commercial/ lighting question...

[Karl Heiner]

have a customer who wants me to shoot her work, an enamel shop, which she has set up in a 2 car garage. all the work benches are along the walls. this garage is very crowded. i do have a 3 light light kit, but there is not enough room to set the lights up the right way.
i have zero expirience with reflectors, but i guess this would be the only way to get proper lighting.

i am guessing i have to use 2-3 reflectors, white ones? silver ones? how do i mount those reflectors?

thanaks for any info.

greetings

karl

[Glenn Chan]

Different reflectors:
-white walls, ceilings.
-big piece of white foamcore or other white surface. You can cut these in four and tape them so they fold up for portability.
Reflectors with matte surfaces don't reflect that much light compared to the ones below. But the light quality is a little softer.

-laminated piece of white/gold poster board.
-(my favorite) crinkled tinfoil (shiny side out/up) taped/glued to cardboard or other surface. This reflects the most light. This may be your best choice because of low cost, low spill / high directionality, high light output.

Companies like Photoflex make reflectors that fold up very compact. They are more expensive and a bit more convenient.
see http://www.photoflex.com/photoflex/index.html

how do i mount those reflectors?

If you have a C-stand with a grip arm and grip head, you can use that to hold medium-sized reflectors. Other kinds of grip equipment can work too.

You can also tape reflectors to the ceiling and bounce light off them (watch out for mixed color temperatures though).

[Karl Heiner]

hello glenn,

the room is about 25x25 ft square, 2 sides have full windows, the walls are white, so the sealing.

i like the idea of foam board, is inexpencive, could be tapped to wall/ sealing.
in the long run, i guess i have to buy some c stand/ reflectors.

all the shoots are also over the shoulder shoots/ step/ ladder, since she sits on a chair, facing the walls

actually i am a stationary theater video guy....simply don't know.

thanks

karl

[Marcus Marchesseault]

Are you going to have a lot of sunlight entering the room? Will you have an assistant?

[Peter Costello]

You could buy a large, cheap mirror and bounce sunlight onto your subject.

[Karl Heiner]

Originally Posted by Marcus Marchesseault

Are you going to have a lot of sunlight entering the room? Will you have an assistant?

hello marcus,

would like to control the light, yes have 2 asst.

greetings

[Karl Heiner]

Originally Posted by Peter Costello

You could buy a large, cheap mirror and bounce sunlight onto your subject.

hello peter,

so you work with large mirros, mh....

greetings

[Peter Costello]

Yes, mirrors are very common on grip trucks.