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Which lights for photography?


Watcher

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I have finally finished my first model in 30 years! Before it gets trashed I'd like to take a few photos. I have a Nikon D3200 and a tripod but no means of lighting the model. I'd welcome advice on some reasonably priced lights.

TIA

Matthew

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There are various ways to do it, but whichever way you choose you will need to make a small investment in some studio lights.

There are some really good continuos lighting sets for basic studio style photographs and with the camera on a tripod, a reasonably small aperture and the lights positioned either side, I'm sure that you can get the shots you want.

This set is reasonably priced and all you need is the light tent and some backing paper and you're all set to go! Here

P1090471_zpsdf4f5834.jpg

You can experiment with different backing papers. For the in progress shots, I just use a plain blue:

P1090484_zpsf119b1b3.jpg

DSC_4403_zps3c0f2db8.jpg

But for the final model, I quite like the graduated backings available from specialist photography stores:

DSC_4846_zps013afd2b.jpg

A bit of falling around in Photoshop and you can create some nice frames and give your shot a professional look:

2CV_zps59bea6cc.jpg

Or something like this:

Bf109G6001_zps4491fa5d.jpg

If there's any help you need, Matthew, then please get in touch!

Looking forward to seeing your model here!

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Mark,

Thank you for the advice Mark. If I could match the standard of your photographs I would be very happy. Sadly I think I need something rather more compact. Space is at a premium in my little Lancashire terrace!

Matthew

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Mark - your setup looks great for the price. Seriously tempting!

Matthew, if you need something compact then you might want to consider something like this:

$_3.JPG

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Popamazing-Portable-Camera-Studio-Backdrops/dp/B00NAR985I/ref=sr_1_20?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1435999482&sr=1-20&keywords=photo+light+cube

The lights aren't brilliant, but it all folds down nicely into its own little case so it takes up little space when not in use. We warned though - it won't be big enough if you build anything larger than a 1:72 bomber. I would also recommend you replace the halogen light bulbs it comes with with some good LED bulbs. Much cooler and you can buy daylight bulbs too: http://cpc.farnell.com/kosnic/rlksm05gu10-65-f/lamp-5w-led-gu10-60-daylight/dp/LP07095

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Thanks both - I appreciate your taking the time to help. I've gone with the smaller set in the end as I need something small. I'll show you how I get on!

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Hi,

If it's of any help I use three energy saving daylight bulbs, one in a angle-poise lamp and two in those bendy-type table lamps, the back ground is just A1 size paper available from Hobbycraft. This is an example of the results I get;

vk1602-55+small.jpg

Camera used is a Canon 450D in manual mode.

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