Is there any tricks to film someone welding?

D

Deer Film

Well-known member
I want to film someone welding.
I am concerned about the bight weld arc light, and sparks that might find there way to my lens.
any suggestion.
Probably best to film far away.
I was always told not to look at someone welding, as it might hurt your eyes.
Thanks, Jeff
 
For starters, wear what the welders wear. They obviously need to see what they are doing, but they need to wear protective gear to do it.

Or use a camera you can remote-control from another room...
 
It depends upon the type of welding. TIG welding is splatter and mostly smoke free. You can get close with no issues. Arc welding is very smokey, noisy, and has molten metal splashing out quite a ways. It will damage your camera if the embers get on it. MIG is somewhat in between the two. Torch welding is quiet and generally does not splash embers.

Welding (not torch) puts out a very broad spectrum of energy waves. It will give you a sunburn if you're not covered. It may affect the performance of your equipment.
It will blind you if you don't wear welder's helmet.

If you set the exposure to see the welder, you will not see anything but a bright light for the welding. If you set the exposure for the welding, everything else will be black.
 
When I did "Man of Steel" I had some welding shots in it TIG and torch.

I took a 120mm lens and went far enough away - problem solved (if you have room for that)
Otherwise, at least mount a clear, pola or UV filter on the lens.

Frank
 
Good advice from Postmaster. Don't be too close. As far as shooting, throw some light on the welder (if inside) so when you stop down, you can still see the welder. Outside should be no problem if you are shooting in full sun. Inside I shoot a lot of tight shots of just the welding and mask. The glow from the welding should be enough tp light up the welders mask. Can be very pretty. If you are looking through the viewfinder, you're just watching TV, you won't hurt your eyes.
 
Thank you, and yes of course I would have a helmet. But one of my questions, is will it hurt the camera lens because it will be pointed at very bright light. For example, it is a bad idea to point your camera and film the sun.
 
If shooting welding hurt video cameras, you would never see any footage of welding. No, back in the dark ages when cameras had tubes shooting welding was riskier because bright lights could burn a saticon or plumbicon tube -- and they were expensive. Chips (CCDs) changes all of that. Now I wouldn't let it stay motionless on welding for an hour, but regular shooting, no problem.
 
I have shot a ton of welding operations of every conceivable type of welding, back when I was working for one of the larger aerospace companies.

First off, smaller more compact "camcorders" are probably the best bet as they won't get in the way as much.

If you MUST be in the booth, ALWAYS wear a welders mask when working anywheres near that operation. ALWAYS work extremely closely with the welderin setting up the shot and what and where will be shot.

DO NOT take any unnecessary risks--like looking at the operation in progress to confirm you are getting the shot "just for a minute".

Remember safety must always come first, the welder's as well as your own. So give the welder enough space, do not hover too close. Be careful to set your shot up before the welder's mask (and YOURS!!!) goes down because it will likely be very hard for you to see well enough to correctly frame a shot.

The very best advice is to set up your shot with the camera on a solid tripod, not too close to the welder. Need two angles? Use two cameras. Don't get in his way. Then when the operation starts, you leave the welding booth until he is done. That way you get your shot plus keep your vision.
 
Last edited:
I shot some welding and metalwork with my DVX-100a a few years ago - (I have since upgraded to the HMC-150 but haven't shot any metalwork with it yet). I found that using a large amount of natural light worked well so that you can expose the subject but still see the welding arc... In a dim room you might have some exposure issues since the arc is so bright and light might be low depending on the work environment. This video is pretty old, but you can check it out here: https://vimeo.com/6635781

When I shot this, I looked only at the LCD - NEVER, EVER at the arc.. In my opinion you should be able to get away without a welding mask if you aren't looking at the arc AT ALL.. but others may be correct in telling you to wear a mask. For that shoot I was roaming at least 8 feet away from the welding at all times and relied on telephoto to get the close ups. Hopefully you can excuse the annoying pull zooms - I was still learning how to shoot at that point.

Good luck with the shoot - welding is always cool to shoot, just be safe!
 
Greymatterfan said:
I shot some welding and metalwork with my DVX-100a a few years ago - (I have since upgraded to the HMC-150 but haven't shot any metalwork with it yet). I found that using a large amount of natural light worked well so that you can expose the subject but still see the welding arc... In a dim room you might have some exposure issues since the arc is so bright and light might be low depending on the work environment. This video is pretty old, but you can check it out here: https://vimeo.com/6635781

When I shot this, I looked only at the LCD - NEVER, EVER at the arc.. In my opinion you should be able to get away without a welding mask if you aren't looking at the arc AT ALL.. but others may be correct in telling you to wear a mask. For that shoot I was roaming at least 8 feet away from the welding at all times and relied on telephoto to get the close ups. Hopefully you can excuse the annoying pull zooms - I was still learning how to shoot at that point.

Good luck with the shoot - welding is always cool to shoot, just be safe!
Click to expand...

From my experience in shooting welding--and I have done it a lot for larger aerospace companies--it looks like while you stayed back for the most part you still exposed yourself to a lot of risk. Just not looking at the arc ain't enough. You may still be hurt as the intense light is still capable of burning even if you don't look at it directly. Just looking in its direction--as in you're looking up into an LCD screen and the welding is happening below the cam--that can burn your eyes, litterally. Watching only the LCD screen without wearing a welders shield can still get you flash, and man you do not want that!

How do I know? Bercause I filmed the welding of a major assembly on the Space Shuttle once, and I filmed it pretty much like that video shows. I used a monopod to get over the welder's shoulder from a slight distance, and "only" looked up into the LCD. I came into work the next day, my face was burned, but somehow I did not get flash. Man was I ever lucky.
Now most responsible shops will not allow anyone at all in the booth with the welder without a welder's face mask, and when it comnes to photo/video stuff the preferred way to do it really is put the cam on a tripod and push the record button, and come back when its over.

Another good rule of thumb is that if you must be in there with the welder, get your shot and get out. Limit your exposure to unnecessary risk. Never go in without a welding mask. Use a tripod at every opportunity. Not just to give you a steadier shot, but more for your safety. Set up the shot and leave the booth.

Remember, at all times, safety first. You can get hurt trying to get that cool shot for your customer. If you do, everyone invoilved will come down on you for not being safe, and they will quickly forget your video as they focus more on questions of liability. Remember your safety is your responsibility.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top