PhotoFlood LIght Bulbs...who, what, where, when...???

[Mike Buckles]

Thanks to cameraguy and the moderator for their help! You are right, there are (and I noticed it at the time) some shadows behind the individuals...since it was for someone else, they didn't want to fool around too much with perfecting the scene. Also, I am going to get some barndoors made for my lighting kit, which should improve the light control (somewhat). Good comment about the overall scene being evenly lit, but not dramatic...a failing I've been looking into overcoming in the last year...a thought I had...could I buy some dimmer switches for the lights, and use that for light control...I had my lights set on 250w (small room) and maybe it was too much light....by dimming the light somewhat, that would alter things. What about color temperature when you control the light intensity....if I dim the photofloods, does that throw off the color temp of the lights? Since the lights themselves can switch between 250w and 500w, I did'nt think it would...? Would changing the intensity of focusing quartz lights throw off the color temp as well? Mikeyb

[Mike Buckles]

Just an additional comment...I have started to look at Hollywood movies more critically, and i often see shadows in the interior scenes...some for dramatic effect, but not always. some are quite obvious! (makes me feel a little better!)

[Alex]

Shadows aren't necessarily a bad thing. To quote Pee Wee Herman, after he flipped over his handlebars in front of a group of kids, "I meant to do that".

As long you WANT the shadows there, it's considered acceptable. However, if what you "want" is something that no one else likes then your days may be numbered as a cinematographer.

In your situation, with the lights you are using, dimmers would not help that much. What would help is being able to shape the light into pools that would light up your guests but "dim" as they reached other parts of the scene.

However, you have excellent exposure setting on your picture, and all the colors look rich. If you had "darkened" the areas around your guests, you probably would have made the picture "noiser".
(excessive color dripping off of the walls).

Video is a balance of color to brightness. If you
lower the lights too much on your background, the color of the wall has nothing to hang it's hat on...so to speak.

Thats why background distance plays such an
important role in lighting. If the background is out of focus, the manipulation of the backgrond via lighting is easier to do because your foreground light won't reach it as easily, and if it does, it will automatically be at a lower intensity. The Excessive video noise on the wall that you would have probably gotten had you dimmed the lights in your shot would suddenly look like a pleasing out of focus pop of color if your background was farther away.

Study the lighting that is done on shows such as 60 minutes or Dateline or 20/20. Inevitably, the background is WAY behind the person being interviewed.

Notice how the background is both underlit yet colorfully lit, and most importantly, out of focus.

Everything your picture is not...HOWEVER, I commend the perfect exposure you got on your image as it allowed every tone in the shot to exist in a pleasing manner.

[Mike Buckles]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions...I hadn't considered background distance...I'll have to try that! Also, would bounce lighting work more effectively than direct lighting?

[Alex]

Good idea.

The key is to bounce the light while controlling it. (there's a pun in there somewhere)

Bouncing light allows the light source to expand in size before it hits the reflector. As light travels, it expands, so when it hits the reflector, the light source has grown in size. Softer light is related to the SIZE of the light source.

If you bounce your light against a piece of white foam core, the size of the light should increase, which means it has been softened. The amount the light increases will depend on how far away the foam core is from the light.

If your actors have glasses, sometimes the white of the board will show up as a reflection in the glasses.

When you bounce light, you need twice the stands (to hold the foam core), and you cut into the available room you can shoot in...once again, more space is a blessing.

(Lowell does make a light kit with lighting umbrellas that can be attached to the light stand.)

C-Stands are a popular way to "hold" Foam core so that you can bounce a light off of it.
Diffusion added to the front of the light can also soften light. But you will need a gel frame holder and white gel to soften the light, and the closer to the light source, the less it will soften the image.

[Mike Buckles]

Thanks for your very knowledgeable input..I forgot that they do make gel holders for my light kit...I already bought the diffusion material..I'm going to order one of the holders soon! I'll bet diffusing the light will make a nice difference! For an average size house room, is it better to have the lights set to 500w, and stop down the aperature, or light it with 250w...the 250 watt setting seems more than enough...that's what i used to shoot the pic i sent.

[Alex]

Here's one issue with diffusion. The closer the diffusion material is to the light, the less it will soften the light. You can see the shape of the light on the diffusion material, the actual hard shape of the light on the diffusion material represents how much you have enlarged the light source...(as we enlarge the light source by moving the diffusion farther away from the bulb, we create softer lighting by creating a larger/softer light source)

You'll probably still need barn doors on the light, placed after the diffusion, and even then, the light will still spill somewhat.

As you move the diffusion away from the light,
how do you attach the barn doors??? In many cases, you compromise by attaching the diffusion to the gel holder located on some lights, then you attach a "snoot" or barn doors immediately after.

[Mike Buckles]

I believe with these lights, I have to attach the barn doors to the light head, the gel holder fits on over the light head somehow...but I believe the barn doors would be right on the lights, before the diffuser.

[Alex]

What was I thinking! [img]redface.gif[/img]

Good old C-47's are always an option.

C-47's are film slang for clothes pins!

You can always attach the gel to the barn doors via clothes pins.