Cheap DIY Lighting

[SoftRose7]

I know that lighting is sometimes crucial when camming. Sometimes built-in webcams stink. I am way to dark on cam. Does anyone know how to make a DIY Lighting.

 

[David_Lee_Loca]

Lots of lamps closer to you. Try out different places to put them to see where the light hits. I lack professional lighting myself and have had to do a lot of experimenting with my lamps. Desk lamps work great too. If you can afford it, I highly recommend buying a Logitech Pro HD cam. The cheapest is around the $50-$60 range I believe. It's totally worth the money though. It makes the biggest difference. I'll show you an example.
Built in cam
Logitech cam. (same lighting as the last pic too)

 

[Teagan]

You do not need professional umbrella kits or soft boxes really. You can use medusa lamps, ikea lamps, or even just desk lamps. Lots of girls do. And if youre in a small space umbrella lights arent even gonna work cause they have to be set back from you.

So step one would be realizing how to light yourself. Basically you need to be surrounded by it. Like they're stalking you. Being lit from every angle means no shadows and shadows are the fucking devil man. So say you have Davids set up of just straight on like at a desk you're gonna want one on either side of you and one to light up behind you. 2 simple shaded lamps (the shades are to diffuse direct harsh lighting, dont go for one of these and point it at yourself) and a medusa to light up behind you would work just fine. Now you may be thinking why the hell do you wanna light up behind you and it's for the webcams sake actually. Contrasting lighting of brighter here and dark there actually make cameras work really hard to adapt to for lack of better wording. So you do actually want to light up the wall too to avoid that. You may want a small shaded desk lamp set on the floor as well if you plan to sit back to flash pussy or something too.

Now i'm just showing examples of the lights you wanna get with the links but what ones you pick out are up to you of course. Those are just showing the style. You wanna make sure about the wattage bulbs they can take as well as the type of bulbs they take. You want standard ones always whenever possible. A lot of Ikea lamps take special ones and they are a bitch to find. Especially if you want high or low wattage and LED. So standard is best cause you can get them anywhere and in LED. How high a wattage is important too as some are made to only take 40 watts and you may want 60 instead. Also you're gonna have to find if you want soft white, warm white, daylight and so on in a bulb choice as well and that just depends on your space and skin color too. So get several options and keep the receipt for returning the bulbs once you figure out which one is best for your situation.

Lastly I have no clue what kinda space you're working with so if you have more questions feel free to ask. This is just a general guideline.

 

[SoftRose7]

You do not need professional umbrella kits or soft boxes really. You can use medusa lamps, ikea lamps, or even just desk lamps. Lots of girls do. And if you're in a small space umbrella lights aren't even gonna work cause they have to be set back from you.

So step one would be realizing how to light yourself. Basically you need to be surrounded by it. Like they're stalking you. Being lit from every angle means no shadows and shadows are the fucking devil man. So say you have Davids set up of just straight on like at a desk you're gonna want one on either side of you and one to light up behind you. 2 simple shaded lamps (the shades are to diffuse direct harsh lighting, don't go for one of these and point it at yourself) and a medusa to light up behind you would work just fine. Now you may be thinking why the hell do you wanna light up behind you and it's for the webcams sake actually. Contrasting lighting of brighter here and dark there actually make cameras work really hard to adapt to for lack of better wording. So you do actually want to light up the wall too to avoid that. You may want a small shaded desk lamp set on the floor as well if you plan to sit back to flash pussy or something too.

Now i'm just showing examples of the lights you wanna get with the links but what ones you pick out are up to you of course. Those are just showing the style. You wanna make sure about the wattage bulbs they can take as well as the type of bulbs they take. You want standard ones always whenever possible. A lot of Ikea lamps take special ones and they are a bitch to find. Especially if you want high or low wattage and LED. So standard is best cause you can get them anywhere and in LED. How high a wattage is important too as some are made to only take 40 watts and you may want 60 instead. Also you're gonna have to find if you want soft white, warm white, daylight and so on in a bulb choice as well and that just depends on your space and skin color too. So get several options and keep the receipt for returning the bulbs once you figure out which one is best for your situation.

Lastly I have no clue what kinda space you're working with so if you have more questions feel free to ask. This is just a general guideline.

Thanks a Billion. I actually have both types of lamps. So i an check that off my list, now I guess I'll just have to work with it some. Very helpful. my space is pretty big.

 

[SoftRose7]

Lots of lamps closer to you. Try out different places to put them to see where the light hits. I lack professional lighting myself and have had to do a lot of experimenting with my lamps. Desk lamps work great too. If you can afford it, I highly recommend buying a Logitech Pro HD cam. The cheapest is around the $50-$60 range I believe. It's totally worth the money though. It makes the biggest difference. I'll show you an example.
Built in cam
View attachment 57217 Logitech cam. (same lighting as the last pic too)
View attachment 57218

Thanks for the examples. I'm looking into as we speak. A better cam seems like a great idea

 

[BlairLuxe]

I just saw someone post somewhere that Amazon is having a 30% off webcams deal, I believe. It might just be with Prime, not sure. But there is usually a free Prime trial if you have never signed up with Prime before. It would be like 70 dollars for a c920, which is a great camera.

 

[Vera]

Upgrading to a c920 is a great idea-- the Logitech software lets you adjust your white balance, contrast, etc. to really fine tune your appearance. If money is really tight, you can find them on eBay for dirt cheap. c9000s even cheaper, which is another very solid, classic webcam and great for most sites with the exception of Streamate.

I break my studio bulbs all the freaking time and have found Phillips daylight spiral bulbs to be awesome replacements. You can get them dirt cheap at Home Depot. Can't remember the exact wattage I use (60, I think) and have thrown out the box, but you might be able to find the info on a photography forum. Note: I do use my bulbs in studio light kits, so you are going to want to look at your lamps to make sure whatever you bring home will be compatible.

Until you can get umbrellas or softboxes, swapping out your incandescent bulbs for the daylight bulbs would be a huge step toward getting better image quality.

 

[SoftRose7]

I just saw someone post somewhere that Amazon is having a 30% off webcams deal, I believe. It might just be with Prime, not sure. But there is usually a free Prime trial if you have never signed up with Prime before. It would be like 70 dollars for a c920, which is a great camera.

thankyou. ill check it out

 

[lovergirl]

Just bought the c920 after YEARS of a built in webcam, wish I did it sooner if only because my lighting issues are null and void.

I use one light at night now, where I used to use two. and still not be lit enough. Stoked.