I remember the delight that gripped me when I first learned about the magic ribbon that changes color. I was simply amazed by this video and almost immediately went to look for a store where I could buy such a tape. With great disappointment, at that time I could not find anything similar in our stores and I resorted to the help of the Internet.
Then my delight gave way to quiet horror. Heaps of some kind of symbols, tapes that look identical, but for some reason one costs twice as much as the other, then it turned out that each tape requires some special components. I began to gradually, empirically, understand all the intricacies.
In this article, I would like to help you overcome all these difficulties and make the right choice. If you decide to do the lighting yourself for the first time in your life.
Difficulty #1. Selection of LED strip and components.
Today in stores there is a huge selection of all kinds of components, and it is very easy to get confused in them. When choosing components for ceiling lighting, you will find at least 20-30 types of multi-color RGB strips, and I know about 300 different types of LED strips in total. And this is not counting the fact that for each tape you need to select one of 200 different power supplies, one of 100 control panels, and one of 50 amplifiers (if you connect more than 5 meters of tape). Not an easy task!
Before you install the tape yourself, you need to choose it correctly
So what should we do?! How to choose?! Maybe a store consultant can help?! You will be very lucky if you come across a competent consultant with experience not only as a seller, but most likely it will be some kind of student, whose only task is to make sure that you are not left without a purchase.
At one time, when I bought my first LED strip for my apartment, I could not even imagine where this curve would take me.
As you probably already guessed, I didn’t stop at that first tape. I had to go through a lot of tapes and components to understand who is suitable for what, and where it’s worth saving, and where it’s better to overpay a little.
Method No. 2 - Using varnishes
In outdoor advertising, very often, in order to reduce the cost of light boxes, instead of moisture-proof tape, customers are offered to install a regular one, with an IP degree of at best 23. However, in order for the advertisement to shine for a long time, the LED backlight is protected from moisture by using acrylic insulating varnish, which can protect not only from moisture , but also dust getting on the LEDs. The cost of the varnish is about 700 rubles, but it is enough for many such manipulations, thanks to which you can save quite a lot.
At home, instead of special varnish, you can use transparent nail polish. As the experiment showed, even when the lamp is immersed in water, the LEDs light up normally, as you can see by looking at the photo:
So we have provided 3 ways to protect the diode device from water and dust. Still, we strongly recommend not to save money, but to use specially designed waterproof products, since electricity and water are not compatible and can cause a dangerous situation. Finally, we recommend watching a video that discusses the degree of protection of products:
We hope we helped you decide how to protect the LED strip from moisture with your own hands. If you have questions or your own ideas, leave a comment below!
It will be interesting to read:
- DIY LED bed lighting
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Difficulty #2. Lack of normal connectors
I want to “make you happy”, but for the last year, all the tape, with very rare exceptions, has been sold in this form (by the way, it used to come with a special plug)
How to install an LED strip with your own hands?
Only 4 short and thin wires, weakly soldered to the tape. During installation (especially in such hard-to-reach places as a ceiling niche), the wires will begin to break off, and the contacts in the clamps on the controller will work only once in a while. Below is what a normal contact should look like.
The installation of electrical circuits must be approached responsibly
If you remove the old wires and solder new ones, and then put special crimps on them to improve contacts, then the assembly of the LED strip is greatly simplified and becomes an order of magnitude better and more reliable.
The soldering area must be reinforced and protected with heat shrink tube
After soldering, it is best to insulate the contacts with a special heat-shrink tube. This will strengthen the fastening of the wires and prevent short circuits. In principle, this is easy to do, if not for one “but”.
Types of light sources
The key attribute for the correct transfer of objects when photographing is the highlighting light, which reveals the sculptural and volumetric plasticity of objects. This flow allows you to identify the key elements of the composition, leaving minor ones in the shadows. The balance between shadows and light depends on the intensity of the drawing light flux.
Shadows that do not serve decorative or meaningful purposes can be highlighted using fill lighting. It is created using diffused and modulating light.
Also, when setting up photo studios, the following types of sources are used:
- Modeling. Allows you to highlight shadows using diffused light devices.
- Background. Needed to illuminate the background.
- Contour. Provide the formation of a light contour around the perimeter of the subject. This part of the composition can be brighter than the light part and the background area.
- Spectacular. Create shadows and highlights of the required shape and intensity in the image.
- Leveling. The shadow parts are carefully highlighted.
Professional photographers do not use all source options at the same time, working only with two types.
Difficulty No. 3. Lack of tools.
