I am getting ready to finish my basement and will be designing an area with backdrops, etc. so that I can take pictures of my son. I have a decent camera for a point and shoot (Canon A630)...and am hoping to start taking some portrait shots of my 1 year old. Since the basement has little to no natural light, I am wondering what type of lighting I should install in order to get quality photos. Do I need to invest in lighting specifically geared towards photography or can I re-create that...

A: You didn't say whether your camera was digital or uses film. If it uses film, the "color" of the artificial light and the amount of it will be more important than if it's a digital camera.

For indoor "portrait" photography, generally the lights are set up in a particular way, generally one on each side of the front of the subject and angling down, and possibly one shining on the hair from above. You can make the shadows and even tones be any way...

When they light up street illumination in cities like New York, it seems to be progressive and not all the lights are on at the same time. It seems like a "flow of power" turning them on gradually as it progresses through the wires. But I am quite convinced that it is just for effect or rather to protect the power network and not because electric current works like that. I think that physicaly when you connect power supply to a wire all the lights connected to that wire light up at...

A: The answer is pretty simple. Sometimes an electrical contractor will install a photocell to control an entire electrical circuit. In this situation, all lighting will switch on and off at precisely the same time. In the scenario you are talking about, the electrical contractor with the lowest bid got the job. Instead of installing a photocell for the entire circuit, he went the cheaper route and bought light fixtures, each with its own integral photocell installed from the factory. In this...

I have 6 recessed lights in my basement with white solid (not baffle) trims that are sized for R30 with no space on the sides. I would like for these lights to give off more lighting. I have video taped my daughter walking her first steps and other firsts, (we hang out here most of the time) and it's a bit dark. So, I'm thinking I need more light to get better video/photos. Will replacing the baffles (or whatever you call them) give me more light? If so, will reflective be better...

A: WITHOUT KNOWING THE SIZE OF THE MAX BLUB U CAN USE IN THESE FIXTURES WHICH U MAY WANT TO CHECK, THERE IS ALSO A HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT WING NUT INSIDE AFTER REMOVING THE BLUB WHICH WILL ALLOW U TO LOWER THE BLUB FOR BETTER LIGHT SPRAY. SEE IF THAT WILL WORK. ALSO MAKE SURE U ARE USING THE PROPER FLOOD BLUBS IN THE FIXTURE.