RECOMMENDATIONS: Continuous Lighting Kit to Take Pics of Figurines?

[HoldyourfireAl]

Hi. Below is an example of the pictures I take for my website, www.statuemarvels.com. I've only ever used a house lamp for my shots, but I'd like to upgrade & buy a mono (no flash please) lighting kit at an affordable price. I guess I'm looking at lights with soft boxes, but could be convinced that umbrellas are worth a try. Here's my specs:

- Shooting figurines that range in size from 7" to 24".
- Going to be shooting against a black stretch velvet backdrop hung from a Ravelli background stand.
- Not interested in light boxes.
- I guess the lights, softboxes, umbrellas, etc... shouldn't be that big, correct?
- Not sure what kind of bulbs I want. I've seen others use flourescents & they seem too cold to me. How are daylights?
- What wattage would be the minimum to consider?

Can any of you post some links to something decent, but affordable? Remember, I've never purchased lights before. This is all new to me & I'm not good with tech speak yet.

 

[Designer]

I'm trying to remember some of the responses to your previous thread on this same topic.

What, exactly, is a "mono" (no flash please) lighting kit?

We get that you don't want a light box.

The apparent size of a light may or may not be relevant, depending on what effect you want to achieve. The specular reflections on your figurines show off their shiny (or not) finish, so you can continue to use bare bulbs if you wish.

Whatever color light you use, you can adjust the white balance (color rendition) either in post, or set a custom white balance which would be much easier, especially when shooting many subjects with the same light. The color terminology of fluorescent bulbs is mainly a relative term, and you should figure on setting a custom white balance anyway, no matter what it says on the tube.

The wattage mostly won't matter, since all your subjects will be stationary, so your shutter speed can go low. Probably more of a matter of how much heat you can stand in the studio.

Since my Google is broken, just start searching for inexpensive lighting kits. There are plenty of them to choose from.

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

I want continuous lighting as I'm not familiar with flashes at all.

I have to learn how to customize my white balance. I have a Canon XSi. I'm sure there's a Youtube video.

I don't want a lot of heat as I'm using a small area in the basement.

Are there any brand lighting kits to avoid?

 

[nycphotography]

You could start with this:

Impact Two-Light Digital Light Shed Kit - 15 x 15" DLS-MK

Plus some white and black cardboard bounces and flags and some black velvet for a table surface.

The biggest challenge w/ continuous lighting is that you end up with different white balances each light sources (including ambient). You end up wanting to use a dimmer, and dimming incandescent throws the color towards yellow/red and then each source is dimmed differently and you end up with a mess thats hard to fix in post. So adjust your lights by moving them farther away and using scrims bounces and flags, rather than by dimming them.

 

[nycphotography]

Oh, and (most? all?) flourescent lights cycle through a range of color balances every 1/60 second. So at shutter speeds faster than 1/30, the color balance can become seemingly random.

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

Hmmm...thanks for the link, but that's for a lightbox & I don't want to use that.

I'm using a black velvet backdrop that will cover the back & the table.

As far as the light sources, if my lamps are the only ones turned on, how could that happen?

 

[nycphotography]

Why would you not want to use a light box if they were specifically designed for the type of thing you want to do? I don't get it?

White balance... the ambient (sunlight) is at one temp. You add one stop of fill w/ a dimmed (say at 30% power) incandescent. Thats at a different temp. And you add 2 stops of key with another dimmed incandescent (say 60% power). You now have 3 different white balances that will be in play in your image.

 

[cgipson1]

Learn to use flash... it isn't that hard!

I like shooting shots like this also....


Iron Man 2 by CGipson Photography, on Flickr

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

Why would you not want to use a light box if they were specifically designed for the type of thing you want to do? I don't get it?

White balance... the ambient (sunlight) is at one temp. You add one stop of fill w/ a dimmed (say at 30% power) incandescent. Thats at a different temp. And you add 2 stops of key with another dimmed incandescent (say 60% power). You now have 3 different white balances that will be in play in your image.

