Guidance for Light Modification at DVinfo.net

Haitham Lawati · September 23rd, 2014, 03:37 AM

Lighting for photography and video is a very broad topic. I have studied general topics about lighting but I am still not very much aware about lighting modification. I am still lacking behind and have no good idea about gel frames, reflectors, light scrims, butterfly, flags, etc.
Are there any online tutorials and complete guidance for lighting modification?

Haitham Lawati · September 24th, 2014, 03:24 PM

Any Reply......

Andrew Smith · September 25th, 2014, 09:11 AM

I don't know about modification, but Vortex Media have a great video on lighting for interviews. Might as well start there.

Andrew

Paul R Johnson · September 25th, 2014, 12:17 PM

I think you just invented a new descriptor - Lighting Modifcation. Never heard what you describe as that!

In general, all that lot appear in the accessories section of the products.

There really isn't much to learn, because they're mainly just tools. Many are just too basic for people to talk about. Like gel frames - they really fall into two main types - those that let you slip the gel in easily and those that don't. The little fiddles are what matters. Some can be better used as a restrictor - allowing you to drop a loose sheet of gel behind them, in the runners, just stopping the loose gel falling out. Other designs, like some PAR64s, let you use a badly cut, i.e far too big, but of gel to be crunched up and folded under the spring clip - to save time. Bad practice really, but it works. Scrims, as you probably know are just ways of dropping the light output without changing colour temp, or using ND gel which bleaches out rapidly. Just lots of bits of wire in between lamp and subject - the more wires, the less light. The only thing to remember is that they get amazingly hot, and burn like mad when brand new, until they've gone black and any oil on them to keep them from going rusty, has gone. There are also half scrims - just had the opening has the mesh - so in something like a redhead or blond, you can dim some of the beam, handy in an interview where the subject is closer to the camera than the other person, or the background. Tons of stuff on butterfly lighting on Google, so I won't bother with that one.

Flags, on short arms can just stop bits of the beam landing where you don't want them - as simple as that.

In most cases, these are problem solvers rather than techniques in their own right, so people don't really do tutorials on them. You just need to consider what they do, and use them when needed.

In fact, the best gizmo for me is black wrap - aluminium foil, but black. You can use it for so many things - flags, heat protection and lots of other uses.

You probably also need to do some research on gobos, top hats, spill rings, and of course the different forms of fixtures - floods, profiles (Ellipsoidals in the US), wash, beam etc etc. Even older techniques still have the occasional use - like Linnebach projectors. Plenty of stuff on the net, even more in books!

September 23rd, 2014, 03:37 AM	#1
Haitham Lawati Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: OMAN Posts: 107	Guidance for Light Modification Lighting for photography and video is a very broad topic. I have studied general topics about lighting but I am still not very much aware about lighting modification. I am still lacking behind and have no good idea about gel frames, reflectors, light scrims, butterfly, flags, etc. Are there any online tutorials and complete guidance for lighting modification?

September 24th, 2014, 03:24 PM	#2
Haitham Lawati Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: OMAN Posts: 107	Re: Guidance for Light Modification Any Reply......

September 25th, 2014, 09:11 AM	#3
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,015	Re: Guidance for Light Modification I don't know about modification, but Vortex Media have a great video on lighting for interviews. Might as well start there. Andrew

September 25th, 2014, 12:17 PM	#4
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,015	Re: Guidance for Light Modification I think you just invented a new descriptor - Lighting Modifcation. Never heard what you describe as that! In general, all that lot appear in the accessories section of the products. There really isn't much to learn, because they're mainly just tools. Many are just too basic for people to talk about. Like gel frames - they really fall into two main types - those that let you slip the gel in easily and those that don't. The little fiddles are what matters. Some can be better used as a restrictor - allowing you to drop a loose sheet of gel behind them, in the runners, just stopping the loose gel falling out. Other designs, like some PAR64s, let you use a badly cut, i.e far too big, but of gel to be crunched up and folded under the spring clip - to save time. Bad practice really, but it works. Scrims, as you probably know are just ways of dropping the light output without changing colour temp, or using ND gel which bleaches out rapidly. Just lots of bits of wire in between lamp and subject - the more wires, the less light. The only thing to remember is that they get amazingly hot, and burn like mad when brand new, until they've gone black and any oil on them to keep them from going rusty, has gone. There are also half scrims - just had the opening has the mesh - so in something like a redhead or blond, you can dim some of the beam, handy in an interview where the subject is closer to the camera than the other person, or the background. Tons of stuff on butterfly lighting on Google, so I won't bother with that one. Flags, on short arms can just stop bits of the beam landing where you don't want them - as simple as that. In most cases, these are problem solvers rather than techniques in their own right, so people don't really do tutorials on them. You just need to consider what they do, and use them when needed. In fact, the best gizmo for me is black wrap - aluminium foil, but black. You can use it for so many things - flags, heat protection and lots of other uses. You probably also need to do some research on gobos, top hats, spill rings, and of course the different forms of fixtures - floods, profiles (Ellipsoidals in the US), wash, beam etc etc. Even older techniques still have the occasional use - like Linnebach projectors. Plenty of stuff on the net, even more in books!