Screenforme
Active member
I'm sure most of you have more professional ways of lighting but, here's my DIY moonlight outside in the dark street setup, thought I'd share.
First, you need a light stand of some kind. I already had one.
Second, you need a china ball, I bought mine from a place called World Market. They sell a bunch of furniture, house trinkets, etc.
Then, you need a giant fluorescent bulb from Home Depot. It's 2700k but when you're working like this and it's the only light, well, you deal with it. Perhaps you could get any bulb you wanted. This one is the equivalent of 300w at 68w fluorescent.
You will also need a power inverter for a car, to power the light or other lights if you want. The one I have is a 500w version, though they go up and down from there in wattage I think. Turn the car off, obviously, when shooting, then on to keep the battery charged. In the past I have taken the battery out of the car, hooked up the inverter and use it for 5 or more hours, popped it back in the car and it was still charged so...
Also, you'll need a piece of pvc pipe and a pvc pipe T-joint to have a DIY "boom" for your light stand to hang your china ball from, so the bulb doesn't touch the paper.
I put some blue gels in the ball but you could go without also.
Put it in the back of a pickup and raise it as high as you want, or as low, whatever works for you.
Tada! Moon.
Here's some pics and I'll post footage soon as well. Stay tuned.
Oh, I'm shooting on the Canon 7D and it works for that particular camera but I'm not sure how this would stack up for something else.
And, if you have any other suggestions, or comments, post them.
First, you need a light stand of some kind. I already had one.
Second, you need a china ball, I bought mine from a place called World Market. They sell a bunch of furniture, house trinkets, etc.
Then, you need a giant fluorescent bulb from Home Depot. It's 2700k but when you're working like this and it's the only light, well, you deal with it. Perhaps you could get any bulb you wanted. This one is the equivalent of 300w at 68w fluorescent.
You will also need a power inverter for a car, to power the light or other lights if you want. The one I have is a 500w version, though they go up and down from there in wattage I think. Turn the car off, obviously, when shooting, then on to keep the battery charged. In the past I have taken the battery out of the car, hooked up the inverter and use it for 5 or more hours, popped it back in the car and it was still charged so...
Also, you'll need a piece of pvc pipe and a pvc pipe T-joint to have a DIY "boom" for your light stand to hang your china ball from, so the bulb doesn't touch the paper.
I put some blue gels in the ball but you could go without also.
Put it in the back of a pickup and raise it as high as you want, or as low, whatever works for you.
Tada! Moon.
Here's some pics and I'll post footage soon as well. Stay tuned.
Oh, I'm shooting on the Canon 7D and it works for that particular camera but I'm not sure how this would stack up for something else.
And, if you have any other suggestions, or comments, post them.
Last edited:
