Studio lights for home give you more control over the lighting than using natural light in the home studio. They allow you to make recordings at any time of the day. A single fixture is a good point to start if you just start a home studio career. And you can add more equipment to level up your home studio. In this article, we will go through the following topics to help you set up your own home studio.
- What types of studio lights are used in the home studio?
- Three common uses of home studio lights
- How to set up studio lighting at home?
What are the types of home studio lights?
Studio lights are a wide term that includes all lights utilized in the studio. There are several varieties and we will go through the common types.
Continuous lights
As the name supplies, continuous light stays on once turned on. How you alter the light will determine how you capture the shot. This is all dependent on how well you expose things on your camera. Here are three common types of continuous lights for home studio.
Fluorescent: They are energy efficient but have a low power output, often between 60 and 100 watts. The bulbs are widely accessible, inexpensive, and simple to replace.
LED: LED lights for home studio consume extremely little energy and generate very little heat. They are made up of several miniature "light emitting diodes" (LEDs) and have a long lifespan.
Tungsten: Tungsten (or "tungsten halogen") produces the most heat yet have the highest output levels. The bulbs are generally inexpensive to replace. However, adjusting the brightness might cause a change in color temperature.
Strobe lights
Strobe is a flash of light that is activated with each shot. This makes determining the initial outcome more difficult, necessitating some trial and error to get the intended effect. Strobes are significantly harsher and brighter, yet they also require more time to regain power for the next shoot.
The decision between continuous and strobe illumination is entirely subjective. Continuous lighting provides more control and uniformity, whereas strobe provides a bit more punch.
When to use: Three common scenarios to use lights for home studio
As aforementioned, studio lights for home come in different types and give you more control over the illumination. In this part, we will talk about the three common uses in the home studio and what features are needed separately.
For home photography studio
It is common that you need lighting for home photography studio. What fixture to use depends on what you are going to shoot. Portrait photography requires a different style of lighting than food or product photography. If you're going to photograph groups of people, you'll need more than one continuous light or studio strobe. If fashion and beauty photography is your passion, you'll need a system to which you can mount various modifiers.
For home video studio
Using home studio lighting for video enhances video mood and atmosphere and increases viewer engagement. It makes you appear professional in the frame and save time in post-production. Continuous light is needed to provide constant lighting for video shooting. It will produce much heat after a long-time shooting. This will make you feel uncomfortable if you are working in a small home studio. Therefore, you need a fixture that comes with intelligent temperature control and creates low noise when the cooling fan is working.
The COLBOR CL60M is a good choice of studio light for video shooting. Hummingbird-Intelligence Cooling System enables it to work at optimal working temperature. It produces noise lower than 20dB in Quiet Mode, which will not be captured by the video.
For home recording studio
Lights for home recording studio offer good illumination and help set the right mood. In this situation, Choosing the appropriate color temperature will assist you in achieving the desired balance of visibility and ambiance. A warmer temperature is preferable to a cooler one. A temperature of 2700-3500k will usually work well, but you may also ask your local lighting geek for alternative possibilities to check out. Since you may want to change the color and build different moods, an RGB LED light is better for you.
How to set up studio lighting at home?
Getting studio lights for home is the first step to high-quality illumination. Below we will introduce the basic setups and DIY tricks as well. Read on and get a suitable setup for your studio needs.
Set up key light for home studio
The key light is the primary light with the greatest intensity. A window can function as a key light, but depending on the time of day and the weather, it may produce inconsistent outcomes.
If natural light is insufficient or unavailable, we recommend purchasing an artificial light with a diffuser to assist you in illuminating your subject. It shapes your subject and may be positioned anywhere you want based on the effect that you want to achieve.
Set up fill light
The fill light is often positioned on the opposite side of the main light. It fills in the shadows and should be defused (soft) and should not cast any shadows; this helps to get an even soft illumination. It does not have to be an actual light. It may be anything that can fill dark places, such as a reflector or a white wall.
You may create a DIY reflector for a low cost, or you can utilize a white shoe box. Anything that can reflect gentle light will suffice. A reflector doesn't take up very much space either, but bear in mind that it should always be larger than the object.
Diffuse the studio lights for home
Diffusion is the technique of softening the studio lights for home with a filter to give the images a soft and even look. By using a diffuser on your light source, you may reduce harsh shadows and emphasize particular regions rather than casting shadows.
There are numerous ways to make diffusion. One method is to utilize diffusion panels, which are available in a variety of sizes at your local camera store. These work well, but you'd need specific clamps and stands, which may get expensive.
Another do-it-yourself tip is to use regular wax paper from the kitchen. This works well as a diffuser and may be built by cutting the top of a shoebox lid and wrapping it in wax paper.
Make use of home lights to DIY studio lighting at home
If the window is not available and you don’t have the budget for studio lights for home, you can consider using traditional home lights. A fluorescent bulb with a cool color temperature is necessary. Remember to avoid warm color temperatures since they will change the color tone of subjects. It is also feasible to use more than one bulb. However, you need to make sure that they come with the same color temperature.