Halogen work lights are inexpensive and can provide bright, continuous lighting.
Professional photography lighting kits can be very expensive. You should upgrade as your budget allows you to make a wider variety of photographs and videos. If you are just starting out and don't have the budget to buy the parts of a lighting kit, you can make the pieces yourself using common materials found at your local hardware store. Creating your own lighting kit allows you to customize your kit according to your needs without requiring you to buy lights you won't use.
Instructions
Accessories
1. Purchase an external hot shoe mount flash unit if you are creating a photography lighting kit. This unit must be compatible with your camera's metering, so it cannot be made easily or cheaply. It is also small, portable and indispensable to professional photographers.
2. Purchase accessories for your kit like an umbrella, photography lighting kits, stands and clamps, gels and extension cords. Also purchase lights you can afford and don't want to make yourself, such as a soft box, soft panel and LED lights.
3. Purchase a reflector made explicitly for photography and video. Or buy a metallic windshield sunshade at your local hardware store, a sheet of foam core at your local art supply store or a survival blanket at your local camping store. Each of these options can be used effectively to reflect light to illuminate shadows and dark spots.
Make a Soft Box
4. Cut the flaps from the top of a medium-sized cardboard box.
5. Glue aluminum foil to the inside surfaces of the box. This will create a highly reflective interior that produces even light.
6. Cut a hole in the back of the box, the side that is opposite of the opening of the box. The hole should be the same size as the light you are using for your soft box; the light can be a remote external flash unit -- recommended for photography -- or a halogen work light for continuous lighting -- recommended for video.
7. Glue a transparent or white tablecloth to the open side of the box, or glue silk or sketch paper to the open side of the box. This will provide diffuse, even light from your light source.
Tags: your local, photography lighting, continuous lighting, even light, flash unit, hardware store
