I have been doing photography now for about 7 years. The first few were more hobby, but as my interest grew so did my need for knowledge and of course equipment.

There are a lot of tools that a photographer uses in his trade. Among the obvious besides the camera are things like: tripods, lenses, reflectors, backdrops, props, film, memory cards and of course LIGHTS.

Lights, I have found, can be very expensive, but… You can take some cost saving, intelligent and crafty ideas and work around the need for expensive lights. Eventually, you may want to invest it that expensive on camera flash, some fancy strobes and other things, but for beginner photographers I can recommend several options.

When I first started, I would shoot outside, where you can get some of the best light for your photography. But for nighttime or indoors, I had to find an affordable way to light my models.

How did I do this? Well, I bought some of those aluminum clamp lights from walmart and some nice bulbs, like the spotlights. Each light has different effects, but be careful as some can really be harsh on your models. Because they are not to expensive, you can afford to experiment and see what works best for you.

Another method that I found not too long ago on youtube is in a tutorial called
Fashion Lighting on a Budget.

This tutorial by Dave Greene was very informative. It has a lot of useful material. Getting a couple of light fixtures and some bulbs that produce light similar to that to what you get during the day from the sun. The best part is that you only spend around $50. You might have to add in a little extra into your budget for some stands to hold the lights but hey you are saving a ton of money already.

If you do a search on google, you can find all sorts of tutorials on lighting techniques people use, but for beginning photographers, these simple setups can help you a great deal when getting started.

I suggested mixing up both and playing with the lights in all sorts of placements to get everything from strong contrasts to smooth overall lighting. On the florescent lights, they do not get overly hot in temperature so you can actually diffuse the light by putting light cloth over them for added effect as well.

Well that is it for the lighting tips today. I hope you have found it helpful.

-Bryan Crump

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Tags: affordable, budget, budgeting, cost affective, froogle, frugal, lighting, lights, photography, setup, studio lighting, tutorials