Natural and Artificial Light

flimflamfilms

flimflamfilms

Well-known member
Good morning.

I shot an interview yesterday in which I used natural light coming through a window for a key light and a 150W halogen lamp for the fill. In the back there was a 75W tungsten highlighting a stone wall. (Is anyone cringing yet?)

I'm happy with the levels, but I'm not sure about the white balance. Is it even possible to balance these three different kinds of light?

Cheers,

John
 
In post, it's kinda tough to even that out.

I'd look into using a larger fixture for fill and gel it to match the sunlight coming in. I did something like this a couple of weeks ago with a 200w Mini Mole as my fill with 1/2 CTB gel (but I had to get the fixture really close!). Reflectors also come in handy in these situations.
 
You can use it for both. Depending on the time of day, you might want to experiment with different strengths of CTB to get a match.
 
Horse,

Here are a few grabs. They're shot in Squeeze and taken from the Capture window in FCP so they're a little long. What do you think?

2537392574_708db73cc4_o.jpg


2537392486_a47a993472_o.jpg


Cheers,

John
 
Blade,

Thanks. A little research shows you are correct although I've read that tungsten-halogen (or just halogen) lamps produce a light that is a little whiter than normal incandescent (or plain tungsten) bulbs.

My father always said: If you start out stupid enough you can learn something new everyday, and so far it's worked well for me.

Cheers,

John
 
I would say that you were using the sun as a kicker more than a key. The shots seem a little underexposed.

These particular shots might be helped by reducing the saturation (or increasing the brightness) of yellow.
I tweaked one of them in after effects with just curves, hue/saturation, and color balance and got this (mind you I don't have a CC monitor here so it's more of a guess than science):

cc.jpg


It was tempting to run noise reduction to help cover up the underexposure. At least this gives you an idea of how far you can push the color.
 
His eyes are like black holes, you gotta get that dot in them. Maybe if you move him camera right, away from the window, then move the camera left, and angle him so he's looking almost out the window?
 
Professor U and YeeHaa,

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I know there is a technical name for the white sparks in the eyes that bring them to life but it escapes me. At any rate, is there a way to get these 'eye sparks' without moving him? Can I put a light behind the camera or something?

ProfU, I'll play around in post with these but I like what you've done. Thanks.

Cheers,

John

ps. 'Catchlights'!
 
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Eyelights can be tough to place for people with glasses. You can get that specular reflection from your key light if it's in the right spot, or you can try a bash/obie light right on/above the camera. That has the added effect of smoothing out skin (not that your subject needed it).

I definitely would have moved the subject relative to the window. With the limited lights, you could have used bounce from the sun to fill his face and used both your lights on the set. Then you could white balance for the subject and have at least something on the background.

This is an example of a three-light interview setup where I used the sun in a similar way, but it's just off the face so you don't lose any detail there. Pardon the fuzzy resolution, I could only find it as a flash video. I gelled the lights 1/2 CTB and white balanced to them.
interview-lighting-with-sunlight.jpg
 
ProfU,

Yes, I can see your point about using the sunlight more effectively since I only had one light. My next interview is Wednesday and I already feel I have learned a great deal to make it that much better. I wish I could get my hands on some CTB gels before then. Many thanks to you and the others.

Cheers,

John

ps. Where in Wisconsin to you live? I was born in Dodgeville.
 
Go grab a medium sized presentation board (foamcor) from an office supply store. You can cover one side with foil or silver or gold paint. That will give you some options for bounce.

FilmTools will sell you a gel sheet for $6.50, so go buy a few and experiment! You probably can't have it by Wednesday, but you'll have it for next time.

Right now I'm in Oshkosh for college. I'll be spending the summer near Waukesha.
 
John,
I recommend 1/2 or 1/4 CTB or CTO. You can always double them up fro greater strengths, but cannot reduce the color strength of a Full CTB or CTO.

In my opinion, the color differences in your previous lighting setup was not a distraction (just the under exposure). It is okay to mix color temperatures as long as it looks like it was meant to be that way. We see 'blue windows' and 'yellow/orange lamps' everyday and it makes sense. In fact, having some blueish lighting in the right places in a frame can psychologically make the white balanced key light look warmer.


J
 
flimflamfilms said:
Professor U and YeeHaa,

I know there is a technical name for the white sparks in the eyes that bring them to life but it escapes me.

CATCHES LIGHTS- OR "EYE LIGHTS"
I would have also added "Up lights" or "down lights"on the stone wall..
Pretty good job though. I agree with the other suggestions as well.
Click to expand...
 
The best bet for this situation, in my opinion, would have solvable with white foam core. Position the interviewee as stated more relative to the daylight key versus a kicker, then use the bounce card to fill in the shadows opposite of the key. Then i would have taken the 75 watter (w/ 1/2 ctb) and positioned that as an eye light offside camera. Then with your 150 watter (w 1/2 ctb again) give the guy a high high backlight to land the shadow under the nose and between the lip. The mixing of tungsten and daylight got you here so, with the gels you would have had a clean color balance between the lights. I hope this tid bit of advice helps ya out! Cheers man.
 
Yes, all of you have helped out a great deal, and I sincerely appreciate it.

I am off to Vancouver this week to shoot five interviews, three craft breweries, several brew pubs and a few craft beer-related events. Because of your willingness to give your time and expertise I feel much more comfortable approaching this pretty hectic schedule.

Cheers,

John
 
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