a read through that now.

What i'm trying to work out, woudl you get good results from a set of halogen lights with shrouds to evenly disperse the lights, instead of camera activated lights?
 
What i'm trying to work out, woudl you get good results from a set of halogen lights with shrouds to evenly disperse the lights, instead of camera activated lights?
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Well by my way of thinking you could get good results with 3 tealights and a disposable torch. It's all about working with what you've got to hand and visualising images to suit.
 
Shame my Flash doesn't have a PC connector on it :( Watched the vid and learnt something!
Lighting does seem to make a massive difference!
 
Plus cable?
Is there a benifit for using my cheapy flash gun away from the camera?

Cheers :)
 
Thats cool, i didn't know you could do that!
 
if it helps

i work in an antique shop, and paart of my job is to photograph some of the items for a web page
the only light we have is 3 of these things

http://www.diynot.com/shop/SITE_LIGHT_240V/5292

that i built diffusers for with cardboard and grease proof paper (boss hapily spends a grand or more on a piece of china, 600 quid on a camera some 1 told him he needed - minolta 7d - but wont spend any money on decent lights or a decent lens)

get some decent results, that sell online :)
 
Cool cheers bolerus, I'm thinking of lighting for cars really. Suppose it could be done using a couple of Sb800's on slave mode?
 
personally i woudl say any thing that lights the area up is good enough

then make sure you arnt getting strong reflections on parts you dont want, either by rigging up some diffussion, (like i said cardboard and gease proof paper will do that ) or be reflecting the light off walls / ceilings (if you are indoors) or reflectors (which again you can make easily enough with cardboard and kitchen silver foil) and play around till you get the effect you are looking for.

alternatively dont bother with light sources, just stick your camera on a tripod and set a long exposure (assuming the car isnt moving) after all you do have the advantage that your subject is unlikey to twitch or blink. (best to use the timer function on your camera so that you dont accidently nudge the cam when you press the shutter)
 
I was thinking of the lighting option so i can make the car stand our more than the back ground, but maybe this could be done with a poloriser?
 
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