For high-quality and reliable installation, you need a professional tool. Do you have it?
DIY LED strip installation tool
Although I think everyone will be able to find a soldering iron (by the way, you also need to be able to solder very well), and you will also find scissors. But what about an industrial hair dryer, contact crimp, wires, heat-shrink tubing and other little things?! Unfortunately, that's not all...
Method No. 1 – Heat shrink to the rescue!
Perhaps the most reasonable protection option is to use heat-shrink tubing and sealant. Instead of heat shrink, you can also use any other transparent tube, for example, silicone, as shown in the master class below. All you need to do is thread the LED strip into the tube, cut the tube to length and seal the edges to ensure that the backlight is protected from moisture and dust. Additionally, it is recommended to seal the free end of the tube with a hair dryer, and put heat shrink on the other end. In this case, 100% protection against water ingress will be provided.
This version of homemade waterproof tape is recommended to be used to create illumination for a car or buildings on the street.
If you want to protect the aquarium lighting from moisture, it is better to use a special LED strip with a protection rating of IP 65 if the lamp will be placed above water and 68 if you want to make underwater lighting in the aquarium. The disadvantage of a homemade protective shell is that the silicone tube (or heat shrink) changes the hue of the glow and brightness, and this can negatively affect aquarium fish and plants.
So that you can clearly see how to protect an LED strip with a heat-shrink tube, we present to your attention a master class in pictures:
Difficulty No. 4. You need to go somewhere for all this
We are often contacted by people living far from the center, often even from the Arctic Circle! They simply do not have the opportunity to find everything they need. And then there are people from big cities who don’t have time to wander through traffic jams from one store to another, looking for the necessary components. It is for them that we work.
What seems at first glance to be such a simple thing as installing an LED strip turns into a real nightmare if everything is done correctly, and a much greater disappointment if everything is done poorly and incorrectly.
By purchasing a ready-made kit, you first of all save yourself from problems, headaches and save a lot of time and effort.
Main characteristics of light
Before setting up lighting for your home studio, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic light parameters. Among them:
- Light flow.
- Brightness.
- Intensity.
In addition, artificial sources also differ in shade, which is determined by the principle of their operation. Thus, incandescent lamps scatter predominantly yellow rays without including blue and violet rays. Therefore, the transmission of green or blue colors in a room with incandescent lamps is worse than with natural light.
The luminous flux can be warm or cold. This depends on the characteristics of the color filters installed in the devices, as well as on the specifics of the reflective surfaces. For example, a textured coating gives softness to the light. Some models have reflectors with different shades.
Studio lighting streams come in several types:
- Spot. The beam is generated from a localized point that is fixed to the ceiling.
- Absent-minded. The stream is formed from a large luminous surface.
- Reflected. This variety is safe for the eyes.
How to create the perfect home photo studio with your own hands?
If you have prepared a basic set of devices and accessories for your home photo studio, you can move on to the main stages of organizing lighting. First of all, it is worth distributing racks for studio monoblocks. With their help, you need to secure the sources, fixing them at the optimal height at the right angle.
In most cases, studio lighting kits have two sources. Each monoblock contains a main lamp, which acts as a flash, and a constant light lamp, which provides a modeling effect. Many monoblocks have 2 regulators (dimmers) and can operate in slave mode. Therefore, it is enough to synchronize the shutter release in a camera with one monoblock. Other sources will start automatically after the master element is triggered.
An umbrella is used as an important accessory for a candy bar. This attachment reflects light from internal surfaces onto the subject. It is made from a variety of materials, including translucent fabric or reflective fabrics with a golden or silver tint.
Studio lighting diagrams with examples
Photographers use different lighting schemes in a photography studio. Among the most popular are the following:
- Scheme 1. The role of the imaging source is played by a device with a silver umbrella, which is installed at a short distance from the camera. Lighters with strip boxes are placed on the sides and slightly behind. To avoid the negative impact of safety guards on the background, it is worth placing white panels between the background and the equipment. The brightness in such a scheme is changed by adjusting the location of the drawing source. If you mount the device higher and bring it closer to the subject, the main beam will be directed at the model.
- Scheme 2. This option involves shooting on a white background using standard reflectors and white panels mounted between the model and monoblocks. According to this scheme, lighting from background sources does not fall on the object, but is directed towards the background, making it white without shadows or other artifacts.
- Scheme 3. It is simple in execution and involves the use of a device with an octobox as a drawing source. The subject is photographed in full growth, and for backlighting a full-length stripbox with parameters of 30×180 cm is used, which is installed to the left of the model.
