David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
I haven't been a big fan of of those sealed beam construction lights from Home Depot. I used them on a couple of shoots and found that their output is not commensurate with the wattage ratings on them and I do not like the quality of the light at all. All the ones I used projected an unpleasant pattern that I believe is from the reflectors used. I also seemed to me that those construction lights are also a tad bit warmer than 3200 K. I just think that there are way too many powerful open faced lights available on the used market that are much better than those construction lights. The very first lights I ever bought was three Smith-Victor SG-60 open faced lights with stands. I have used them on many shoots over the years and still use them. They are available used very inexpensively. I also have put together a kit of very small powerful open faced lights that are very handy. I discussed them here. Both of these types of open faced lights, and other inexpensive powerful alternatives, I find very much more preferable to those Home Depot construction lights and are just as inexpensive, if not even more so.
As for Home Depot lights, my very favorite ones are the clamp work lights with the standard house hold socket and shiny aluminum reflectors. They have a 300 watt version, a 75 watt version, and a 150 watt version. You can put any bulb made that fits a standard (North American) house hold bulb (Medium or Edison Base) and meets the wattage rating of the fixture. That includes everything from CFL bulbs, house hold bulbs, mushroom spots, party lights and, my favorites, medium base screw in halogens. They also make a 150 watt version of the screw in halogen. I recommend buying them off of eBay as they are much cheaper when purchased direct from China. I first found the value of these lights when shooting a micro budget horror feature in an abandon hospital. My basic approach to lighting down the long hospital hallways included putting lights in strategic rooms pointed into the hallway to build the depth of lighting down its length. I did not have enough powerful movie lights to do the job and made a run to Home Depot and picked up a big handful of the clamp work lights. I used regular household soft whites and reflector floods/spot bulbs to lamp the fixtures and it worked out fine. I did use variations of CTB filtering to add some color, enhancing the feeling of depth. I now keep a big plastic bin of these types of lights and probably have, at least, 20 of them. They are just too useful not to have around. You can help shape them with black wrap and put diffusion on them. If using hot lights you can secure the black wrap or diffusion (or gels) using baling wire (Keep wire cutters and pliers in your kit). With the clamp you can secure them almost anywhere. I also put a spring clamp on the fixtures wire clamp and am not shy about going overboard on gaff tape to secure the clamp lights in precarious positions. I really can not stress enough how handy I think that these Home Depot clamp work lights are. I carry them on almost every shoot I go on. Not only for on screen lighting, but I have used them on more than a few shoots as work lights. I work micro/low budget and it is invariable that on any long form shoot that I am going to have to provide lights for make up/costuming and other on set activities. I am cool with that because I have my big bin of clamp work lights. Some tips on using them; the two biggest problems on these lights is the threads attaching the reflector to the bulb socket and the articulating joint between the socket and the wire clamp. After a little use the reflector will come loose from the socket. I always put a thin strip of gaff tape on the socket threads. This really helps to keep the reflectors tight on the socket. As for the articulating joint, keep some basic tools with you (Screwdrivers and pliers, at least) to deal with that.
Another Home Depot light that I have used is their inexpensive fluorescent shop light. I have used them to light green screen backings, as an overhead light and to balance to available fluorescent lighting (Just put in the same bulbs as lights the ambiance, shoot your color references and color balance in post). It has been awhile since I used these shop lights but I am very eager to grab a couple more and get them up to speed for filmmaking use (Secure a baby pin to them for mounting, working out how to shape them). Again, they are just two inexpensive not to consider for use. For critical color issues I can put in Optima 32 or Optima 56 lights and they should offer great service.
Last edited:
