Andy Roberts
Well-known member
My offline note to David Mullen and his response below:
David,
I've read many of your posts on reduser.net.
I have what I hope to be a pretty simple question. Maybe you've already answered this on that forum, and if so, a URL link is a fine answer.
Like many, I'm interested in the Scarlet fixed. I want to use it for both still photography in studio work (some people, objects, still life) and I would like to do little shorts (2-5 minutes long) with simple dialogs between people, 70% indoor.
I find the world of lighting and all of its terminology a bit overwhelming. If you were in my position, what would you purchase (brands and items) to have a basic lighting kit for my scenario I described above?
I don't mind spending some money, but I hate wasting money buying things I don't need.
And if you have time, maybe you could break it down into: essential first wave of purchases, nice to have second wave of purchases.
Thanks so much for your time, even if you don't have time to answer.
Andy
_____
If you have a specific scene to light, it's easier to be specific as to the lights needed, but if you are talking generally, I can only be general.
Generally you need to create in lighting, hard bright light over large areas, soft light over large areas, hard light in small areas, and soft light in small areas.
And you generally need the option of doing this in daylight-balance or tungsten-balance.
But for the low-budget person, there are limitations to work within. For example, you're probably working within the limitation of household power from a wall outlet, so 20 amps per circuit max. That limits you to a 2K light and below.
It helps to start out with one light and then get to know it before you add another light. I started out with a 650w open-face tungsten quartz movie lamp as my "big" light. Augmented by Chinese Lanterns and whatnot. Eventually you'll want a small kit of tungsten lights, maybe a mix of open-face and fresnels.
Then you are going to want daylight-balanced lights, which means HMI's, LED's, and daylight fluorescent tubes. You'll find that a 1200w HMI PAR and/or a 800w Joker HMI is probably the brightest thing you can plug into a normal 20amp wall outlet. So they are useful to create a bright spot of light coming through a small window in daytime, or lighting a backyard for moonlight.
Fluorescents like Kinoflos are useful because the tubes can be swapped between tungsten, daylight, or Cool Whites to match location lighting, and they don't draw much power and don't make the room as hot as a tungsten. And the light is naturally soft.
David
David,
I've read many of your posts on reduser.net.
I have what I hope to be a pretty simple question. Maybe you've already answered this on that forum, and if so, a URL link is a fine answer.
Like many, I'm interested in the Scarlet fixed. I want to use it for both still photography in studio work (some people, objects, still life) and I would like to do little shorts (2-5 minutes long) with simple dialogs between people, 70% indoor.
I find the world of lighting and all of its terminology a bit overwhelming. If you were in my position, what would you purchase (brands and items) to have a basic lighting kit for my scenario I described above?
I don't mind spending some money, but I hate wasting money buying things I don't need.
And if you have time, maybe you could break it down into: essential first wave of purchases, nice to have second wave of purchases.
Thanks so much for your time, even if you don't have time to answer.
Andy
_____
If you have a specific scene to light, it's easier to be specific as to the lights needed, but if you are talking generally, I can only be general.
Generally you need to create in lighting, hard bright light over large areas, soft light over large areas, hard light in small areas, and soft light in small areas.
And you generally need the option of doing this in daylight-balance or tungsten-balance.
But for the low-budget person, there are limitations to work within. For example, you're probably working within the limitation of household power from a wall outlet, so 20 amps per circuit max. That limits you to a 2K light and below.
It helps to start out with one light and then get to know it before you add another light. I started out with a 650w open-face tungsten quartz movie lamp as my "big" light. Augmented by Chinese Lanterns and whatnot. Eventually you'll want a small kit of tungsten lights, maybe a mix of open-face and fresnels.
Then you are going to want daylight-balanced lights, which means HMI's, LED's, and daylight fluorescent tubes. You'll find that a 1200w HMI PAR and/or a 800w Joker HMI is probably the brightest thing you can plug into a normal 20amp wall outlet. So they are useful to create a bright spot of light coming through a small window in daytime, or lighting a backyard for moonlight.
Fluorescents like Kinoflos are useful because the tubes can be swapped between tungsten, daylight, or Cool Whites to match location lighting, and they don't draw much power and don't make the room as hot as a tungsten. And the light is naturally soft.
David