[Photo] New Light Source, New Possibilities.

I can't be using my fluorescent lamp forever. Sooner or later the tubes are going to die out and chances are I won't be able to replace them consider how old the lamp is. Not only that, I've wanted to add lights coming in from a diagonal direction versus from the top only as well as a light source that isn't so damn bright. I grabbed this recently released push light and it may just be what I've been looking for. Previously, I've been using a compact 5-LED flashlight which has its bulbs standing roughly 5 inches high. I can point them downward like a street lamp, but the spread of it was small so I had to bring it close to the car which then resulted in overexposure in certain parts of the car. This push light on the other hand, has a fairly good diffuser. You won't believe it until you see it, but the diffuser is made of LDPE (low density polyethylene) and it blocks out a lot of light. It makes for a neat bed-side table lamp considering how dim it is. I grabbed it from Dollarama one weekend.

 It's a giant light bulb! Haha! How high it stands provides softer light with the added distance as opposed to the previous flash lights so I can get a large fill of light at a great level of softness. That's a good thing.

 

After inserting the 4 AA batteries push the light bulb downward towards the base and light up the work area... or not. Dim, no?

 

Here's some unedited photos of what it can produce with my Canon T3i.

More or less regular settings, 400 ISO, f/18, 1.3s.

Here I move the light source to different locations to bring out reflections and highlights.

ISO 400, f/18, 2s. Lightbulb located directly above. The highlights aren't too strong, but we get a strong impression of a glossy surface.

ISO 400, f/18, 2s. Lightbulb located just off to the side. Imagine what it'd could look like if I moved the light a step further and added another light from the opposite side.

 ISO 400, f/18, 1.6s. This time I move the light across the the surface in one swoop. It's a tad dark.

 ISO 400, f/18, 3.2s. Same motion, longer exposure. We get sufficient light all around, without any parts being overly exposed. This is rather neat.

Considering that it was only $3 for the push light and $1 for a pack of 4 batteries, this ain't a bad investment for cheap photography equipment.

With a second lamp, I produced some presentation-standard results.