Here's a little background
My Mother has been selling quilts in local craft and art shows for quite
some time now but recently she's been submitting her quilts to higher
end shows that require you to send in slides of your quilts to get in.
She has used a local photographer who specializes in quilt photography
for a while but she wants to take the slides herself to save money. She
took a class on quilt photography so she knows most of the basics but
she's having trouble figuring out her lighting.
Here's her questions:
Here is what I am trying to figure out:
1. I have a pair of Smith Victor A100's bought on Ebay. The listing said
that they would take up to a 500W bulb but the lights themselves list
only bulb types for 250W. I emailed Smith Victor and they responded that
the 500W light extends past my 10" reflectors which is why they don't
recommend using them. Other than the need to be very careful that
nothing touches the bulb, is there any reason why I can't use the bigger
light bulb?
2. I want to use a dimmer switch to conserve the color of my tungsten
lights between shots. Smith Victor recommends a DC-1 control but doesn't
say how much wattage I can run through it. Can I use a heavy weight
multiple outlet extension cord and put all 1000 Watts (both lights)
through the same dimmer?
3. I am shopping for a cheap solution to buying a soft box for each
light. My objective is to photograph flat art up to four feet square on
an occasional basis (when I can't count on Seattle sun) and I would like
my equipment to be very storable. I found on-line patterns for
non-collapsible soft boxes but they are cumbersome - also couldn't find
a source for diffusion fabric in small quantities (except for 18" X 24"
sheets which I think would be too small). One source said to make frames
out of lathe, attach the cloth, them clip them to posts anchored in cans
full of plaster of paris. Cheap, could work, but need source of fabric
and recommendation for size!
Thanks in advance for any advise,
David
