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Whats a good cheap light for white backdrop?

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pixelationX

pixelationX

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Hi Guys,

I am looking for a light(s) for white backdrop, you know to make it look white in photos. I've seen some videos and they are using halogen 500 watts floodlights, they are very cheap but should I use halogen or LED?

Could this be used? I am thinking of buying 2 of these?

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www.amazon.co.uk

Thanks guys
 
Last edited:
What are you planning to photograph?
Eg, small products, portraits, full length people shots...

Best regards
Paul
 
Paul Jones said:
Paul Jones wrote:

What are you planning to photograph?
Eg, small products, portraits, full length people shots...

Best regards
Paul

--
Paul Jones
http://www.pauljones.org
Click to expand...
Almost everything, portraits, full length people shots, maybe some products. Just want that pure white background look. I am a bit hesitant because of yellowish light that those halogen lamps produce?
 
pixelationX said:
pixelationX wrote:

Almost everything, portraits, full length people shots, maybe some products. Just want that pure white background look. I am a bit hesitant because of yellowish light that those halogen lamps produce?
Click to expand...
If you're photographing people against white I don't think the worklights will do the job.

I'd use 3 or 4 studio flash-heads.

As an example, see how Zack Arias lights a white background:

http://www.zarias.com/white-seamless-tutorial-part-1-gear-space/

http://www.zarias.com/white-seamless-next-post-this-afternoon/

You should be looking for a decent studio lighting kit. Something like:

Elinchrom D-Lite IT 4 2 Head Studio Kit

Elinchrom BXRi 500/500 Studio To Go Kit

Bowens Gemini 500R/500R UM/SB 230V Kit with Pulsar TX/Trigger

Best regards
Paul
 
Hugowolf said:
Hugowolf wrote:
Hugowolf said:
pixelationX wrote:
Hugowolf said:
Paul Jones wrote:

What are you planning to photograph?
Eg, small products, portraits, full length people shots...

Best regards
Paul

--
Paul Jones
http://www.pauljones.org
Click to expand...
Almost everything, portraits, full length people shots, maybe some products. Just want that pure white background look. I am a bit hesitant because of yellowish light that those halogen lamps produce?
Click to expand...
In another post you said you had just got two more speedlights, so you have at least three. Use two on the background and one to light your subject, and use a reflector for fill.

Brian A
Click to expand...
Yeah I have 3 speedlites but I want to experiment with different lighting conditions so I dont want to use those to light the background.
 
LincolnB said:
LincolnB wrote:
LincolnB said:
pixelationX wrote:
LincolnB said:
Paul Jones wrote:

What are you planning to photograph?
Eg, small products, portraits, full length people shots...

Best regards
Paul

--
Paul Jones
http://www.pauljones.org
Click to expand...
Almost everything, portraits, full length people shots, maybe some products. Just want that pure white background look. I am a bit hesitant because of yellowish light that those halogen lamps produce?
Click to expand...
That's not a big problem. That's just a matter of selecting the correct white balance.

I've used these lights a lot. Here are pros & cons I've found.

Pros:

Cheap, cheap, cheap

Fairly bright (for continuous light)

Cons:

Still not as bright as strobes or flash

They get really hot

Uneven light distribution

Difficult to aim

Difficult if not impossible to use light modifiers

Much more likely to blow a fuse using this type of light than, say, flash or strobes.
Click to expand...
Ok great but I'll be using my speedlites for the main subjects and if I use these work lights for background, that will give me mixed lighting? or yellowish light doesnt matter when just lighting the background? Or would I be better off by buying another speedlite?
 
pixelationX said:
pixelationX wrote:
pixelationX said:
LincolnB wrote:
Difficult if not impossible to use light modifiers

Much more likely to blow a fuse using this type of light than, say, flash or strobes.
Click to expand...
Ok great but I'll be using my speedlites for the main subjects and if I use these work lights for background, that will give me mixed lighting?
Click to expand...
I believe so.


pixelationX said:
or yellowish light doesnt matter when just lighting the background?
Click to expand...
If you don't mind mixed light then it doesn't matter


pixelationX said:
Or would I be better off by buying another speedlite?
Click to expand...
Probably. You can get a cheap manual flash for around $40-$70 that will give you a lot more control and probably more light too. I only use my work lights for video or when I'm absolutely desperate for more light, any light.
 
pixelationX said:
pixelationX wrote:
Ok great but I'll be using my speedlites for the main subjects and if I use these work lights for background, that will give me mixed lighting? or yellowish light doesnt matter when just lighting the background? Or would I be better off by buying another speedlite?
Click to expand...
To get the background to go pure white with these shop lights you would have to use a long shutter time. Since the background is pure white, i.e. totally overexposed, the WB isn't important for it.

The stray light bouncing off the white background, however, would color contaminate your subjects so your WB would be someplace between flash and incandescent. The WB would also vary as the subject moved closer or further from the background and even for areas of the subject closer to the background vs. those further away. Change the pose, change the WB.

You can blow out a background with a single 150Ws studio strobe on each side, but it is much easier to evenly light the background if you use multiple lights on each side. If you want to use studio strobes you might consider the Flashpoint II 320M. It even comes with a stand and an umbrella, perfect for lighting the background.

Flashpoint II 320M Monolight Kit

The cheapest why to light a white background is to buy between 4 and 6 budget priced hot-shoe flash units with built in optical slaves. Mount up 2 or 3 vertically on each side then follow Zack Arias's instructions except that you shouldn't overexpose the background by more than 1 stop if your subject is only 6' from the background. I use 0.7 ±0.2 stops and try to keep the subject 10' or more from the background to prevent light from the background blowing out the edges of the subject.

These are all you need.

Neewer TT520 Speedlite Flash - Sam Rosenthal Photography | Blog:

Speedlights.net | Yongnuo Speedlite YN 460-II Flash Review (Manual Flash)

You can make some simple stands for the hot-shoe flash units from lumber and some cold-shoes. I recommend this type with the screw clamp to secure your hot-shoe flash. You can find various brands of this type of cold-shoe at B&H, Adorama, Amazon.com, ebay, etc.

Stroboframe Flash Mount Adapter - Standard Shoe Type
 
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