I've never done studio lighting or used anything other than a shoot through umbrella with a Vivitar 285HV. So I'm now thinking I should start experimenting with source lighting. any suggestions on what I should be looking for? My budget is small and my skill is even smaller. Would a simple shop light with a diffuser on it work alright or should I just go ahead and get a decent light? What brands should I be looking at? Where should I shop? I'm a total beginner when it comes to this so any help is greatly appreciated.
A single speedlight, umbrella and a $20 light stand are all you need to make incredible photos. You can then decide if you want to trigger them with a wire or for another $30 be entirely wireless. Also go visit www.strobist.com for info on how.
I already have a Vivitar 285HV, an umbrella, and a light stand. I'm looking to expand with some more lighting and I'd seen that some photographers use a constant light source as their main light. I typically shoot in dark conditions so I feel I will need something to replace the sun when I'm shooting in a dimly lit warehouse
I wrote a long post on studio strobes here: http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130885 I'm also selling a Broncolor strobe if you're interested: http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131457
It's photography so you need no special equipment. Unify you're light types so it's easy to color balance and get some dimmer-switches. Floods are cheap and fixtures are like $5 or $10 at the hardware store. Every time I ask someone who has a >$250K studio (and I bump into a few doing the movie thing now and again ) they always tell me that unless you're need to impress people with brand names and/or a highly polished studio look, just use whatever - though mostly they're referring to panels and reflectors and etc.. If photography is about recording light then isn't every light type a potential tool?
I too like www.strobist.com. It is a good starting point. The author points many towards www.MPEX.com for their budget student strobist kits. I ended up buying from MPEX as well and my experience was good. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131896 I just got it so I can't comment any further than the quick late night after-work experiments with the kit in my home have been going well. I'm looking forward to actually setting up and shooting a few frames and experimenting. Don't expect professional quality out of a budgeted kit like mine... but the quality for the buck did surprise me. Its just a learning tool. Home depot lights... cheap ones with clamps and tin hoods work well but they need AC power and get hot. The home depot lights run me about $8 each and I use them with a white table cloth for pictures of little things...
