Even the amateur lights for sale are too high for me. What is the difference in those and the full spectrum sewing lights you can buy at craft stores or just lamps with full spectrum bulbs?
I understand your confusion. Yes, I meant too expensive. Also, I did want to use the light for photographing portraits, full body and head shots.
What do you mean by too "high"? Too tall? Too bright? Too expensive? I don’t understand….
Anyway…. full spectrum bulbs are wonderful. I adore mine in my office lamp which I point at the ceiling in my small office – it feels like I have a sky light in the middle of the night. They are soooooooooo much nicer than the usual yellow type.
Daylight bulbs (i.e. full spectrum) are also wonderful for photography, they are always superior to the normal ones, no matter what setup you have.
If you can’t have full on proper lighting, just make do with whatever you have for now….. learn to work with your limitations and know that it can only get better.
5 Responses to “Can’t I use a regular floor lamp with full spectrum light bulbs as photography lighting?”
What do you mean by too "high"? Too tall? Too bright? Too expensive? I don’t understand….
Anyway…. full spectrum bulbs are wonderful. I adore mine in my office lamp which I point at the ceiling in my small office – it feels like I have a sky light in the middle of the night. They are soooooooooo much nicer than the usual yellow type.
Daylight bulbs (i.e. full spectrum) are also wonderful for photography, they are always superior to the normal ones, no matter what setup you have.
If you can’t have full on proper lighting, just make do with whatever you have for now….. learn to work with your limitations and know that it can only get better.
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i use a desk lamp with a floodlight bulb in it – and change the white balance accordingly…
use whatever lighting you want…
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It depends on if you are shooting film or digital.
I have found that full spectrum lights that you have described produce a pronouncing warming if I am shooting slide film. It is distracting. Marketing looseness means that ‘Full spectrum’ does not always mean the same as pure white.
If you are using a digital camera you can do a custom white balance and work with those kind of lights fairly well. If the color is really critical then I use strobes whether I am shooting film or digital.
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While yes, you may use those lights I think you will find the biggest limitations will be in the control of them. Foil snoots and barn doors could be created, but without a prior knowledge of lighting I’m not sure it could be accomplished. I would suggest a couple of cheap clamp on work lights to start, they have a better area on the rim to add modifiers.
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Well it depends on what you’re shooting and what effect you’re after.
If its table top or product photography, these sorts of lights are ok, but for model work you are much too limited in power, modifiers and the ability to control the ambient light, would you could do with flash.
When you say too high, do you mean too expensive? Off camera lighting need not be expensive and a hotshoe flash-based one light setup would only cost around £68.
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