Im a student and cant really afford to get any studio lights in order for me to do macro shots and close ups on my desk, can any suggest a way i can make a light and how i can get it looks bright on camera, ive tried a lamp and i seem to get a yellowish glow, what wattage should i get and should it be a special bulb
If your camera supports custom white balances, you are set. Just check the manual for how to use that feature. If not, you could try using different white balance settings to see how it works with the lights you are using (tungsten white balance will probably help correct for the desk lamp light)
With digital you don't really need to spend a lot of money getting colour balanced lights, as you can correct in camera, at least for a single source.
it will be bright enough if you use a long enough shutter speed for the exposure.
make sure to use a tripod for macro and still life shots - to minimize blur from camera shake at slower shutter speeds, and make your pictures sharper.
I use halogen floodlights from the do-it-yourself store, I have one of 150W and one of 500W. The 500W one came including a stand, which is really handy.
Be careful about the heat they produce, keep flamable material at a distance.
I also use a normal small halogen desk lamps (60W).
My image from the tools challenge (3rd place) was made with the 500W floodlight and the 60W desklamp.
If it's possible, the sun, El Sol, is a wonderful source of light. When I first joined DPC, I went out and bought a bunch of lights--that I hardly ever use now. I usually just take shots on my porch, where I get bright, indirect light that usually comes in at a pleasing angle.
Neil - all my macros have been shot with a 60W lamp in a normal anglepoise light: often with a couple of pieces of white card to reflect into the shadows and lessen the harshness of one-directional light. Cost, about £10.
White paper, or black velvet for backgrounds, and that's all you need. Oh, and time - nothing makes up for being careful and self-critical. Possibly years of learning about lighting in many field has helped me, but I don't believe it's that diffficult.
I used to have access to a studio with a LOT of strobe and tungsten lighting equipment. It's nice IF you can afford it, I can't anymore. I seem to do quite well with a couple of clamp-on lamps (basically a light socket with a spring clamp and a aluminum reflector) I use standard 100watt lightbulbs. I think my entire 2 light setup cost me about $10US including bulbs.
I either use the Tungsten white balance or a custom one. You can also correct for it in PS. If you shoot in RAW format, you can change the color balance before any processing, at least with the Canon software.
