Larg soft light sources for night exteriors in windy conditions?

David G. Smith

David G. Smith

Steak Knife Member
I was wondering what techniques folks are using for soft sources of light on night exteriors when it is windy. I am really referring to soft sources that give general coverage rather than small portraiture fixtures.

What I have used before, soft boxes, umbrellas and large bounce/diffusion sources are dang near dangerous when the breeze picks up. Any suggestions?
 
Once the wind was screaming across a dry lake bed so hard there was no way to fly a frame so we tied an ultrabounce to the side of the grip truck, & banged an ARRIMAX into it.

The 3-ton also helped break the wind a bit.

http://vimeo.com/21121674
 
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The Rag Place makes a silver wind bounce, thats almost a chain mesh fabric material that allows wind to pass through it while still being reflective. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a soft white version of this as well.

Besides that, bull pricks, sledge hammers, and handlines. Soft boxes don't work the greatest since you can't really tie them down, same with umbrellas. What sort of large bounce and diffusion materials have you been using? Have you tried tying them down at all or had someone do that for you? The standard way of doing that is just tying a clove hitch onto the corner of the frame and having one line going each way at each top corner. Tie it down using the truckers hitch onto a bull prick or other solid object and you should be good to go. I've flown 12x's straight up in some windier conditions and had no problems at all.

Then again...this is all sort of dangerous. If you don't know what you're doing, probably best to get someone who does.
 
RyanT said:
The Rag Place makes a silver wind bounce, thats almost a chain mesh fabric material that allows wind to pass through it while still being reflective. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a soft white version of this as well.

Besides that, bull pricks, sledge hammers, and handlines. Soft boxes don't work the greatest since you can't really tie them down, same with umbrellas. What sort of large bounce and diffusion materials have you been using? Have you tried tying them down at all or had someone do that for you? The standard way of doing that is just tying a clove hitch onto the corner of the frame and having one line going each way at each top corner. Tie it down using the truckers hitch onto a bull prick or other solid object and you should be good to go. I've flown 12x's straight up in some windier conditions and had no problems at all.

Then again...this is all sort of dangerous. If you don't know what you're doing, probably best to get someone who does.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, I have usually used diffusion/bounce material on standard, or DIY, frames then sandbagged down the frames, which is what I don't want to do in windy conditions.
 
starcentral said:
nothing beats a 3 ton truck, lol
Click to expand...

I was on a shoot on open water where we were flying a moon ball from a barge (stupid ). To make it easier to set up they drove the 3 ton onto the barge. Anyway, the wind picked up and popped the moon ball. Naturally we were racing against sunrise and G&E's walkie channel starts to go nuts. The DP grabs my walkie and says "LEE ( the gaffer's name ). Point it at the truck!"
 
David G. Smith said:
Thanks. Yeah, I have usually used diffusion/bounce material on standard, or DIY, frames then sandbagged down the frames, which is what I don't want to do in windy conditions.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sandbags don't work since a lot of the force is so much higher up. Thats why tying the frames down from the top of the frame is crucial.

You can fly stuff when its windy, it just takes a bit of rope to make it safe.
 
RyanT said:
Yeah, sandbags don't work since a lot of the force is so much higher up. Thats why tying the frames down from the top of the frame is crucial.

You can fly stuff when its windy, it just takes a bit of rope to make it safe.
Click to expand...

Thanks. You are right, in conditions like that, experienced grips would be a godsend.
 
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