User Scenarios

Now that we've run through the basics and the tools, let's review some common user scenarios, starting with the two situations mentioned in All Lights Have a Different Color Temperature on page 41. To save you a flipping back, I'll recap them here.

Situation 1: You're shooting indoors, using sunlight streaming in from a window as your key light, and a lamp in the room as a fill light.

Options:

• Shut the curtains and use indoor lighting exclusively.

• Switch off the indoor lighting and use a bounce card to reflect the sunlight from the window as a fill light (see Figure 3.8). Framing has to be tight using this alternative, because the card has to be close to the subject, and you'll either need a stand or an assistant to hold the bounce card.

• Use a fluorescent light with a daylight fluorescent bulb to match the color temperature of the sunlight.

• Use an orange or straw-colored gel film to convert the incoming sunlight to incandescent levels.

Situation 2: You're shooting indoors, lighting the scene primarily with fluorescent lights in the office ceiling, and using an incandescent lamp to reduce facial shadows.

Options:

• Use 3,000K fluorescent lights in the office ceiling.

• Use a compact fluorescent bulb in the lamp to match the color temperature of the ceiling fluorescents.

• Gel the incandescent lamp to match the color temperature of the ceiling fluorescents.

Situation 3: Your subject is wearing glasses.

Options:

• Ask the subject to remove her glasses.

• Use soft key and fill lights and position them to the side of the subject, as shown in Figure 3.12.

Figure 3.12. When your subject won't take off her glasses, position soft lights on either side, and in addition to the back light.

Situation 4: Your subject wants to be shot against a window during daylight.

Options:

• Shoot early morning or late afternoon when the sun is weakest.

• Use Gel rolls to cover the window to reduce the incoming light.

Situation 5: You have to shoot a subject in an office lighted by fluorescent lights.

Options:

• I've used the setup shown in Figure 3.13 to good effect, though the lighting is flat. Position the subject slightly in front of one light, which then serves as the back light, with the other light serving as the sole key light. If shadowing is a problem, position a small fluorescent desk lamp upwards at the subject's face, or use a bounce card.

Figure 3.13. When shooting in an office with fluorescent lights, position the subject between the overheads and use a bounce card or small fluorescent light pointing upwards to remove facial shadows.

Situation 6: You're shooting in a home or office where lamps provide the only available lighting.

Options:

• My approach here is simple: move the lights and lamps into the desired three-point positioning, removing the covers if possible, to achieve the best lighting. Look at the example shown in Figure 3.14 from the interview scenario, where floor lamps are moved into key and fill position. I usually carry clamp lights like that shown on the right in Figure 3.15 for hanging from curtain rods, chandeliers, or any other fixed item that gives me the positioning I need.

  Figure 3.14. Going native: When shooting without your lighting kit, don't be afraid to move lamps into the key, fill, and back light positions to achieve the necessary lighting.

  

  
  

  Figure 3.15. Rosco's Diffusion Kit and Incandescent Clamp Light the finest in guerilla lighting.

  
  

Professional Versus Homegrown Lighting

If you compared the bulb from the shop lamp in Figure 3.7 to the bulb in a professional lighting kit say, the Lowel Tota-Light you would find minimal differences, though the Tota-Light, without stand, retails at about $170. To replace my $35 shop lamp with Lowel equipment I'd need to invest more than $300, and I'd still need to find stands. Or, I could spend $1,000-plus and get a four-light Lowel system with all the accessories.

On its face, this may sound excessive. But it's worth noting that the Lowel system comes with a convenient carrying case that simplifies shooting on the go. The Lowel gear also has "barn doors" and other accessories that simplify directing the light, and convenient clamps and knobs for attaching umbrella reflectors and hoods. And rather than using paper clips and other ad hoc connectors to attach your diffusion materials to the lamp, you'll use a convenient stand. This all translates to convenience, time savings, and equipment durability.

The truth is, I salivate over these types of lighting rigs and if I were a full-time videographer, I'd definitely buy one. However, for the type of intermittent shooting I do, I can get by with much cheaper equipment. Though my homegrown kit won't look as impressive to my customers as the branded gear, generally they care more about the quality of the video; if I'm careful, the customer won't know (or care) whether I used Lowel gear or a shop lamp from Lowe's.

Two other pieces of lighting gear I couldn't live without are shown in Figure 3.15. The Rosco Diffusion Kit easily converts my halogen lamps to soft lights (for around $35), and the work lamp (right) with its own steel clamp, is marvelous for connecting to doors, lights, shelves, windows, cabinets, and pretty much everything else I've tried attaching it to. These clamp lights cost less than $10 and take both incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs, providing great flexibility when attempting to match office lighting.

Bruce A. Johnson's "Lighting on the Cheap," originally published in DV Magazine (www.dv.com/print_me.jhtml?LookupId=/xml/feature/2001/bjohnson0401), and "Creating a Low-Cost Fluorescent Lighting System" from Studio 1 Productions (www.studio1productions.com/Articles/FL-Lights.htm) both offer great advice on creating low-cost lighting systems.