New here - Question about creating light indoors...

[mmaguy247]

Hi everyone - I'm new here, and I appreciate any help you can provide me...

Basically, I need some advice in regards to creating artificial lighting for photos, where there is very little (if any at all) natural light. I'll be taking photos of vehicles in doors, and I basically need to illuminate the area (about the size of a mid-size garage) as best I can.

What are my options here? Short of hanging new lighting from the ceiling, what choices do I have? I was thinking of getting 2-3 light stands from Home Depot or something, and seeing if I couldn't illuminate the area sufficiently.

That being said, even if that would work, what kind of light bulbs should I be using? I want as natural of light as possible, don't want to skew the colors too terribly with poor bulb choices.

I'll keep it at that....any help is appreciated!

 

[Big Mike]

They key will be to keep the lights consistent. Don't mix types.

Vehicles are pretty hard to shoot really well, because of all the reflective surfaces.

 

[mmaguy247]

They key will be to keep the lights consistent. Don't mix types.

Vehicles are pretty hard to shoot really well, because of all the reflective surfaces.

Absolutely, and it's not actually so much the exterior of the car I'm concerned with, but mainly the interior of the car (especially dark interiors).

I know they won't come out in the lighting I've got now (a few drop lights from the ceiling, with almost no natural light to speak of)

If I were to get a light stand to help illuminate the area, what kind of bulbs/lights should I be looking for? Obviously I don't want turn the place into a miniature sun...but then again, I don't want it to be LESS than needed...is there a specific kind of light I should be looking for?

Thank you so much for the post, and I look forward to more suggetions if you've got them!

 

[photo4fun]

Are you on a budget? Since you mentioned home depot you can get the 500W halogen lights on stands and new bulbs that are more natural or just adjust your white balance to deal wtih it. Not the most control and probably lots of reflective areas. Maybe put those a few feet behind a big screen or sheet hung from ceiling
to make a big source.

They also have those small metal cone shop fixtures with the clamps you can put 150W florescents in and use tripod. I guess you have lots of options. Multiple flashes attached some how inside the car etc...

 

[Village Idiot]

Flashes. Some cheap speed lights with remotes situated in the interior of the car will light it up.

Using halogens and work lights for lighting a car won't work very well at all.

If you're trying to light a car, it's going to be almost exactly like lighting a mirror. If you fire a light or a flash directly at the surface it's going to do very little besides provide a nice glare. The lighting on the surface of the car comes from the reflections around it.

That's why most professional shoots have the car surrounded by white backdrop paper and large white boards that they fire their flashes at. If you fire flashes at a white board, the white bounces the diffused light and the car's surface picks up the large white illuminated surfaces and reflects those. It's almost like trick photography.