Light for outdoor bridal shoots
 

I am so tired of getting my footage downloaded and finding my bride's beautiful faces underexposed during the outdoor shoots that I do along side her photographer.

I cannot take a light stand or anything even close to that. One of our sessions we walked a mile or more and I just cannot imagine carrying a light stand, and I'm not yet ready to pay an assitant for this kind of thing.

Is there a powerful camera-top light available with diffusion available?

I have a lowell id light, but haven't tried it outdoors, thought I suspect it wouldn't be enough at 100 watts.

How many watts would I need for a light to pump of the volume enough for my video shots in the shade so that her face is well exposed?

Jeff,
I used to use my Anton Bauer Ultralight with a 75W bulb and as long as I was within about 7 or 8 feet I would help open up shadows, much like shooting news. But since you may not be that close so your light may not help you. For anything more than 7 or 8 feet you'd probably need about 250watts and up to be any help - there are lights that will do 250 with a small softbox and run off a battery belt but I've never used them and not really sure how long it would last. I also can't remember who makes them. Sorry I can't be more help.

Don, if you have used a 75 watt light in the shade then my than my 100w should be of some help. I'll take it out this afternoon and play with it.

IF the photographer and you could work together, you could take 2 large reflectors since they pack way down and have no weight. Someone has to aim them though. Maybe the photographer could help?

So just make sure one of them is a diffusion screen to keep sun off the faces for the photographer while you do the holding and you both win.


About lights, Im not sure what the Lowell light is, but unless it has a good fresnel lens it will suffer from inverse square law losses which kill performance.

Even the lower wattage Arri fresnal lights are amazing and that's why so many people use them.

You can use the info here to help calculate the wattage you need from lighting:
THE INVERSE-SQUARE LAW

Reflectors are easier.

yeah I agree about the ref;ectors so perhaps your light, a liteweight light stand, 1 clamp and 1 40" or so round reflector OR a person to hold it for you.
Remember though that the light is only good for a few feet in the outdoor enviorment.
I looked and can't find the light I was talking about but I've seen them. It's a 2x2 light though so it wouldn't fit on camera.

Jeff, I have mixed emotions regarding this topic.

I hear you on lighting and a coollight LED on battery power is your best bet. 5600k balanced and 600 watts with banks you can turn off.

But as a photographer, I would not want a bright video light on my bride that is paying me to produce beatiful images.

While it probably will not overexpose the images unless you are going for some shallow DOF, it might cause some strange light areas or distract the bride.

I don't think you have much chance of the Photographer helping you as this time with the bride is where the money is on the line.

How much are you willing to spend?

CWEB.com - Buy Cheap Anton Bauer UltraDAYlite HMI On Camera Light

This thing weighs practically nothing, but packs a big wallop in your eyes and in your wallet.

A 25 watt light for $729! It is defninitely high tech based on the info I found for it but without questions too weak for my needs. I've a feeling it is for news interviews where you are no more than a few feet from the subject.

Tim, thanks for the tip on the coolights. As they are not camera top I can't utilize them, but they certainly would light her up.

Don't be fooled by wattage alone. A 25watt HMI puts out 350 foot candles at 1 meter. Thats roughly 4400 lumens!

You could fit the Coolight in a backpack along with a folded up stand.

Warren, have you used the Anton Bauer on outdoor subjects at 6-8 feet?

I'm going to research the light more...I'm curious about what HMI is.

Tim, nice idea, thanks. But walking around a park, etc the photographer would often be halfway done with his shots before I got the light upacked and then I would have missed at least half of everything, and then it would be time to pack up and move along to the next location. Not practical, I'm afraid. With an assistant it would work, I suppose, but even still too time consuming. Everytime the photographer decided to move them 20 feet to the left or right what a mess that would be.

HMI is a brand name for special Osram metal halide bulbs. Actually its misleading to call that particular 25w bulb an "HMI". Its really just a metal halide bulb but people often call other non-Osram metal halide bulbs an "HMI". Also its doubtful its hot restrike like an Osram HMI bulb which means you can relight it instantly once you turn it off. Many metal halide bulbs will require a cool down period of about 5minutes before you can relight. They didn't say in the specs for the light so its something to check on if its an important point for you.

Metal halide is an efficient technology that can provide daylight or "tungsten" 3200K type colors, less infrared output than tungsten so a cooler light, and a very long life bulb in many cases.

We use regular metal halide and real HMI type bulbs in some of our products as well. Its a great alternative to tungsten.

I think I'll contact AB directly and ask them specifics about the light...Thanks a ton Richard!

Now I'll be forearmed with at least some info before calling them!