lighting equipment help!

paddlepop

I am in a dilema... i want to improve my photos for my online website. I am a very amateur photographer and take all my own shots. But they need to be more polished...The products are clothes etc.

SO have been thinking about setting up a little studio in my work room. I have a decent sized room.
I have a Canon 400D and tripod. But what i think i may need to improve on is lighting....eeekkk. I was thinking of either:
1. A flash/strobe/speedlight for the Canon. The Canon branded ones are quite exp so need to keep this affordable. So then i found some "generic" (YN-460) flashes that will fit on top of my Canon-are they pure crap?? But i HATE flash photography(as i am crap at it and the light is too harsh) which brings me to then..

2. Continous light/mono light with a shoot through umbrella or diffuser panel instead. Where can i buy cheap studio lights?? I was even thinking maybe just a floor lamp from Argos!!! I could still diffuse it somewhat but is that pure stupid?

Any thoughts??

dirtyghettokid

the yongnuo flashes are pretty good for the money
you could also get some cheap white umbrellas or studio kits off ebay.
white sheets work also to difuse light
check out http://strobist.blogspot.com for more tips and stuff

Borderfox

Hi Paddlepop, I have included pictures of my setup from a clothes shoot. For yourself it depends on what size clothes you need to shoot, I prefer studio flash but you can try continous light (white balance needs to be shot with a grey card to make sure its consistent) You can get cheap studio lights from ebay, I dont know what the quality is like. Elinchrom do a Dlite 2 kit which could be good value for you, pair this up with some sort of background and support stands and your ready to start (learning )

Any questions just ask

Lighting in this septup is 2x Dlite 400 - Lastolite Hilite 6x7


Side view of the same setup


Result

paddlepop

Borderfox i recognise you from the Equestrian board! person of many talents!!
Yes thats a teriffic polished shot-and well lit. I have a manequinn too so that gives me a good idea of a set up. I love the backdrop-looks light and portable-where did you get that from? I have white walls in my workroom but it might not come out as seamlessly as a backdrop.
Is that just 1 light then you have on that set up?

Dirtyghettokid-thanks for your comment. I might chance a cheapy ebay flash for on camera and invest in a light, umbrella and stand. They are pretty good value on ebay. I found strobist last night and absolutely love that site. Big fan. Oh if only i had a few quid!

Borderfox

One light goes inside the hilite and one for the subject/clothes, tha job was for a school uniform reseller and they had 400 products to shoot!! The hilite is easy to setup and the main advantage I find with it is that with seamless backgrounds you need some distance to seperate the subject from the background, sometimes you just dont have this space and with the seamless you need to light the background with extra lights.

I got the hilite from warehouse express in the UK, shop around though for the best price. Check out Barkers in Cork too, they do a lot of Studio equipment.

ScumLord

I've bought stuff from http://www.backdropsource.co.uk/ it's cheap and flimsy but if you handle it with care it's ok stuff.