What Are The Main Indoor Photography Lighting Options?

I have finally given in! With a couple of indoor shoots booked in next week that require good lighting and with the weather being just so, well, dull. I decided that I couldn't rely on the usual natural light photography that I love so much and in a panic decided that I need to invest in a studio set up for my living room.

Up until now I have used the light from my big bay window to cast a natural light onto my subjects (example below.) But, with a young models "portfolio" shoot coming up next weekend, I had to make an executive decision and chose something a bit more "professional". I'm not going to lie, I had no idea which photography lighting was best, so I chose a product that I thought would meet my requirements and thankfully I chose well.


So what are the main indoor photography lighting options? Well, first off there's the Flashgun which if used on it's own can create quite a harsh light (example below). However, there are many different attachments like a softbox, ring light and diffusers which soften the light for a more natural look. The plus point to a flash gun is that it is lightweight and can be used whenever, wherever and you can pick up a cheaper one for around £50.

Secondly, there's the Off Camera Flash Photography Studio Lighting Kit. These portable softboxes are designed to work with your Hotshoe Flashguns and Speedlites. They come with a carry case, a mounting bracket for your flash and a fully collapsible stand. But, require a short set up time and space to position them within the room. Starting at £24.99 each, it's another affordable option if like me your just starting out in studio work.

In the end I chose the Continuous Softbox Lighting from RPGT which is similar to the Off Camera Flash Kit above, but works with two softboxes that hold gigantic 125w bulbs and produce a continuous light similar to natural daylight. I paid £66.38 off Amazon for a set of two and had a little practice this weekend to see how easy they were to use.

I'd had an idea that I wanted to try for the models portfolio next week, but, before I suggested it to the client I wanted to make sure it would work. Therefore, I enlisted my five year old twins to help me out to see if, 1, glitter was light enough to blow and 2, what sort of effect it would give. Saturday was an exceptionally grim day weather wise, so I thought it would be a fab time to try out my new photography lighting kit and let the girls have a bit of fun.

I explained my idea to them then started setting up. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with how easy they were to put together and how little time it actually took, (about 15 minutes including opening all the new packaging). I decided on a black background, silver glitter and asked the girls to put on their favourite princess dresses, while I found the best camera settings.

Originally, I tried just one softbox opposite the window to try to fill in the shadows, but with the light so bad, I had to actually give in and use both softboxes. I still had to have my ISO up to 800 giving me a shutter speed of 1/125, but overall I was happy with the results and happy with my choice in lighting product.