Help! Lighting questions...

[blondyluvzyou]

I am fairly new to photography and have a basic Sony DSC W200. It has 12 MPs though, so I have been fairly happy with my shots... Here are a few.







I do alot of portraits outside (as you can see), but now that Winter is almost here I don't have the option of capturing very good shots outside... I know basically nothing about good lighting indoors. What are some things that I can do to capture good portraits inside?

I plan on purchasing a new camera next year, but at this point it isn't an option yet... So, I just need some pointers about working with what I have.

[jdepould]

Check out Strobist.com

What do you have?

[blondyluvzyou]

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC W200. It has 12.1 Megapixels.

[jdepould]

Oh, well then you're going to be pretty limited in what you can do. You could try using constant lights, but they don't usually have enough power to get a nice low ISO.

[steelese]

If you are willing to spend the money, hot lights are good. I actually have a set that I use for film, and occasionally I pull them out for photography. That being said, if you are going to spend that kind of money, get yourself I nice new DSLR and some off camera strobes. All of that would cost you about the same as buying hot lights. At least hot light bright enough to do anything.

[blondyluvzyou]

Thanks so much for your ideas! I plan on buying a new camera sometime next summer, because I am going to major in photography in college, but... i am going to wait to see what they recommend for a camera before I buy it, since I will be working with them for two years! haha.

[FullAperture]

Window lighting will work too. I wish I could show some examples but I'm away from my mac.

[blondyluvzyou]

I have thought about using the natural window lighting in my room. I have a pretty large window and it works great, but what should I do for a backdrop?

[JerBear]

Try Window lighting,

You can always add artificial lighting, but if you can master available light from a window, Great!

Good Shooting

JM

[JerBear]

PS
Just wanted to congratulate you on you choice of education. I have over 35 years in photography and have enjoyed it very much. Made a very good living as well.

One note though, AS IMPORTANT as the photo classes are, make sure you take some business classes!!!!! I can not tell you how many photographers out there FAIL, not because of the skill level, but because they do not know how to run a business.

Good luck

JM