Exposing on the Dance Floor at Weddings

[Renton Maclachlan]

That's a nice looking light...

[Chris Harding]

Hi Renton

That's why I bought it!! I used the 6 LED light this evening at a fairly dark reception and the footage is really nice but with the light on full my cam (HMC82) was open iris and I need 10db gain to expose overall to give nice rich colour. However if one of the people on the dance floor come closer than about 5' from me especially with a light/white shirt, the 90% zebras showed it as going over. It makes using a 1/4" chip camera very viable at wedding receptions and even the walls probably at least 30' away showed no video noise at all. The funny thing is, the 8 LED light was $76.00 from HongKong and my 6 LED light also from the same supplier was $86.00 ...Go figure.

They are without a doubt the nicest on camera lights I have used so far and have a nice build too..the multiLED ones always seemed to have a poor mount but these have a really tough mount and the Sony FP90 battery lasts all night (I have three batteries but have yet to change one at even a full wedding.

Chris

[Renton Maclachlan]

I shouldn't even be thinking about it as I'm not doing any filming at the moment...just post production on my project...but I like the look of good tools...irresistable... :-)

[Arthur Gannis]

The solution I found to evenly exposing the dance area is by using a graduated neutral density filter over my custom LED on camera light. The filter made by Cokin allows more light to reach the far background and less light to gradually dim closer to the camera, this way the light is uniform from 5 feet to 30 feet away. The only thing is that you have to be on a step ladder or chair slightly up a bit and aim the camera down slightly at around 20 degrees or so just to include the dancers at the rear end of the floor. You do need a very powerful LED light like 3200lux@3 ft. Less powerful units also work but you may have to gain up a bit.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Arthur!!

That is worth trying...All you need is a guest in a crisp white shirt walk in front of the camera of you get blown out rather well. My LED lights are pretty even from about 3' or 4' as long as there is not too much contrasty stuff around..like a guy in a white shirt.

I must definately try the ND trick!!

Chris

[Arthur Gannis]

The ND must be gradual and leave around 1/2 inch more at top and bottom when cutting it so that you can move it vertically and fine tune it to the scene. I use velcro to fasten it in front of my light and allows me to easily adjust it. I cut it with an acrylic/lexan scoring tool ( Home Depot) and using a ruler as a guide to score
a channel on both sides and then snap it apart. On some lights you can just use it the way it comes without cutting. There are a few sizes to choose from. I use the ND4 in P size ) around 4 X 4 inches but you can also try other densities. They are also very useful in front of the lens as well especially outdoors on a bright cloudless sky. They also come in round shapes. I have also tried the round one on the camera lens but only on certain cameras where the front filter tread does NOT revolve when focusing. You have to experiment, but the results are great. Cokin and Lee make them and are available in most well stocked camera stores.

[Arthur Gannis]

Chris, Check out this Lee filter ND page. Tons of useful info for any type of shooting.
Neutral Density Graduated Filters (ND Grads), and ND Standards in Resin and ProGlass from LEE Filters

[Chris Harding]

Hi Arthur

Thanks..that gives me a good overview!! Nice site!!

The effort is much appreciated!!

Chris