Meditations

[madshutterbug]

I peruse a few LJ communities. I'm not a member of these communities yet, though I'm thinking about it. Must confess, I'm moving with a sometimes characteristic prodigious speed, measured in furlongs per fortnight. So I can't post into those communities yet.

Anne (allgreggedup ) wrote in artinnudity
Lighting
Okay, no nude art in the post, but a question about lighting (since it's photography, can I ask it? If not, anyone know a good photography community and/or forum that I can ask?)

My college's photo club is looking to acquire some lighting equipment as we have basically none. What sorts of lighting do you find the most useful? What will produce some interesting effects that cannot be garnered by rigged lamps, etc. Which are easiest to handle and to store?

I've never used specialized lighting equipment, so I'm in the dark (pun fully intended) when it comes to this subject.

Now, actually, my response is truly to a reply to other comments made by photographers. These photographers all listed lighting they use, fairly simple, easy to find and purchase, and often quite inexpensive. Many of these solutions are available at hardware stores or the big "do it yourself" chains such as Lowe's and Home Depot, et cetera. I'm using some of these solutions myself: halogen work lights on stands, clamp lights where the sockets will support a 250 watt bulb. I've also bought some lighting supplies from a local photo supply store; these too are, though, at the economy end of the price scale. Quite adequate to my needs, primarily light stands for some electronic flash units I purchased used, and some incandescent fixtures which will support a 500 watt bulb.

My total investment into lighting is comfortably less than $100 US.

allgreggedup replied that the club submits their budget annually and "it's better to list" the fancy, cool stuff that costs a lot... and does anyone have suggestions for this fancy, cool stuff (that costs a lot) and where to get it?

Yes, I do... all the items mentioned above (note: in the other photographer's comments). IMHO you're missing the point. It's not the neat, nifty, expensive gadgets that make effective lighting. It's what you learn to do with what you have.

You need gadgets? Look for light stands, barn doors, snoots, filters.

Or maybe, fund your budget for speakers to present classes where you can learn how you make your own lights when you no longer have that college photo club funding. In the long run, this will prove significantly more valuable to you than any chance to play with neat, nifty, expensive gadgets.

But then, I confess to being excessively opinionated on frequent occasion.

Comments

[marjai.livejournal.com]

Well, duh. It's kind of like that for all art and craft, isn't it? If you can't afford the doohickey that does it for you automatically, you figure out how to rig something together to get it done anyway.

[madshutterbug.livejournal.com]

Certainly seems that way to me, but evidently not to everyone.