Question about photography lighting

[chazus]

My girlfriend is an art major and currently does a lot of photography. Due to our current setup, she has to do a lot of silly things to get proper lighting for some of her projects, and lighting seems to be a consistent issue.

I saw this tonight and thought it might prove useful. Currently her 'bright light' setup is using two floor lamps with ~800 lumen CFL bulbs. It's janky, and annoying, and impractical.

Yes, I know it uses a lot of power, and can generate a lot of heat. Other than that, would this be useful as a cheap lighting solution?

EDIT: I should note that we aren't flush with cash, so if it isn't a good solution, dont bother suggesting some $300 thing that would be better.

[macdisciple]

My girlfriend is an art major and currently does a lot of photography. Due to our current setup, she has to do a lot of silly things to get proper lighting for some of her projects, and lighting seems to be a consistent issue.

I saw this tonight and thought it might prove useful. Currently her 'bright light' setup is using two floor lamps with ~800 lumen CFL bulbs. It's janky, and annoying, and impractical.

Yes, I know it uses a lot of power, and can generate a lot of heat. Other than that, would this be useful as a cheap lighting solution?

EDIT: I should note that we aren't flush with cash, so if it isn't a good solution, dont bother suggesting some $300 thing that would be better.

Bounce the light off a wall or the ceiling or a piece of foam core to diffuse it, as to whether or not it will work depends on what you are trying to light. And be sure to balance the white point.

[Majad]

It should do, but using one of those, huge clothes/tissues, that look like curtains(I can't remember its name now), that are white, helps a lot because it reflects the light back and it makes everything illuminated well or you can just do what Macdisciple said, that could work too.

[Cows For Life]

Bounce the light off a wall or the ceiling or a piece of foam core to diffuse it, as to whether or not it will work depends on what you are trying to light. And be sure to balance the white point.

Build your own softbox with foam core/cardboard and white (red, blue, green, whatever) cloth that you need. Try silver and gold foil as reflectors for different effects.