Dave Cavner Photography

CHEAP TRICKS....

 Cheap Portable Lighting

Well, we all know what a battery operated light kit costs...eghhh!!!!!

Here is a cost effective way to have portable lighting.

I know the pro stores will cringe when they see this, but really, we all have to start somewhere. This is an affordable alternative to the $1500 plus systems that are out there. My Photogenic two light kit was around $500. The jumper box/inverter was about $80. So, for less than a third of the price of a "pro" kit I am able to be fully mobile. The photo shows only one flash head attached to the jumper box, but I have fired over 500 shots with two flash heads on a single charge and still had plenty power left.

One really nice advantage is that you can place your lights anywhere and you won't have those pesky extension cords all over the place to trip on.

Cheap Overhead Lighting

This light bar is using standard halogen shop lights (you can use any kind that you want, but don't forget to set your white balance) mounted to a piece of unistrut The Bar is attached to a "bicycle hoist" (available at Home Depot/Lowe's/Walmart ). The rope is used to lower and raise the light bar. It has a safety catch which prevents it from crashing to the ground if you lose the rope. If you want to get tricky, you can add a retractable reel for the electrical cord. My cost was $30 for the lights and $20 for the hoist. The unistrut was a piece of scrap metal.

Close up of light bar mount 

Topics:

• Cheap portable lighting
• Cheap overhead lighting and brackets
• Cheap textured backgrounds

• Budget roll up backdrops
• Strobe grids