Non-professional lighting for indoor childrens furniture shots

[JamesLE]

Hello,

First time poster and fairly new to photography in general, I have just been handed a task that I would like some advice on. I've been volunteered(voluntold) to assist a family friend with taking product shots of their imported childrens furniture, with our 21-mth old as a model/prop if needed. The friend has been warned that a) I have never done this before and have spent most of my time figuring out how to take shots of my daughter with outside lighting, and b) That the lighting in our apartment is horrible - but she wants to give it a try anyways.

With that as background, what are some tips/advice in setting up the limited lighting I have to work with, shot positions, and appropriate backgrounds for such a shot?

Some room/gear details:
The main room layout is approximately 22ft by 12ft, with half wall windows on one short side, the long wall with a grey/blue slate colour, and the far wall with a grey/blue slate color. There is also a breakfast area that extends another 8ft along the half wall windows.

There is no overhead lighting in the main room but 3 40watt overheads in the breakfast areas and overflow lighting to the breakfast area from the kitchen. For general room lighting we have several floor lamps and could pull in more from other rooms.

Alternatively, I could take shots in my daughters room, which is 10x10 with halfwall windows on one side, yellow walls, and one 40w overhead lamp. It is more cramped to work in unless we disassemble the crib (but that's a possiblity).

Current lighting "gear" - and I use that term loosely: 2x100watt white bulbs in silver cones that can be attached via clamps. 1x500w (2x250) floor stand Cdn tire work halogen. Camera mounted flash on Canon XTi. No current backgrounds (haven't found the painted muslin I want yet) so limited to pure white sheet or pure black sheet.

Lenses: EF 70-200 4 USM (not IS), 50mm 1.8, 18-55 3.5-5.5

Any advice at all is welcomed.

Regards,
James

[zona5101]

Hi and welcome.
Do you have a tripod? If so most* of your lighting concerns can be dealt with by using longer exposures. I say most because the x factor is a small person in the shot who will not hold still as well as a piece of furniture. When taking shots of just the furniture you need to look at lighting and shadows, watch for glare off of shiny/lacquered surfaces and watch for distracting backgrounds. If you have to have the baby prop in there, you most likely are going to need more light and controllable light. Get a start at it and then post back results, successes, frustrations, questions.
good luck and have fun.