Does this make sense (using NDs on interiors)

P

pirate40

Well-known member
Does it make any sense to use your ND filters on an inside shoot. I am shooting with a DVX100a and it seems that I am finding myself with too much light, more often then not enough. I have dimmers to bring the lights down, but would there be any advantage to use filters inside to avoid blow out or being over exposed.
Thanks,
 
Is there a reason you cant stop your lens down? If you need to stay wide open for a shallow d.o.f then I would suggest using the built in NDs on the DVX. I only use ND on lights if one is hitting to hot.
 
If you can use smaller lights inside (wattage-wise), that's what I would recommend for a first step. Otherwise your paying for electricity and lamp wear that isn't being used. Unless you need the light where it is for a reason.

Using dimmers to reduce the power draw on lights built for a higher level can change the color temperature, so be aware of that. Otherwise, which way you go depends on what you need.
 
My light kit is limited, but I am shooting in some pretty small areas, such as bedrooms and kitchens. I usually bounce my 800w off the ceiling and use a clamp on shop light as fill. Lately I have been experimenting with a hair light or back light. Now I have three lights in a small space. I tried using a second shop light instead of the 800w, but didn't like the results. I just thought about the ND filters and I will see how that works out tomorrow.
 
Of course you can use ND's inside, it's done all the time on big features. When in doubt, try it out.

Good Luck,
W
 
When shooting an interview indoors a few of years ago, I accidentally had the ND filter
set to 1/64. Couldn't figure out why everything was so dark. I had to pour a lot of light
on the subject to get good exposure. The benefit? The background was a lot more
out of focus than I'd ever been able to achieve before with my DVX100. That mistake
taught me a lot about achieving shallow depth of field.
 
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