Hi, I'm a photographer in Ontario Canada. BTW, I love living in a world without events...
I set up at my local farmers market to sell my photography and would like to know what my options are for lighting my grid walls in a 10x10' Impact Canopy? LED is the way to go these days, but there's a lot of options, and lum's is not always a good measure, as the distance before it falls off to nothing can vary quite a bit. I should add that I only need to light the back of the canopy, as I only have grid walls along there.
I should say that electricity is a maybe, and I can't afford to buy a $1000 lighting system. Not with COVID, and needing a new PC and printer. :/
Thanks!
Replies
I use LED work lights from Amazon; https://www.amazon.com/PowerSmith-PWL1115BS-Lumen-Equippped-Housing....
I take the handles and feet off, leaving the swivel bracket on. I use automotive stainless steel hose clamps when mounting to a pipe across my Trimline, or when using a pop-up tent, I just zip-tie the bracket to the struts in the tent. The lights are equivalent to a 125 watt bulb but only pull 14 watts each. I use a battery pack and inverter to run them. I use 6 of them but 4 will work if you place them properly. The angle of cover is such that from the center of the tent they will cover a good 5 feet on the wall. They are daylight balance so no color contamination when used outside.
Thanks for the reply! Sorry for my tardy response, but "life stuff" happened. heh
Could you give me the name of the battery pack and the converter?
Also, do you, or anyone else have any thoughts on either battery operated LED lighting, or rechargeable LED lighting?
Lastly, I'm trying to decide whether to get a new banner, or a fully printed canopy top. What are peoples thoughts on that, and where would be the best price that doesn't sacrifice quality to get just the canopy done? BTW I live in Canada, and the duty would be extreme on a custom canopy top. :( I have an Impact canopy, 10x10', straight legged. I'd love to go with black, as it fits my style, but I don't know if you roast under them due to black absorbing sunlight, or if they fade like crazy.
Thanks!
Pretty much any 300 to 400 watt inverter will do, and a 100-125A/H boat battery. Of course you'll need a charger. If that's too much hassle, check out Anker Power Stations on Amazon. pricey, but extremely light weight lithium pack with built in inverter, 12V DC outlet and a 2-3 USB charging ports.
Not sure of your intention with the canopy top as white is the universal color. The only time, and just once, did I see a black canopy and that was for a guy with astrophotography who had a ton of small pencil beam lights on his work.
Thanks for the info.
For the canopy top, I'm thinking considering if the time/hassle of setting up a banner is a pain, I could get a custom printed canopy top with my logo, etc right on the front of the canopy. I've seen them before, and since I use black as a background for a lot of my stuff, such as my business card, I'd want a black canopy. They do make them, and they can print on them. I just don't know if you would roast under it since it's black.
Here is a small image of something similar.
Thanks!
I wouldn't advise a black top as most shows specify a white top. In addition a black top would make it quite dark underneath. While it would look light enough standing underneath it, it would look too dark from out on the aisle or street. If your work is not well lit, people just won’t notice your work that well and will walk on by. In 33 years of doing art fairs, I have seen only one tent with a black top, and that was an astrophotographer who had metal prints on black Propanels. It made sense for him on that unique situation where the black background made the images jump out. There is reason why everyone uses white tops; soft light and no color contamination.
Funny you should say metal. :)
My prints are on high gloss aluminum. My plan is actually to shoot for the back of my canopy to be dim, and then use the lighting to light the aluminum prints.