How would you light a exhibition of hsorical papers, documents pictures and weapons? at DVinfo.net

Marcus Martell · January 17th, 2010, 04:28 PM

Hola guys,
what are your 2 cents on lighting techniques on an exhibition of World war II?
I mean there will be a lot of items unders frame (like papers, weapons, old items ). I'm using a z1..maybe an ex1(don't know yet). Would you recomend me to bring with me a 500w Ianiro light on a stand?Would you suggest me to bring 2 or more Ianiro light?Any gels?

thx in advance

MM

T.J. Williams · January 17th, 2010, 09:57 PM

Use Fresnel lights either hard or through some diffusion, try to get nice interesting shadows and look out for direct bounce back. Close down the doors or use flags or black wrap with holes in it or cukes to get interesting lighting patterns. Place the lights way off the camera axis, Try having an assistanat pan the lights over the stuff. for fore ground fill float a piece of foam core or a flexifill over the top of the stuff. Put the camera on a slider for constant movement to keep interest up and use the zoom a lot, Z1u is weak for this because the zoom does not creep very well. Think ahead to post when partial dissolves behind text etc. will add interest and compose accordingly.

Marcus Martell · January 18th, 2010, 04:05 AM

WOW. i wish u could come to gimme an help...any good video example on the net?

thx

Daniel Epstein · January 18th, 2010, 09:40 AM

Marcus,
You have to check with the exhibitors as to how much light they actually will let you point at the objects as some do not allow very much exposure to light which your 500 watt lights will easily be over. As for frames and plexiglass it is always a good idea to have a lot of black cloth around to either cut a hole for the lens to shoot through or hang to block unwanted reflections. a Large flag and C Stand are also very useful.

Dan Brockett · January 18th, 2010, 11:06 AM

Daniel's got it, your biggest problem will be reflections. The only effective way to eliminate them is to make a black "tent" between your lens and the edges of the cabinets. If you can eliminate the reflections, the rest will be simple.

Soft light will work well but don't catch your Duvetine on fire. It is fireproof but it will smoke if it touches your light. If I were you, I would be using a Kino or an LED for this project.

Dan

Marcus Martell · January 18th, 2010, 07:03 PM

thank u guys.i ll try my best.any video out there?

Dan Brockett · January 18th, 2010, 09:16 PM

I have shot lots of historical tabletop with weapons, documents and period paraphernalia but none of it was behind glass and none of it is on the web, it is all on DVDs and on Turner Classic Movies.

You can have a lot of fun with historical tabletop as far as lighting. I usually begin with a soft overhead source to bring up the exposure to the level I want then I use small sources like Ikea lights, Arri 150s or Lowel Pro Lights to selectively highlight individual objects. But being locked out through glass will severely limit your options. Too bad they can't set you up in a back room with an archivist to really shoot and light these objects the way that they need to be.

Dan

January 17th, 2010, 04:28 PM	#1
Marcus Martell Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: spain Posts: 1,202	How would you light a exhibition of hsorical papers, documents pictures and weapons? Hola guys, what are your 2 cents on lighting techniques on an exhibition of World war II? I mean there will be a lot of items unders frame (like papers, weapons, old items ). I'm using a z1..maybe an ex1(don't know yet). Would you recomend me to bring with me a 500w Ianiro light on a stand?Would you suggest me to bring 2 or more Ianiro light?Any gels? thx in advance MM

January 17th, 2010, 09:57 PM	#2
T.J. Williams New Boot Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Seattle WA USA Posts: 9	hisstory Use Fresnel lights either hard or through some diffusion, try to get nice interesting shadows and look out for direct bounce back. Close down the doors or use flags or black wrap with holes in it or cukes to get interesting lighting patterns. Place the lights way off the camera axis, Try having an assistanat pan the lights over the stuff. for fore ground fill float a piece of foam core or a flexifill over the top of the stuff. Put the camera on a slider for constant movement to keep interest up and use the zoom a lot, Z1u is weak for this because the zoom does not creep very well. Think ahead to post when partial dissolves behind text etc. will add interest and compose accordingly. __________________ TJ Williams tj@camera-person.com DoP, Dp, Camera Operator, Videographer, TV Crew, Video Crew, Film Crew, Aerial, Camera Crane, Steadicam, RED 1. Seattle WA USA

January 18th, 2010, 04:05 AM	#3
Marcus Martell Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: spain Posts: 1,202	WOW. i wish u could come to gimme an help...any good video example on the net? thx

January 18th, 2010, 09:40 AM	#4
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Marcus, You have to check with the exhibitors as to how much light they actually will let you point at the objects as some do not allow very much exposure to light which your 500 watt lights will easily be over. As for frames and plexiglass it is always a good idea to have a lot of black cloth around to either cut a hole for the lens to shoot through or hang to block unwanted reflections. a Large flag and C Stand are also very useful.

January 18th, 2010, 11:06 AM	#5
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	Daniel's got it, your biggest problem will be reflections. The only effective way to eliminate them is to make a black "tent" between your lens and the edges of the cabinets. If you can eliminate the reflections, the rest will be simple. Soft light will work well but don't catch your Duvetine on fire. It is fireproof but it will smoke if it touches your light. If I were you, I would be using a Kino or an LED for this project. Dan

January 18th, 2010, 07:03 PM	#6
Marcus Martell Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: spain Posts: 1,202	thank u guys.i ll try my best.any video out there?

January 18th, 2010, 09:16 PM	#7
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	I have shot lots of historical tabletop with weapons, documents and period paraphernalia but none of it was behind glass and none of it is on the web, it is all on DVDs and on Turner Classic Movies. You can have a lot of fun with historical tabletop as far as lighting. I usually begin with a soft overhead source to bring up the exposure to the level I want then I use small sources like Ikea lights, Arri 150s or Lowel Pro Lights to selectively highlight individual objects. But being locked out through glass will severely limit your options. Too bad they can't set you up in a back room with an archivist to really shoot and light these objects the way that they need to be. Dan