lighting

Confined to house I want to build an indoor small studio, say 1mtr x 1 mtr. This would be an open box arrangement making it possible to light under/over sides and top. The lighting can be filament, led, flourescent or halogen. I would want to use glass, and or material to subdue the lighting with dimmers. Can anyone offer me advice regarding lighting and material that could be used.

regards Thoramay.

time to hit the hardware store!

a couple boxhorses, some clamps, a pane of plexiglass (or real glass if you're carefull), some pvc plumbing pipe and T and L connectors, as well as some white material (ripstop nylon for example, light cotton also) and some clamp style worklights the kind with a ceramic lightsocket and metal dish reflector are best, lastly some 23 watt daylight balances cfl bulbs. skip the dimmers they complicate color balancing with most lights anyways... you can diffuse the light or move it back...

set the glass on the boxhorses and make a cube from the pvc pipe and tape/glue/sew the fabric over the cube and have fun!

Check out www.instructables.com or http://www.diyphotography.net/
for ideas!

In the uk we call Boxhorses (sawhorses)what else is about face
in the world would like to know ???

James

Good luck with the still life THORAMAY

Thanks guys. Was wondering about box horses. Being a A1 DIYer, making the frames is no problem. Guess it will evolve. It is the lighting that concerns me, mostly. I have glass and mirror glass that I will use. A sheet of smoked glass creates super reflections. Will get the wife to sort out muslin/fabric. Just wondered how others do it. All suggestions welcome. I would love to put some shots on the Forum but that is where my expertise falls down. It is mostly macro/closeup work that I do.
regards Thoramay

For product shots, mostly lenses to sell on ebay, I use a light tent and as many flashguns as necessary to light the object, 3 or 4 usually, and all wireless.

The lightent is covered in a light, white fabric, the flashes have stofen diffusers on them. Put some distance between the flash and the object and it is really diffuse.

Floodlights, or worklights, use tungsten halogen bulbs, usually 300 or 500 watts, which get very hot after a short length of time which could make for an uncomfortable working environment.

No No cheap get some of the halogen desk lights a picture frame and some white cotton sheet to defuses the lights (stretch the cotton over the old picture frames and stand in front of the desk lights)

simpless mee thinks

James