Originally Posted by bausch

Thanks everyone for your input.. in regards to lighting i read that many use softbox etc... i have shaded lamps and one of those lantern lamps with a white paper around the bulb like this

...

and a smaller lamp shade lamp with a white shade.... i heard that people like to place the lamp to the left or right side but what about right behind the camera? I tried doing that (with the smaller lamp) and the picture turned out better i think... is it common to place lighting right behind the camera?

Can these lamps substitute for softbox? Can the bigger one (the one i posted above) be used as a "side" lamp for lighting and the smaller one right behind the camera? Or is there a better way to set it up?