HELP! Need Advice on Creating "The Perfect Lighting"

[VideoNewbie]

what is this girl talking about in her blog?

she said she bought some kind of "Ring light" (although im pretty sure thats not the technical term for the apparatus she is using) to improve the quality of her photos

http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2010/02/camwhoring-with-ring-light.html


^ u can see it here...


what other things can i do to create perfect lighting (for taking self pictures & video)

pls keep in mind im on a budget

ive tried buying a white board and letting the light bounce off of that but not only was that attempt a total disaster it was a waste of money too.

hallppp thanks

 

[spinnerlys]

Canon calls it Ring Lite

http://www.google.com/products?clie...-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=de&tab=wf

There are others
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/buy/Macro-Ringlights/N/4289302554


I have the Macro Ring Lite and its a pretty impressive flash for its price.

And you can get those ring effects in the subjects's eyes.


And I agree with toxic, it can be overdone, but if you experiment with macro ring lights, you can get some strange results, in a good way.

What about buying a book on lighting in photography?

 

[toxic]

I'd like to point out that using a ring light is far from "perfect," if it's even flattering in the first place. the whole fad got started from in fashion photography (which emphasizes clothing, not faces), if I'm not mistaken, and they used huge ones, not the dinky macro ones you usually find.

using a white board as a reflector is a good start. you just have to learn how to control the light.

 

[jackerin]

Step 1: get a flash.

Step 2: get it off-camera.

From there your possibilities are endless. Go Strobist and get your mind blown. Cheapest route would probably be to find an old flash with PC sync port then get the needed adapters/cables.

Also, don't waste money on reflectors and the plastic "diffusers" you put on top of the flash if you're just starting out.