DIY Lighting

Nathan Gifford · September 7th, 2002, 11:31 AM

The best advice on dimming lights, is to arrange them in banks and switch the banks on or off to get the intensity you desire.

Aaron Koolen · September 7th, 2002, 04:46 PM

Nathan, are you saying then to forget dimmers? i.e. Just use some certain wattage and use more lights if you need it brighter?
Also my understanding of wattage and all that is nil, so if I stick a 200w bulb in my 500w worklights will that work, or will I need to do something to the lights to be able to use a 200w bulb in it? (Assuming there is no physical problem putting a 200w bulb in)

Jeff Donald · September 7th, 2002, 04:52 PM

You'll have no problem putting a 200 watt bulb in a 500 watt socket. Just like household bulbs. You can put a 50 watt bulb in a lamp that had a 100 watt bulb in it. The other way to reduce light is to move it further from your subject.

If your lens aperature is at F8 and the lights are 5 feet from the subject and you move the lights to 10 feet, your aperature will be F4. You lose 2 stops of light.

Jeff

Aaron Koolen · September 7th, 2002, 08:26 PM

Thanks for that Jeff (re-reading that I notice how stupid it sounds). Now to source some known colour temperature bulbs for my work lights.

Cheers
Aaron

Adam Wakely · September 8th, 2002, 12:42 AM

I picked up a few 500watt type flood lights. They're made by "The Designers Edge" (L-27 white) (Home Depot). They are your standard outdoor 500 watt type fixture you would mount in your driveway but they are a nice white finish with a "eybrow" style hinged face, pebbled decorative tempered glass. The light projected from it is excellent! Very soft and bright with absolutely no evidence of the filiment of reflective backing. Just perfect flood light! (10,500 lumens @ 500 watts!). The tempered, pebbled glass that comes with it is an excellent diffusion!You could use any type of bulb wattage at whatever CT you want I'm sure. I mounted the 3 I have to some light stands and now I'm set for 3 point lighting! Pretty cool and very inexpensive! I'm going to get some hinges and metal and make barn doors for 2 of them (key & back light), the fill light I'll leave as is. Once I get my Graffic Eye 3 zone remote dimmer switch I will be very happy!

Bryan Beasleigh · September 8th, 2002, 12:22 PM

"Putting a dimmer from Home Depot on a light--any light--and turning it down will alter the color temperature. This is why photographic lights with dimmers are so expensive. They have the capability of lowering the output without effecting the color
temperature."

All dimmers will change the colour temp, they may also cause a (singing) noise.

Colour temp may also be different depending on the manufacturer and the wattage of the bulbs. I've seen references showing the work light halogens to vary from 2800 to 3100 K. The lower temp lamps also seem to have a lot longer life.

Adam Wakely · September 8th, 2002, 12:45 PM

Maybe I'll just use lower wattage bulbs instead of a dimmer.
But even if I dim the lights and then do a white balance should I not be ok? (as long as there is no other light source of course!

Jay Gladwell · September 8th, 2002, 01:02 PM

Adam, I would think that doing a white balance would work fine. My only question would be: What is the intention of using the dimmer? The very few times I've been on shoots where a dimmer was employed was *during* the take to achieve an effect.

You could also use a scrim(s) to lower the intensity. The pro scrims I've seen come in 1/2 and full stop increments. I use the scrims to fine tune my lighting ratio, especially in tight spots where I don't have room to move the light(s) further from the subject.

Just a thought.

Jay Gladwell · September 8th, 2002, 01:24 PM

Sorry for the back-to-back post . . .

I just went to The Home Depot web site and looked for the lights Adam was talking about--couldn't find them (drat). What I did find was the "industrial twin head" worklights. These are similar to those used by the DOT when working on the roads at night.

At 1000W, through a Tough Spun in front of one or two of these and I'd think you could light quite a large area. At $69 you can't beat the price for the volume of light. The end result would similar to PARs but a whooole lot cheaper!

Now all I need is a situation where I need to light half a city block to put this to the test. Come to think of it, this could be used as simulated sunlight coming through a window, too--where ever you needed a large, single-source light. The possibilities are endless!

