Reddit mentions of DTOL Flash Bracket Swivel Umbrella Holder Studio Tilting Bracket for Nikon Canon E430 E580 SB600 SB800 SB900 Bracket B

One of the cool things about lighting is that you can create light with a variety of different things, so you can really play to your budget really well. As others have recommended, if she's serious about learning to light, tell her to check out Strobist, read his tutorials, buy his DVDs, the like. She'll learn a ton and David Hobby is a great writer. His blog is awesome, too.

As for a basic setup, she'll need some sort of light source, a diffuser (or light modifier or some sort), and some way of triggering that light if it's a strobe. That's the very basic setup. Fortunately for her, she can do this for $10, $20, $50, $100, or $1000. Whatever she (you) are willing to spend on it.

If she's trying to do it on the cheap, she can grab a lamp from Ikea (match the type of the bulb with the type of lighting the food will be in. If she's in a kitchen with flurorescent lighting, get a fluroescent lamp), a work light in a clamp, etc, some paper (try tracing paper or wax paper as it's more translucent), and some tape. Stretch the paper out so that it covers a nice area, tape it up to some boxes or something so it stands, and shine the light through it so it's nice and evenly lit. The only thing that affects the "softness" of light is the size of the light source, so the paper is useful for spreading out the focus of the bulb in your lamp and giving you a nice big source. Be creative, move the lamps around, try layering on the paper or removing the paper. Just play with it and see what works. She'll probably need a tripod and a slower shutter speed though, since these lights aren't incredibly bright. Here's another idea using the same equipment for inspiration.

Moving up in the budget, she can start to explore the world of flash photography, and start playing with strobes. These cheap YongNuo Flashes (and there are other models that are great, too) are surprisingly good, reliable, and cheap! I own a few and use them all the time. They come with stands, but she could tape them up around for better angles. Just one of these off camera, or angled properly can make her photoghraphy stunning. Start by placing them off to the side, aimed at the food, and triggering them with the on-camera flash and the strobes set to "optical slave" mode. Tell her to turn down the on-camera flash power to very low as to not give the food a bland look, and just use it to trigger the off-camera flash. Exposure here gets a little more tricky, without going on a huge rant (I could if you want, just let me know), but she should be able to figure it out. Start on low power, and dial it in more and more until she gets the look she's going for. Then, start experimenting and playing more! Use that same paper as before for a quick and dirty diffuser, or, if you want even bigger, softer, light for free, crank the power and shoot it onto the ceiling. The reflection will give her a great, even light source that compliments nearly everything nicely. Play with the built-in diffuser too, bouncing off different things, etc. Shoot, see what works, have fun, and learn. There's a lot to learn, and she'll learn best by just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Just make sure she's having fun and not stressing too much! If she needs more help, just throw me a question, google around, or post to this forum. Someone will be able to help.

From there, she can keep expanding upwards. More flashes, umbrellas, light stands (make sure she has all the necessary hot-shoe adapters, or umbrella mounts she might need), snoots, grid spots, and other sort of modifiers she might want to get the look she's going for. Worth noting that most things here can be made with some creativity and some crafty DIY work.

Oh, I'd also urge she get a set (or two) of gels for her lights, mainly the CTO (colour temperature orange) and CTG (colour temperature blue) so she can match the colour of her lights to whatever the ambient light is.

Hopefully this helps. If you have any questions or need more help, just let me know. :)

I would highly recommend the Yongnuo external speedlights! You'll also need wireless flash triggers to shoot with your flash off-camera (made for your camera brand) I personally like to shot through a white umbrella for close up portraits. You can find all of this equipment on Amazon :)


Yongnuo Flash: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PGTOX26/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_B3jizbSQH5JC7


White Umbrella: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003PEX8XE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_K8jizbZE9WMJ8


Flash Adapter for light stand: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TYDBYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m9jizbNDJBSJ6


Light stand: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K69A0QY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_79jizb8EEAZAT


I can recommend wirelessly flash triggers too! What brand is your camera?

Is there a cheap adapter that would attach this to the screw on top of a regular camera tripod? basically a light stand adapter of sorts?

I bought this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TYDBYQ/
and there's nothing to screw in. It looks like there's supposed to be a larger piece that fits into the flash bracket.

For an absolute basic lighting set up

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Compact-Cushion-Lighting-Fixtures/dp/B008BBVKGS - Stand

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Bracket-Swivel-Umbrella-Tilting/dp/B003TYDBYQ/ - Cold Shoe

https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Wireless-Speedlite-Receiver-Universal/dp/B00CO2WP0U - Wireless Trigger

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Electronic-Flash-DSLR-Cameras/dp/B01I09WHLW - Manual Flash

https://www.amazon.com/Impact-Convertible-Umbrella-Removable-Backing/dp/B0053NWF8O - 2 in 1 umbrella ( I don't personally like this style, I prefer to have a shoot though and a silver lined reflective one separate)

And thats all you need for a single light setup off camera. Now there are things I would always advise to get with it (5 in 1 reflector) or multi light setups, other modifiers(softbox, octobox, grids, beauty dishes) and so on, but that is a basic setup for less than $100 bucks to get you going.

Will this swivel and this adapter allow me to connect a Yongnuo560iv to a Dolica Tripod?


Also, does anyone have any better quality swivel recommendations?

Are the umbrella swivels a universal standard? Would this be fine to connect the flash to stand? http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Holder-compatible-Canon-Speedlite/dp/B003TYDBYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324340636&sr=8-1

Artificial lighting is the best and easiest way to make great, professional-looking portraits.

Are you sure you can't afford a speedlite ? You don't need an expensive name-brand one. A basic speedlite is $35. Get two of those, a basic radio control, some flash brackets, one more basic umbrella and you have yourself a portrait lighting kit for $100.

The only limitations will be that this kit won't take heavy use, and the flash won't do TTL (you have to set the power manually, which you want to do for off-camera flash anyway).

Finally, read strobist tutorial and you are now good to go and make great portraits.

You could set your self up pretty good with $500. I have a couple suggestions, but the first would be to get yourself a cheap prime lens first. Either a 50mm 1.8 or a 24mm pancake. Both are around $100 and would still leave quite a bit in your budget. So, saying you go ahead and do that:

• You could get a couple of Yongnuo 560 IV
  You could choose to fire then optically with your Canon speed lite or get one of these
  
• Grab a few of these to hold your flashes
  
• And a few of theseto stand them up
  
• In terms of modifiers you have a few options. You could go with cheap umbrellas which are fine. Or you could get some small soft boxes. I say just grab a huge modifier. As big as you can get. It's gonna really depends on how much space you have. check this out
  
  That's a decent, portable, and effective setup with two lenses for right about $500.
  
  Since your using someone else's studio lugging equipment is gonna be a pain. That's why I think speed lights is the way to go. But if you don't mind, look into a monolight kit. For your portraits I really do think you'll like what you get from a fast prime lens.