Interior photography - Lighting, help!

[smithy]

Hi everyone,

I have a probelm with lighting for interiors.. I've just started to do some interior photography and i've realised im gonna have to invest into some sort of cheap but useful lighting setup very soon.

After looking around on the net, i think what i need is a 800W flash unit with a mediumish white umbrella, or i could be completely wrong and need a continuous lighting setup. I really am unsure....

So what equipment would you suggest? The only thing is that the budget is pretty tight around max $400-$500 AUD and i know it probably wont get me too much maybe one light.... If anyone could suggest equipment that i could get within Australia that would be awesome.

thanks so much.

 

[markc]

Just to be clear, are you shooting interiors, as in rooms and their furniture, or are you just shooting indoors and you subjects are people, pets, and such?

For the former, I'd say that a good light kit would be important. If you are looking for the kinds of shots you see in catalogs, you probably won't get them with a single light. If you do go that route, make sure you get some reflectors.

If the latter, then you could choose between a light kit, a decent flash, or using natural light with a fast lens.

 

[smithy]

Thanks for the reply, I'm photographing interiors with furniture..

So what type of lighting kit are you suggesting?

Also with the flash, i was looking that up too and i've heard how if you bounce the light off the ceiling it lights up the entire room.. So could maybe that work as well with natural light and the fixed lights on within the room? I was looking at the Canon 430ex or maybe if i could find it cheaper somewhere the 580ex.

 

[markc]

Someone else would be better equipped to answer that, as my work with artificial light is more theory than practice, and I do mostly people. I can talk about it in general terms, but you probably want specifics.

 

[Digital Matt]

I would try to utilize natural light as much as possible. An 800ws strobe or two would be useful for illuminating areas where the ambient light is low. Whatever light setup you use, you'll always have to be very aware of color temperture. Don't mix color temps. If you are going to mix ambient and continuous, make sure the continuous is daylight balanced. With strobes and daylight you have no problem, unless the day light is early morning or late evening sun, which has a lower color temp.