Recent Posts | Share a Tip | Back to Basics | Reader Photos | Forum | Subscribe
Home Studio | Tutorials | Readers Projects
DIY Studio Lighting - The Strip Light That Won't Strip You
Photographer David Greene was kind enough to share a cool lighting technique he uses for fashion photography. Using your everyday florescence fixtures and bulbs David creates two strip lights. Watch the flick.
There strip lights are good enough to go with f/3.5 on100 ISO which is nice, and you don't need to use florescence filters, cuz the bulbs (can you call florescence bulbs?) are daylight balanced.
You get nice balanced softish light from both sides of the model making this technique a cheap and easy way to get a shot at glamour shots.
One word of advice, though - if you already use florescence lighting in your house, your family will not appreciate sitting in the dark because you took their light to shoot a cool looking model. Beware.
Took a shot? show off on the DIYPhotography flickr group.
Make sure you don't miss out on the next article - Register to the RSS feed or the newsletter.
Related Links:
- Florescence fixture (29.97$)
- Florescence bulbs - daylight balanced
- Philips Florescence data
Bookmark this post with:
Comments
Strip lights
The video was great, thanks. It would be helpful to see a couple of hi-res shots taken during that shoot though. I saw falloff near the bottom of the area and looking at the actual results would help me to see whether and how that effects the output.
Thanks for taking the time to do this David!
Larger pics from video shoot and exif data
Exif data for these shots on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2581401...in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2581401...26493988/meta/
Sample of a higher res photo from my own (similar) setup
Here's a couple shots I've taken using my own rig, (same style of construction, except instead of stands, I hung the lights vertically from the door frame).
Click on the links to go to the higher resolution photos
Courtney Stafford
Kelley Thompson
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Christopher String
Fan page: Christopher String
Website: Chrisstring.com
Cheaper fixtures
Is it necessary to get the $29.97 fixtures? I saw this video somewhere else, and some people recommended buying the $8.97 fixtures from Walmart. I picked up those, and the most similar bulbs Lowes has (I didn't feel like driving 40 miles to Home Depot), and they seem to do the trick. Of course, like the previous comment mentioned, it would be nice to see some hi-res shots...then I could compare the differences.
Fixtures are fixtures, the
Fixtures are fixtures, the only thing that should make the difference is the light bulbs. I will also be going with the cheaper ones.
One fixture that I am thinking of trying out though has the curved "bulb gaurd" on the sides. It is for keeping the bulbs free from danger, as well as direct light downward (if hung from above like normal). I wonder how much this would help in using it as a photo light. Maybe spray paint it shiny chrome or something to really reflect it. I will try and do this and let you all know.
Bulbs
I did some research on Fluorescent bulbs. There are 2 specs to be aware of:
color as discussed in the video. you want daylight balanced around 5000 to 5500.
The other is CRI or "Color Rendering Index" This the the color accuracy. CRI is measured on a scale of 1 to 100. You should look for bulbs with a minimum of 80 but the closer to 100 the better (and more expensive usually).
Thanks david for sharing
Thanks david for sharing this technique.
Any idea where I can order this equipment online.
Thanks
My idea...
Missed it last year.. try again this year... the walmart sporting goods guy told me that the last hard shell rifle cases clearanced at $8 last year after xmas. depending on size, 4-8 tubes can be bolted into one of those cases. Plus to boot, they can be opened some where around 120 degrees and will free stand or open 180 degrees and with some handy work a leg added to keep them upright. This is my next lighting project!
The video link is dead, can
The video link is dead, can anyone fix it or point me to another link? Thank you
Video loks ok - here is another link
Here is the original flick from youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eik8iWX97pc
- udi
Thank you so much for taking
Thank you so much for taking the time to film, edit and post that.
DIY Lighting
Hey cool find! I saw a similar article here:
http://shuttertalk.com/articles/diylighting
uhm, 3.5 at iso 100, but what shutter???
Following this article I purchased some 4' ballasts and the Phillips 32watt Daylight Plus bulbs (total of 4). These are T8 bulbs, not T12 which I don't think David specified. But from the looks of the video he is using T8 which are skinnier but come in the same available wattage.
I set this up in the exact same fashion as David...and I am getting 3.5 at ISO 100, but I am getting shutter speeds of 1/5 to 1/8 with a 17-55 L 2.8 on a 40d, evaluative metering.
Even at 35mm, kind of a slow shutter speed if I want the sharpest shot? Certainly doesn't seem fast enough to freeze a model posing...I'm getting camera shake blur at the same David distance from a still subject going hand held.
Am I missing something here?
Penny wise, pound foolish
My experience has been that DIY solutions like this don't really save you anything in the long run. Yes, the initial cash outlay is less, but the important thing to remember your time isn't free -- you're going to wind up spending a lot more time with a setup like this, both in set up and post processing, than you would with a proper lighting rig (either hotlights or strobes) to get the same results.
When I started out doing studio photography I was on a really tight budget and tried all sorts of DIY solutions, including a setup like this, in an attempt to "save money". A couple of months later, I added up everything I had spent on all the different half-assed jury-rigged lights I had, and I realized I had spent enough to have bought an AlienBee setup. So I bit the bullet and got a couple AB800's. My wallet hurt for a while, but it was more than made up for by the IMMEDIATE and dramatic improvement in the quality of my work, as well as by a drastic reduction in the amount of post-processing I had to do to get acceptable results.
Even f/4 at 1/60 is too slow and too shallow for a lot of everyday subjects, kids and pets in particular, and with lights like this you could only get that at iso 800 or higher. If I want that kind of lighting, I can get it with my ABs by using just the modeling lights... then I can switch to f/22 at 1/250 in a second just by sticking the trigger on the hot shoe. Even if you just consider the saved time and frustration my alienbees have paid for themselves many times over. Time is money.
A fool and his money are soon parted
Initial cash outlay is less - yes
time isn't free - since when? Most of projects of these sorts are taken upon in off-time, so it isn't necessarily time wasted, and definitely not money wasted.
Given this project costs less than $50 for the lighting and a good strobe is... at least 10x that.
If you're gonna learn, learn on a budget because just because you can afford the good stuff, doesn't mean you'll be any good with it.
I agree with that last
I agree with that last comment. I'm not a pro. I'm not even a photog student. I bought a nicer camera because I was graduating from my point and shoot. It simply would not make sense for me to spend another 500 on a light when a short visit to Home Depot would do!! Perhaps when I make this into a living~
Anyhow, thanks for the tip!!
Just a warning, there are
Just a warning, there are some things that a strobe will do that the fluorescent lights just won't do. However, building your own rigs is great for learning how to use a certain style of lighting. So while these low-cost 'solutions' are no substitute for the real deal, they are fantastic in helping you decide if ponying up the extra money for legitimate strobes will be a wise investment.
Christopher String
http://www.facebook.com/christopherstring
A good strobe costs $30.
A good strobe costs $30. Namely, Vivitar 283.
This w
as so simple. I just went out the next day and got the gear. I got on set just to verify that it worked well and , tell me about it!!!! For such stress less setup and cheap cost, this is fantastic. Many thanks for the post.
Woo, I don't know... I just
Woo, I don't know... I just looked and those Vivitar 283's are $70 a piece
Music
Dude,
Great video, but you really need to learn when to add music, most importantly, when NOT to, and how to adjust the levels.
Post new comment