Recommendations
for avoiding cheap aluminum reflectors as photo lighting.
What
to avoid?
Most
archaeologists (and many young photographers) start out with the
cheap aluminum reflectors, using the blue photo bulbs. The fixtures
cost about $3.99, so the price is certainly tempting.
Using
hemispherical aluminum reflectors is the best way to do the worst
photography imaginable. There is a nice publication on archaeology
of Belize that pictures photos of an ancient Maya stelae shot in
this manner. Out of courtesy to the poor archaeologist I will not
cite it by name. All of my own 1970's field photography used the
$3.99 class of lighting. The results are worth precisely $3.99.
Avoid
aluminum reflectors. If you have something worth photographing,
it is probably worth it to get adequate lighting fixtures.
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Bulbman
lamps packages
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My
next move (I was still a student) was to get a Smith Victor set
of tungsten lights. They functioned well, but were more suitable
for a home studio or other sedentary use.
Within
a few years I tried a Lowel
Tota-light. I have been using Lowel
Tota-lights for over two decades since then. I will admit, however,
that the Smith Victor lights are still intact (after three decades!,
in storage at the Museo Popol Vuh, Guatemala City.
You
will also need lamps (bulbs).
We recommend BulbMan as a source for lamps. The lamps pictured here
are from BulbMan, in Nevada.
They also have offices in Miami and elsewhere. No web site that
we have been able to find (they are primarily a wholesaler, and
already known to their main clients, but they do also sell to end
users).
where
and how to store your digital images? RAID,
DVD,
or CD-R?
These
are the kind of lamps you want, professional tungsten (halogen).
You
will also need light stands.
Lots
of links to information on desktop
publishing hardware/software, www.laser-printer-reviews.org
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