fresnel lights and table top photography

[royent]

I can't access these
Roy

[CatherineA]

Thank you very much for all the replies, they have been very helpful. I hope one day to be sufficiently pleased with the lighting I set up to have a photo that I can try posting here again!

[William W]

It's not the sort of photography I do but one thing that has not been mentioned and I imagine is significant is the level of ambient light when using modeling lights. My guess is the lower the ambient light the more obvious is the effect of the modeling lights, especially if the modeling lights are underpowered.

Yes - exactly

Catherine, my comment on this point - typically the bricks and mortar studio would have no windows and facility to go completely 'black' either because of the wall, ceiling and floor matt paint or black curtains.

If you choose strobes, with modelling lights, then consider how you can easily 'black out' your home studio set-up: it is not difficult to achieve.

WW

[CatherineA]

Hi Bill, Thanks for your input! I was speaking to a photographer here in Ottawa who teaches lighting at a photography school here in Ottawa and he too thinks that I should re-consider using strobes, at least to effect part of the lighting. He also happens to have the continuous light that Kathy referred to and I can borrow and see if how I get on with it.

A little off topic perhaps, but a form of lighting that he is keen on is paint lighting - done with very cheap led flashlights and homemade accessories. He does beautiful work and manages to get both soft and hard lighting in one image by light painting.