Adam Wakely · September 8th, 2002, 01:30 PM

I suppose I really don't need a dimmer! Having lower wattage bulbs on hand would be better! From what I've been researching I need my fill light to be less wattage compared with my key & backlights. I've been a wedding videographer for a number of years now but haven't used 3 point lighting as I've mostly used the on-camera light. Now, I must say, it's getting fun!

Jay Gladwell · September 8th, 2002, 01:57 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Adam Wakely : From what I've been researching I need my fill light to be less wattage compared with my key & backlights. . . . Now, I must say, it's getting fun! -->>>

You're correct. When using the classic three point lighting, the fill is just that--a light of less intensity that will "fill" the shadow areas and allow some detail to be seen.

I agree with you, Adam, this is a great deal of fun!

Adam Wakely · September 8th, 2002, 02:17 PM

Here's a link for adding those barn doors to your home made lights!

http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/barn/barndoors.html

Jeff Donald · September 8th, 2002, 02:23 PM

It doesn't work well changing bulbs to control light intensity. The bulbs and fixtures are very hot, they are hard to handle with gloves, and the handling will reduce the life of the bulb. If the heads are chep enough, you may just want to have a head or two with lower wattage bulbs. Then just switch heads if you need more or less light. The downside will be more to carry around.

Jeff

John Locke · September 8th, 2002, 06:26 PM

Dylan...did you find out anything about the different wattages of compact flourescents?

Bryan Beasleigh · September 9th, 2002, 08:32 AM

"At 1000W, through a Tough Spun in front of one or two of these and I'd think you could light quite a large area. At $69 you can't beat the price for the volume of light. The end result would similar to PARs but a whooole lot cheaper!"

A lighting setup using 1000 watt lamps will stretch any circuit. One 1000 watt lamp will pull 8.3 to 9 amperes depending on voltage. There are a few tricks like using a 3 wire 220 setup using two recepticles ( of different phase)but that's a tough one for some to figure out.

September 7th, 2002, 11:31 AM	#31
Nathan Gifford Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tickfaw, LA Posts: 1,217	The best advice on dimming lights, is to arrange them in banks and switch the banks on or off to get the intensity you desire. __________________ Nathan Gifford Southern Cyclist Magazine & Productions For quick answers try our Search! To see me and Rob Lohman click here

September 8th, 2002, 12:42 AM	#35
Adam Wakely Quantum Productions Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada Posts: 161	I picked up a few 500watt type flood lights. They're made by "The Designers Edge" (L-27 white) (Home Depot). They are your standard outdoor 500 watt type fixture you would mount in your driveway but they are a nice white finish with a "eybrow" style hinged face, pebbled decorative tempered glass. The light projected from it is excellent! Very soft and bright with absolutely no evidence of the filiment of reflective backing. Just perfect flood light! (10,500 lumens @ 500 watts!). The tempered, pebbled glass that comes with it is an excellent diffusion!You could use any type of bulb wattage at whatever CT you want I'm sure. I mounted the 3 I have to some light stands and now I'm set for 3 point lighting! Pretty cool and very inexpensive! I'm going to get some hinges and metal and make barn doors for 2 of them (key & back light), the fill light I'll leave as is. Once I get my Graffic Eye 3 zone remote dimmer switch I will be very happy! __________________ Adam Wakely, Quantum Productions

September 8th, 2002, 12:45 PM	#37
Adam Wakely Quantum Productions Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada Posts: 161	Maybe I'll just use lower wattage bulbs instead of a dimmer. But even if I dim the lights and then do a white balance should I not be ok? (as long as there is no other light source of course! __________________ Adam Wakely, Quantum Productions

September 8th, 2002, 01:30 PM	#40
Adam Wakely Quantum Productions Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada Posts: 161	I suppose I really don't need a dimmer! Having lower wattage bulbs on hand would be better! From what I've been researching I need my fill light to be less wattage compared with my key & backlights. I've been a wedding videographer for a number of years now but haven't used 3 point lighting as I've mostly used the on-camera light. Now, I must say, it's getting fun! __________________ Adam Wakely, Quantum Productions

September 8th, 2002, 02:17 PM	#42
Adam Wakely Quantum Productions Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada Posts: 161	Here's a link for adding those barn doors to your home made lights! http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/barn/barndoors.html __________________ Adam Wakely, Quantum Productions

