Help with lighting my make-up studio!

[SmudgeMakeup]

Hello!

Let me start by saying, I'm not a photographer - I'm a make-up artist. My husband and I just bought a house, and I'm converting one bedroom into my home studio and I need some help from you experts on lighting.

The best lighting for make-up is natural light - however being that my studio is in the basement, and make-up happens in all seasons, at all times of the day, I can't rely on my window, so I'm looking at getting something to mimic natural light - which is where I need your help.

I'm completely out of my element on this, so please be gentle. I'm not sure what I need, a softbox? diffusion panel? Umbrella? I'm not sure. All I know is that I want continuous light, rather than a strobe. And as close to natural light as possible.

As well - I'm in Edmonton, Ab - just moved up here from Calgary, and I have no idea where the best places to buy these things are, so any help in that respect is also greatly appreciated.


Thanks so much everyone!

 

[tirediron]

Not sure what you're after; is it just illumination for applying make-up in studio? If so, then there are a whole host of daylight balanced bulbs which will give you the closest thing to natural light that you can get. Soft-boxes and so forth are modifiers generally used to 'soften' light. Michael's (as well as many lighting stores) carry a range of products by Ott which while a bit pricey produce a very nice, natural appearing light. If you need to soften it, something as simple as translucent plastic over the bulb will do what you need.

 

[SmudgeMakeup]

Basically I'm looking for a light that will mimic a large window in the middle of the day - something that will stay on continuously while I work.

Thanks for the tips, I will look into those.

 

[KevinPutman]

Michael's.

I work here.
PM me about my associate's discount!

 

[tirediron]

Basically I'm looking for a light that will mimic a large window in the middle of the day - something that will stay on continuously while I work.

Thanks for the tips, I will look into those.

Your best bet will be to consult with a lighting designer; on the surface this seems like a fairly simple thing, but there's actually a lot to consider, not the least of which is how to manage the intensity of a light only a few feet away which is supposed to mimic one 96,000,000 miles away!