Lighting set up + my camera!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope your day has gone well so far ♥  By popular demand, I'm showing you my new lights, soft box and my camera! Ever since I mentioned that I got a new lighting set up, so many people have asked me about it. I briefly mentioned this in a past blog post but I wanted to dedicate a whole post to this topic with more details and pictures!

*Warning* This will be a text and picture heavy post!

A few weeks ago, I was getting fed up with depending on natural sunlight which determined when I could or could not take pictures of my nails. Ever since the time change, it gets darker sooner which means that when I get home from school it's already pitch black outside! I wasn't able to share my nails as often as I wanted to and it was also kind of embarrassing to walk outside of my house with my pajamas to take a nail selfie (I got so many weird looks!) I decided that I should invest in some equipment to stop my problem. For Christmas I received some money, so this was a perfect opportunity! 

I started my journey on Amazon, searching for the perfect set up within my 15 year old budget (50 bucks). After hours of searching for the best deals for a pretty decent quality, I found a few things that I'm in love with! 

Softbox:

On the top right corner you can see my 16 inch soft box that I purchased for $14.95. When taking pictures of your nails, a soft box gives you the perfect, crisp background. It also takes in light which softly illuminates your hands. I bought mine here for a pretty decent price compared to others that were $50-$70! This came with a soft box, 4 different background colors (white, black, red, & blue), a removable front cover with a camera lens slit, and a carrying case. The soft box almost comes in the mail folded up in a strange way (when I unfolded it, it sprung up and out which really startled me!) that I don't think I can recreate so I can't really put the soft box back in the carrying case but that's not a problem for me since I just keep it in my room :) The soft box is really nice quality and has given me zero problems so far, I love it! It's also a perfect size for my hand, not too big and not too small!

Lamps:

Moving down you can see my two lamps. When searching for these I really didn't need anything special, just something to hold the specific bulbs I wanted. These are pretty basic, you can find these almost anywhere in a range of different prices, you might even already have some in your house! In my case, I didn't have any with a flexible goose neck so I purchased these with free shipping for $13.99 each (light bulbs not included + no assembly required.) These lamps might not look so special but after reading some reviews for other lamps, I read that others had the on/off switch near the bulb which became hazardous because the lamp apparently got extremely hot. This lamp has the switch on the base which I found very convenient because I did not want to burn my fingers! So far these lamps haven't given me any problems either, they're standard and they do their job. 

Light bulbs:

The last thing I needed were daylight bulbs. To be honest, I don't know much about lights but after reading other posts about lighting, I learned that daylight bulbs are very important. Daylight bulbs are light bulbs that mimic natural daylight the closest. You don't have to use these, but they do give a nice look to your nails. These came in a pack of four for $10.71. I don't remember paying this price for these, I think the sellers might've raised it BUT even with them being more expensive, all of the things I purchased are still under $50! These bulbs are perfect and I love the light they give off. I obviously only need two for now so I'm glad that I have two more for a later time! These lights are also 14 watts which the specific lamps I bought can handle. 

Lights off

Lights on

Here you can see the way I set it all up. First I clear off my desk and place my soft box in the center, directly above my chair so that I can sit down. Next, I take my lamps and place them on either side of the box. The lamps look really close to the box in the picture but they're actually a good few inches away. Make sure to not put the lights too close, the bulbs get pretty hot! As you can see, there's a major difference between these two pictures. 

Lights off

Lights on

In these two pictures, you can see that these China Glaze colors look so much more vibrant and clear in the second picture! I swear, I did nothing but switch the light on and off. My lighting set up is seriously the best, my pictures look more crisp and professional now!

After I'm done with everything, I neatly store away my soft box underneath my desk along with my camera case on the left. I keep my lamps on my desk just because I don't mind them :) Overall I love my set up, it is 10 times better than depending on natural sunlight. It's a complete lifesaver for me and I'm so happy that I stayed within my budget. If you're on a tight budget like I am, or maybe you just don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on this kind of stuff, I really recommend everything I purchased!

BONUS

Since I'm on the topic of how I take my pictures, I thought I'd throw in some info about my new camera! I got this for Christmas this year and I'm obsessed with it! This is the Canon Rebel T3i, it came with the body, two lenses, a carrying case, and some dvd's that help you learn how to use it. It takes the BEST pictures and has so many different settings that I love to mess with. It's honestly perfect and I love discovering new tips and tricks on how to take pictures, everyday. 

Well ladies, that is all for today. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to include as much as possible to help you guys out. If you made it this far, here's a *virtual high-five*! I hope you enjoyed and maybe got some ideas. I'll talk to you soon!