Basic Lighting Setup for a Buck-Fi'ty?

As someone who likes asking pros what to do, I had a brief discussion one Thursday evening before classes with Michael Candee. We got to talking lighting (as I lamented I have no money for a Speedlite) and Michael mentioned that there were plenty of good quality, inexpensive solutions. Nissin and Yongnuo were mentioned, along with a few others.

So I got to doing some research, and I came across this most excellent blog by Jim Harmer. A lot of folks have been following Jim and his publishing/writings/musings. In one of his posts, he mentions a very solid "entry-level" setup for about 150 bucks.

Design Salaries (a guide of sorts)

Students at GTC know a bit about Coroflot.  It is the site designed to 'connect creative talent with opportunities worldwide.' For many students, it functions as a sort of content repository, or virtual online portfolio...but it does so much more than just that.

One of the many things Coroflot does is provide information on salaries within the design profession. Its sampling is beyond regional-- in fact global, and comes from the professionals out in the trenches.

If you are a Coroflot member,  check it out. They have been compiling data since 2001, so trends can also be extrapolated from the site.

THE EXPOSURE TRIANGLE

It seems more students than ever before are interested in Photography. One of the issues I've always encountered in the classroom is how to address the basics when students have such a wide variety of equipment: Point 'n' shoot, Bridge, Mirrorless, DSLR, DSLM...

Given time to acquaint users with their cameras, we make sure everyone knows a few fundamentals, and it becomes their job to learn (or help each other learn, or ask for instructor help learning) those fundamentals for their specific piece of equipment.

In addition to: white balance, focusing, flash, aperture and d.o.f... we discuss the urgency of learning the factors that cumulatively contribute to the term "EXPOSURE." This site has excerpts to help you understand that a bit more the importance of the "Exposure Triangle."