September 7th, 2002, 04:46 PM	#32
Aaron Koolen Trustee Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 1,727	Nathan, are you saying then to forget dimmers? i.e. Just use some certain wattage and use more lights if you need it brighter? Also my understanding of wattage and all that is nil, so if I stick a 200w bulb in my 500w worklights will that work, or will I need to do something to the lights to be able to use a 200w bulb in it? (Assuming there is no physical problem putting a 200w bulb in)

September 7th, 2002, 04:52 PM	#33
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You'll have no problem putting a 200 watt bulb in a 500 watt socket. Just like household bulbs. You can put a 50 watt bulb in a lamp that had a 100 watt bulb in it. The other way to reduce light is to move it further from your subject. If your lens aperature is at F8 and the lights are 5 feet from the subject and you move the lights to 10 feet, your aperature will be F4. You lose 2 stops of light. Jeff

September 7th, 2002, 08:26 PM	#34
Aaron Koolen Trustee Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 1,727	Thanks for that Jeff (re-reading that I notice how stupid it sounds). Now to source some known colour temperature bulbs for my work lights. Cheers Aaron

September 8th, 2002, 12:22 PM	#36
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	"Putting a dimmer from Home Depot on a light--any light--and turning it down will alter the color temperature. This is why photographic lights with dimmers are so expensive. They have the capability of lowering the output without effecting the color temperature." All dimmers will change the colour temp, they may also cause a (singing) noise. Colour temp may also be different depending on the manufacturer and the wattage of the bulbs. I've seen references showing the work light halogens to vary from 2800 to 3100 K. The lower temp lamps also seem to have a lot longer life.

September 8th, 2002, 01:02 PM	#38
Jay Gladwell Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,244	Adam, I would think that doing a white balance would work fine. My only question would be: What is the intention of using the dimmer? The very few times I've been on shoots where a dimmer was employed was during the take to achieve an effect. You could also use a scrim(s) to lower the intensity. The pro scrims I've seen come in 1/2 and full stop increments. I use the scrims to fine tune my lighting ratio, especially in tight spots where I don't have room to move the light(s) further from the subject. Just a thought.

September 8th, 2002, 01:24 PM	#39
Jay Gladwell Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,244	Sorry for the back-to-back post . . . I just went to The Home Depot web site and looked for the lights Adam was talking about--couldn't find them (drat). What I did find was the "industrial twin head" worklights. These are similar to those used by the DOT when working on the roads at night. At 1000W, through a Tough Spun in front of one or two of these and I'd think you could light quite a large area. At $69 you can't beat the price for the volume of light. The end result would similar to PARs but a whooole lot cheaper! Now all I need is a situation where I need to light half a city block to put this to the test. Come to think of it, this could be used as simulated sunlight coming through a window, too--where ever you needed a large, single-source light. The possibilities are endless!

September 8th, 2002, 01:57 PM	#41
Jay Gladwell Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,244	<<<-- Originally posted by Adam Wakely : From what I've been researching I need my fill light to be less wattage compared with my key & backlights. . . . Now, I must say, it's getting fun! -->>> You're correct. When using the classic three point lighting, the fill is just that--a light of less intensity that will "fill" the shadow areas and allow some detail to be seen. I agree with you, Adam, this is a great deal of fun!

September 8th, 2002, 02:23 PM	#43
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	It doesn't work well changing bulbs to control light intensity. The bulbs and fixtures are very hot, they are hard to handle with gloves, and the handling will reduce the life of the bulb. If the heads are chep enough, you may just want to have a head or two with lower wattage bulbs. Then just switch heads if you need more or less light. The downside will be more to carry around. Jeff

September 8th, 2002, 06:26 PM	#44
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Dylan...did you find out anything about the different wattages of compact flourescents? __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

September 9th, 2002, 08:32 AM	#45
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	"At 1000W, through a Tough Spun in front of one or two of these and I'd think you could light quite a large area. At $69 you can't beat the price for the volume of light. The end result would similar to PARs but a whooole lot cheaper!" A lighting setup using 1000 watt lamps will stretch any circuit. One 1000 watt lamp will pull 8.3 to 9 amperes depending on voltage. There are a few tricks like using a 3 wire 220 setup using two recepticles ( of different phase)but that's a tough one for some to figure out.