Chris McKechnie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2011
- Messages
- 5,218
- Reaction score
- 13
- Points
- 38
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Website
- digitalcinemaguy.com
Lighting is what helps us craft our images. With today's lighting technologies and lower costs, we're seeing a lot of great cost effective options that didn't used to exist. So, what if you don't have a massive budget or crew for a production, but need to yield a high end look?
Well, I find that less is more whenever I'm lighting. Typically, the less you have to augment, the more natural your end image will look. Use the locations to your advantage - utilizing depth, existing practicals, time of day, etc., to your advantage. All these things become so important when working with a limited budget. Always remember...what camera you shoot on doesn't really matter...it's more about the light, and how you shape it!
Here are some grabs from a recent brand shoot that had a crew of 2 - myself as DP and a producer. It was very much a run and gun type shoot, with limited time to get a lot of different shots all over the place with lots of loc's. For the interviews, we used 2 lights - a cheap amazon falcon eyes litemat and another knockoff 1x1 litemat. We chose the proper frame to help maximize depth in a limited space, while using the existing practicals to help push color contrast.
Key Falcon Eyes light was placed overhead camera left and the 1x1 was placed behind talent, camera right. Used practicals in BG
Same setup as above, just flipped. Falcon Eyes on Right, Back light on left. Practicals in BG
The Litemat employed here as the overhead key...everything else was practical.
This was all natural light. Cloudy/rainy days suck for contrast and pretty imagery...especially with a limited crew. But I tried to get as much contrast as I could with the composition.
Just used the existing overhead tungsten practicals. Didn't have time to light anything here.
So don't let having a cheap camera or lighting get in the way of you creating a great image. You limit yourself! So be creative and shoot!!!
Well, I find that less is more whenever I'm lighting. Typically, the less you have to augment, the more natural your end image will look. Use the locations to your advantage - utilizing depth, existing practicals, time of day, etc., to your advantage. All these things become so important when working with a limited budget. Always remember...what camera you shoot on doesn't really matter...it's more about the light, and how you shape it!
Here are some grabs from a recent brand shoot that had a crew of 2 - myself as DP and a producer. It was very much a run and gun type shoot, with limited time to get a lot of different shots all over the place with lots of loc's. For the interviews, we used 2 lights - a cheap amazon falcon eyes litemat and another knockoff 1x1 litemat. We chose the proper frame to help maximize depth in a limited space, while using the existing practicals to help push color contrast.
Key Falcon Eyes light was placed overhead camera left and the 1x1 was placed behind talent, camera right. Used practicals in BG
Same setup as above, just flipped. Falcon Eyes on Right, Back light on left. Practicals in BG
The Litemat employed here as the overhead key...everything else was practical.
This was all natural light. Cloudy/rainy days suck for contrast and pretty imagery...especially with a limited crew. But I tried to get as much contrast as I could with the composition.
Just used the existing overhead tungsten practicals. Didn't have time to light anything here.
So don't let having a cheap camera or lighting get in the way of you creating a great image. You limit yourself! So be creative and shoot!!!