Outside noon dinner party

[Joe Cage]

Hello,

I need to shoot a outside dinner party at a large table seating 20 people at 15:00 in the afternoon. So the light will be challenging for sure.
Here is a picture of the location, we will place the table somewhat under the trees right beghind the people in the picture, any tips on how to turn this in something awesome? (could be that shadows of the leaves will make somewhat interesting patterns, but also afraid of black eyesockets, overexposed parts, too contrasty scence and so on. So any tips are greatly welcome!

Thanks!

 

[Simran Dewan]

White tablecloth would definitely help reduce the raccoon eyes. You can then use white boards at different engles under the face for close ups. If possible, large 20x20s or 40x40s to shape would help. Assuming you’re reliant on the sun. If lighting, so many more options available.

 

[Joe Cage]

Thanks! I cant use a white table cloth as it is a product shoot and I need to show the wooden structure of the table. I guess bouncing sunlight is the only option. I maybe was thinking about placing huge butterflies above the table for diffusing the sunlight but not sure if its doable?

 

[Bob Gundu]

How about some globe lights overhead for a nice twinkle feel?

 

[Zeb B]

How about some globe lights overhead for a nice twinkle feel?

Ha! Just hire Gundu as your DP - problem solved ;-)

 

[Joe Cage]

haha yeah thanks, we will hang similar lights, but not sure if they are noticiable at 15:00 in the afternoon.

 

[Abiodun Shote]

If the budget is there perhaps you could bring in some heavy HMI. Or reflect the sun with a mirror and diffuse that (maybe double diffusion) and you might need multiple sets of such to cover your number

 

[Zeb B]

Why not just change the time of the shoot? I mean why all the effort and expense when a simple time change can make a huge difference to the look and result. Dinner party at 3:00pm when the sun is straight up and blasting? Move that to start 30m before sunset and shoot through changing lighting conditions to get a nice range of moods. Unless of course the filming is secondary to the event

 

[Joe Cage]

Yeah there will be little kids present, and they want to wrap up soon. And the party is as important as the shoot, lets say 50/50. So there. I might do some test shots at 15:00 and at at 18:00. So they can see the difference for themselves and not get shocked when I deliver, and maybe even push the timing one hour. Lets say 16:00 could already have a big impact on the look.

 

[Zeb B]

Yeah there will be little kids present, and they want to wrap up soon. And the party is as important as the shoot, lets say 50/50. So there. I might do some test shots at 15:00 and at at 18:00. So they can see the difference for themselves and not get shocked when I deliver, and maybe even push the timing one hour. Lets say 16:00 could already have a big impact on the look.

If having a good result from the shoot is the primary purpose for the project then it's a whole lot easier to control the shooting environment and timing before the shooting begins that it is to try and fix in post. If there's time for Golden Hour v 3:00pm test shooting for convincing the client to let you control the timing then by all means do so. The other thing you will be fighting at high sun is blue/green light from above and green shadows in the skin tones from the veggie bounce and with racoon eyes. High contrast with fucked white balance - that will make grading a bitch

 

[Paul Dean]

If the budget is there perhaps you could bring in some heavy HMI. Or reflect the sun with a mirror and diffuse that (maybe double diffusion) and you might need multiple sets of such to cover your number

If you can shoot under a diffusion frame, the 4k ARRIMAX M40 will give you what you are looking for. With all the trees around your location, I would get a good grip capable of flying a 40x40 with guylines from the trees. The diffusion will take the direction out off the sun breaking through the tree canopy and knock down the over all level such that a M40 is enough to get the look you are after. To power the M40, as well as other lights, use one of the new 7500W modified Honda EU7000s with a transformer/distro.

The purpose of the transformer is to create a single 60A/120V circuit capable of powering the 4kw M40. So that you can run the generator further from set where it won’t be picked up on your audio tracks, the transformers are also outfitted with a voltage boost knob so that you can compensate for the line-loss that is inevitable over the long cable run it takes to operate the generator around the corner of a building or out of the back of the grip truck where it won’t be heard. Transformers also simplify set electrics a lot. No longer do you need to worry about balancing your load on the generator. That’s because whatever you plug into the secondary of a transformer is split evenly over the 240V primary. You don’t have to balance the load because the transformer does it for you automatically. And they are typically outfitted with a 60A Bates receptacle so that you can use standard Bates extensions, and gang boxes to distribute power around set. If you want to go with an even bigger light, the same outfit that makes the transformers, also sells a box that will parallel two Honda EU7000s for a 120A output – enough to power a 12k or ARRIMAX M90.

Paul Dean

 

[Joe Cage]

Thanks guys! Learning a lot again !! Not sure if thats in the budget right now though. But I will look into it.

On saturday I made a quick snap of a similar light situation at 15:00, just to see how it looks. And this is it. So the eyesockets are quite ok. Only the image itself is quite boring though. Not sure how I could mojo it up. Was thinking about maybe bouncing some unbleached muslin on one side of the faces? Idea's are very welcome

 

[Joe Cage]

I like contrasty images, but not sure if it will fit the commercial side of the product they are trying to sell. However I feel this image is way too flat. However I do not think I can adjust it much maybe reflect even more light from the right side (maybe unbleached muslin). And push the contrast in post a bit. But there will never be that much contrast between the subjet and the background as I cannot beat the sun. I could do a negative fill, but that would result in a not so commercial look.

 

[Peter Lyons Collister ASC]

Where is the sun in the afternoon? Is the wide shot in backlight and then you can control the closer shots easier with cards and smaller overhead diffusion?

How long is shooting scheduled for and how many setups are there? Please just sell them on shooting the widest shot(s) at the most ideal time and work backwards from that.

 

[Joe Cage]

@ 15:00 the sun is high up there (noonish), on the wide shot it will be a bit on the left side. The shoot will take 3 hours, so the sun will drop slightly (not much). As sun sets at 21:45. Yeah another problem is that they dont want the shoot to be too intrusive to the party (as it half party/ half produt shoot, so its going to be a tough shoot). I just counted, I will have about 19 setups.....

 

[Hal Long]

With a tight budget and 19 setups, you’re probably licking he best compromise. Limitations like this can also be freeing. I would aim to do so as much shooting as possible under the tree canopy and keep the sky out of your shots if possible. Then, if your budget permits get find a way to motivate warm light or bounce that when graded and printed down Balances the cool shadows that will provide your nighttime feel.