New Photographic Equipment

Since I started my website in January 2010 I have been going for a very cheap, DIY, hope-for-the-best approach to my photography. The best pictures have been based on a piece of ply-wood painted with white gloss paint propped against the wall on a bright sunny day. However, this being the north of England, those bright, sunny days are fairly few and far between. So, I have invested in my first piece of photography equipment to help me along. I bought a continuous softbox lighting set from photoworld51 on ebay. It has two softboxes, and the lightbulbs included are "50W (250W Equivalent) 5400K 220V Daylight Bulbs. The set cost me £74.99 plus postage. I am a total novice to photography and I think I need to spend some serious time researching the various options to get any idea of what's what... from what I can tell this seems to be a cheap initial option. In practice I have found that they make a difference when I am trying to photography indoors (i.e. in the unrelenting cold, wet winter) and I have been able to get some ok pictures with them. However, they are no replacement to a bright, sunny day. I do not really know what I would have to do to get that - maybe something with a higher wattage? An area for further research when I get to the next stage of investment - certainly if anyone knows the answer I would be glad to hear about it. In the meantime they are another little sticking plaster to trying to get photos...