Lighting and kit for portrait photography

[adamward]

Hello,

I am starting a clothing web-site and I will need to take photos of models wearing the clothing. All photos will be taken with a digital camera. I know nothing about photography, I can take a photograph and that is it. I was wondering if someone could help me with getting the right gear for taking these photos, maybe a kit would be a good option? I have been looking at the TUNGSTEN CONTINUOUS LIGHTING KIT and Interfit 3200k Standard Studio Lighting Kits which I have read are good! What does everyone think? I am looking for something cheap and cheerful and easy to use due to my inexperience in this field! Also will I need a special type of curtain for behind them? Your probably laughing at my inexperience? A CURTAIN!? I don't know what it is called, sorry.

Many Thanks in advance,
Adam

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't have any experience with studio lighting but here is my 2 cents anyway

Lighting is a trickey...a good photographer can make great photos with nothing more than a window and a poor photographer may not produce good results with the best & most expensive equipment. The point is that knowledge will go much further than the type of kit you buy. At the very least, I suggest getting some books about fashion/clothing photography and then you will have a better idea of what lighting equipment you will need. The good thing about digital is that you can adjust the photos for proper color tones, whether you use tungsten, halogen, strobes...etc.

You might want to consider hiring a photographer to do the job. I understand that you probably want to keep things cheap & simple by doing it yourself but I would think that photos would be one of the most important parts of selling clothing on-line. Professional photos might pay for themselves fairly quickly. I don't mean to tell you how to run your bussiness...I'm just making a suggestion.

 

[K_OS]

Hello there. Without knowing what kind of camera you are using I can't really tell you what strobes, etc. to use (strobes = flash). I can tell you that with "hot" lights (tungeston), that they will indeed get hot. If you are selling clothes, you probably don't want sweaty models. With out knowing your equipment and knowing that lighting can be somewhat tricky, I have the following recommendation:

Try using natural lighting. If you have a large window, sit your model to one side of it and use a reflector on the other side. Sit the model at about 45 degrees to both the window and the reflector. You can purchase a nice reflector at ebay for under $30 or you can get by using a peice of white foamboard or even one of the reflectors that are put in car windows to keep the dash from getting hot. Keep in mind that the background (what I believe you called the curtain), will change color, or brightness depending on how much light strikes it. For instance, a white background can turn out to be gray or even black.