I don't want to use a lightbox because I have already invested in a background stand & 5' x 9' black velvet. I also shoot a lot of pics looking up & don't want the white roof captured in the pic. Also, there are many times that I shoot a bunch of these 15" statues together & they aren't going to fit in a light tent.

As far as light: I have no sunlight in the basement.

 

[Braineack]

As far as light: I have no sunlight in the basement.

Am I the only one who found this assuming?

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

Learn to use flash... it isn't that hard!

I like shooting shots like this also....


Iron Man 2 by CGipson Photography, on Flickr

I don't know anything about flashes & can't afford anything real expensive right now. In the future, I will learn more about them.

 

[nycphotography]

ahhhh now we get a better picture of what you doing.

I know you said you can't afford equipment but bear with me....

I would suggest:

a manual speedlight ($59) Amazon.com: Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58.: Camera & Photo
a coiled cord ($24) Amazon.com: Pixel 3.6M /10 FEET E-TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord for Canon DSLR Flash 580EX II 550EX Canon 430EX II Canon 420EX 380EX replaces OC-E3b: Camera & Photo
a speedlight bracket ($7) Amazon.com: Flash Shoe Holder Type B compatible with Canon Speedlite 270EX 430EX and 580EX II: Camera & Photo
and a shoot through umbrella ($8) Amazon.com: Cowboystudio 33 inch Photography Studio Translucent Shoot Through White Umbrella: Camera & Photo
Plus a set of 4 AA rechargeable batteries.

the linked ones are just an idea... you'll need to get the ones for your camera.

It sounds a LOT like you want to take it tot he next level, but are afraid of wasting money on things you can't use.

I'd suggest this stuff, given your intended use and where you are, is not a waste. it's what you NEED to get where you are trying to go. Then people here can help you figure out how to use it.

If you really want to up your game, flash is the road you probably need to be on.

 

[amolitor]

Get a 2 or 3 cheap clamp-on worklights from the local hardware store. Put a 60 watt bulb in one, and 25 watt bulbs in the others.

Diffuse with anything you like. Pillowcases, paper towels, tracing paper, the color comics from the newspaper. Cut a chunk of corrugated cardboard out of a box and punch some holes in it and put that between the 60W light and the figurines, see what happens.

That's if you want to go really really cheap, and it sort of sounds like you do.

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

ahhhh now we get a better picture of what you doing.

I know you said you can't afford equipment but bear with me....

I would suggest:

a manual speedlight ($59) Amazon.com: Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58.: Camera & Photo
a coiled cord ($24) Amazon.com: Pixel 3.6M /10 FEET E-TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord for Canon DSLR Flash 580EX II 550EX Canon 430EX II Canon 420EX 380EX replaces OC-E3b: Camera & Photo
a speedlight bracket ($7) Amazon.com: Flash Shoe Holder Type B compatible with Canon Speedlite 270EX 430EX and 580EX II: Camera & Photo
and a shoot through umbrella ($8) Amazon.com: Cowboystudio 33 inch Photography Studio Translucent Shoot Through White Umbrella: Camera & Photo
Plus a set of 4 AA rechargeable batteries.

the linked ones are just an idea... you'll need to get the ones for your camera.

It sounds a LOT like you want to take it tot he next level, but are afraid of wasting money on things you can't use.

I'd suggest this stuff, given your intended use and where you are, is not a waste. it's what you NEED to get where you are trying to go. Then people here can help you figure out how to use it.

If you really want to up your game, flash is the road you probably need to be on.

I really appreciate your tips, but I know nothing about how to use flashes at this point, so I'd rather just get a continuous lighying kit for now & learn flash, strobes, etc...down the line.

 

[HoldyourfireAl]

While we are on the subject, what type of lights do you folks suggest? I used to tungsten. How are florescents & halogens?