I have been experimenting with budget-end LED for photography since the early noughties. In fact, I bought my very first LEDs as a kid way back in the 70’s when you could have any colour you like, providing it’s red. I destroyed my first LED a few minutes later by connecting it across a 9 volt battery without a series resistor. It was a bit sad to see two week’s pocket money go up in smoke. On the other hand, it did teach me Ohm’s law. :-)
I’ve made a few mistakes, but it’s been a lot of fun too. Importantly, overall, my expenditure has been fairly minimal. I am something of a “bangs-per-buck” kinda guy. Whilst LED has a lot of advantages, it also has some serious downsides too. So before you splash any cash, mooch about here, and pinch some ideas…
I’ve been flirting with affordable LED in the studio for over a decade. And on each experiment, I’ve had change out of fifty quid. My latest sortie involved a pair of these things They have simple removable diffuser, reducing the need for a soft-box, they’re fairly robust and in addition to being dimmable they also…
Bought a bundle of multifunction USB rechargeable LED lights from a supplier AliExpress. I actually a bought batch of both types shown below because I like them so much. I paid a bit over a fiver each for them. Quite amazing for their size, weight and cost. Tough, water-resistant and rechargeable via USB C, c/w…
For my little IT business, the possibility of power cuts is very bad news indeed. So we invested in one of these things – a “UA1101l” power storage unit. On paper, it stores about 3.6 MJ (megajoules) or 1 kWh (kilowatt hour) in EV (electric vehicle) grade LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries. My tests suggest…
One of the problems with modern life is the plethora of plug-in mains adaptors or “wall warts” as they call them on the other side of “The Pond”. Aside from the mess of wires, and the fact that often they are plugged into multi-gang power sockets an heaped on top of one another, building up…
OK, so we are still in coronavirus lockdown here in the UK and I have spent the afternoon playing! 🙂 I saw the basic idea on a web forum on a photography site, and decided to look around my garage and see if there was any thing suitable to produce something similar. I also took…
An interesting question came up a little while back on one of the photography fora to which I belong “I’d be interested in knowing how you swapped the halogen bulbs for LEDs because I have the same problem and as you say those bulbs are hotter than hell, makes using modelling lights with a grid…
For continuous lighting, one needs a light source that has good colour balance, uses power efficiently, is reasonably robust and does not present a health or fire risk. I am also a tightwad – interested primarily in “bangs per buck”. Whilst I love new technology, I am not prepared to pay silly money for it….
This is how I converted three left-over cheapie (£60 for a box of ten, delivered) 20 watt daylight LED flood lights for use in the studio. The basic tools you need:- Vernier or digital caliper, M10 ISO metric taps. Suitable spanner (17mm AF). Bench vice. Electrician’s screwdriver and wire strippers, to make the electrical connections….
I have always been rather fascinated by the fractal-like properties of the romanesco. It really does look like it is not of this planet. SO I thought it would be fun to team up a romanesco, some cheap RGB LED lighting and a couple of broken silver coloured mannequins. Just in case anyone is wondering:…
Slightly off-the-wall experiment with a pair of broken mannequins and some cheap but effective RGB LED lighting. Related Images:
I rather like LED lighting. I never cease to be amazed what one can do with it – and do very cheaply. So I decided to have a bit of fun in the studio, with some of the latest budget RGB LED and a couple of Cokin starburst filters. Related Images:
More LED experiments – this time using some small daylight LED and a 12 volt DC power supply to light the Dexion racking. Related Images:
This little project was intended to capture colour-cycling RGB lighting. One of these days I must get around to doing it again and making a rather better job of it. Related Images:
Our little Christmas tree looks quite pretty this year. And we decorated it with a very long string of LED lights. Related Images:
Ever since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by LEDs (light emitting diodes). Back in those days you could only get red ones. Or green if you were very rich. Today they come in lots of colours and they are brilliant fun to use with a digital camera. Related Images:
