Everybody loves cheap, but cheap comes with some specific costs.
Want a low-priced CFL bulb? No problem, but don’t expect color rendering to be very reliable. Want a cheap bulb housing? No problem, but be prepared to work with some crappy mounting options, limited flexibility and a 6′ cord.
I’d already decided that I needed to revisit my lighting situation at a later date, but the weak clamp on my ghetto lighting setup ensured that date would come sooner then I expected. I was just getting used to working with the quirky color range of this particular lamp when the short cord conspired with the slippery clamp to bring the whole setup crashing to the floor at my bare feet. Below is one of the better examples I’d been able to capture for the fashionable foodie (recipe not yet posted).
Subtle, colorful and diverse in tone. This shot above looks very much like natural daylight, but is the result of a bare CFL in an aluminum clamp reflector with a foamcore bounce standing upright on the opposite side of the bowl. It took quite a bit of futzing to get the reflection of the lamp out of the shot, but I was finally able to situate the clamp light in a place where it was not reflecting back into the lens. I think I ended up using the other CFL as a sort of backlight, but I can’t remember the exact setup.
So, I’m down to one bulb and I’ve suffered some expected mercury exposure. Remember folks, these things are filled with toxic gas, so they’re not exactly as “green” as we’re lead to believe.
Next project will be to build a more robust lamp with some specific criteria.
- The lamp must be robust in nature. It should be able to be moved without falling apart, and should be able to survive a minor bump or fall.
- The lamp must feature high CRI bulbs to provide more reliable color results.
- The lamp must be a more diffuse source then a bare CFL.
- The lamp must be more flexible in positioning then my ghetto lights.
Let the low budget lighting adventure continue…