I'm thinking of buying some lights...

[Bluejacket]

I'm about to do my first shoot that's not of a friend, and for money. Within the next couple of months I have two other definite shoots. I want to make a good impression and do a good job so I can keep the word of mouth spreading. I have three choices:

1) A jury-rigged setup of my floor lamp (with 3 adjustable lamps), a clip on lamp attached to my father's cymbal stand, and a external flash borrowed from a friend, and diffusers made from scrap plastic. The floor lamp does an adequate job of throwing light; it's what I used for my self portrait in the self portrait thread... The end result would still be a better picture than she could achieve herself.

2) Putting a little money on my Amazon credit card and get this Smith Victor 3 light set (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HSEEY8/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_2/002-8144931-7457616) or maybe this 1250 Watt one instead (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AJB80/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_1/002-8144931-7457616) (though that one is probably overkill, and some reviews say it is overpowering in a small room)

3) Support my local camera shop (always a good thing) and get one light, and have my floor lamp fill in from the other side, in addition to borrowing the flash... (for that matter, I could get a flash on credit too, but that way lies debt and madness)

Any suggestions/comments/recommendations?

[chrisgarrett]

I went with Strobists advice and am very happy with it, worth a look
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/05/round-up-starving-student-off-camera.html

Only downside is it took some hunting to put together for me being outside the US.

[smc1377]

It seems like you are heading toward trying to make some money off of your hobby so here's my recommendation.

If you're going to be spending time and money, might as well buy a portable kit. The reason being is that it'll give you more flexibility in shooting locations. Not that you can't travel with a home-built kit, but I'm guessing that it won't be easy to setup and breakdown like it would be with a purpose-built kit.

I have a nice light kit that takes me all of a couple of minutes to set up. It all fits in a nice hard case that could withstand quite a bit of abuse. My set also has adjustable power output both on the power pack and one of the lights itself, which is nice when dealing with a small room like how you mentioned.

Here's the link to the kit I have...
http://www.novatron.com/pages/products/kits/60v240d2c_kit.html

Good luck with your shoots.

Ohh, I should mention that one nice advantage chrisgarrett's recommendation is that it seems to be completely self-powering--no electric outlet needed.