FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Quick question. I’m trying my best to learn lighting and achieve pleasing talking heads. I have 2 small LED lights I use as a hair light/ambient fill for the background. Key light is neewer SL60W with 120cm parabolic softbox. I find the quality of the light varies greatly based off of the rook I am in. Sadly I don’t have any examples I can share, so I’ll just try to describe. If I am in a medium sized room, or a room without tons of bright walls, the key light looks good. I can put it at around a 45 degree, down-pointed angle and it looks natural. Flattering and soft, yet the face has depth. However if I try it in another room, a room that is smaller and has brighter walls, the quality of the light is much worse. The skin tone tonal range looks more “compressed”. Lack of tonal range and depth; the face looks somewhat flat. Sorry if this sounds vague, I was just wondering if anyone could help with my issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 Extra notes; shooting with a Nikon z6, n-log, graded using CST. I notice this skin tone difference even when grading the exact same way, even when all I do is a simple exposure adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Sounds like you need to use cutters in the smaller/reflective rooms, so as to avoid the bounce. mkabi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 That is what I’m thinking. Anything you recommend? Will I need a lot? Have you experienced this issue? Appreciate the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyalinejim Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Maybe lower or switch off the ambient/fill light as the white/closer walls are acting like reflectors. webrunner5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRenaissanceMan Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 4x4 floppies and 6x6/8x8 solids are useful for negative fill. Anything dark you can put up--a duvetyne, black visqueen, black rip stop nylon, etc--will help block the light bouncing off those bright walls and restore contrast to the setup. webrunner5 and mkabi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webrunner5 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Yeah reflections are death. You lose 3D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 6 hours ago, FHDcrew said: That is what I’m thinking. Anything you recommend? Will I need a lot? Have you experienced this issue? Appreciate the advice! A bunch of C Stands (maybe a couple of Combo Stands) and sandbags. together the frames and material from B&H. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1174974-REG/westcott_1997_js_cine_4x8_floppy.html etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 Thanks guys! Will have to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 There are some areas in my room though where the lighting looks good. You think that’s just random differences in how the light is bouncing? Even some spots that don’t make sense to me; one area I was very close to a wall but the light looked great. The other I’m more in the middle of the room and I got that strange look again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 Well I confirmed it, I desperately need negative fill. I set up a different angle in the small room. But the shadow side of my face is farther away from a wall. Boom. Now my face has texture again. I’m shocked at how sensitive light spill is! Now, any recommendations for super cheap negative fill? But effective enough even in very small spaces? IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRenaissanceMan Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Black rip stop nylon and visqueen are probably the cheapest, but duvetyne will do the best job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 Appreciate the advice everyone! I decided to keep it simple and affordable; I purchased a large 5-in-1 reflector to use. The thought is I only have 1 c stand which is in use by my key light. So my remaining stands are cheap Amazon basics light stands. Which the reflector can mount with. So no need to buy extra stands, just the reflector and a mounting clip. I’m very excited to play around with it and add that negative fill that lots of my shots have been missing! It finally makes sense to me, that is why my shots have lacked depth so often. I have also tried your run of the mill “eggcrate” that Velcros onto a parabolic softbox. Fixed the spill problem but I find it adversely affects the softness of the light! It introduces hot spots to my skin which I can’t stand! So I feel no eggcrate, plus this negative fill will give me the best of both worlds when I don’t have the luxury to shoot in a big space away from walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Great to hear you got it fixed! Every now and then a camera person does one of their "best purchases ever" videos and they talk about the equipment that they use all the time and has delivered year after year on the investment they made into it, and one of the most frequent items in that list is C-stands. They are hugely adaptable and useful in almost every situation imaginable. Also in that list is a good tripod base and fluid head. Sure they're expensive, but they'll easily outlast half-a-dozen camera body upgrades, so considering what we spend on those getting a professional tripod is a no-brainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 Yes, I imagine the 5 in 1 will have that role for me. Gonna serve so many use cases. kye 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzynormal Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/29/2022 at 5:26 AM, FHDcrew said: You think that’s just random differences in how the light is bouncing? Yes. Study how photons do their thing. Even look at renaissance art. Seeing light, which you're starting to do, is the only way to get a handle on it. I just hired a shooter to do a gig and talked to him about everything required on the shoot, including turning off the practical lights and utilizing natural light entering through the windows and controlling the subject's location to maximize the look to his advantage. In one ear and out the other. He left the florescents on. Footage looks like shit. Actually, keeping light "small" is important to me. I like filming and lighting with maximum dimness, or at least having the light go through room in an interesting way. I also like taking the camera sensor and lens f-stops to the edge of their capabilities so the room can be darker. All this allows for more interesting light falloff and controls the ambient if you're running anfd gunning. webrunner5 and kye 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyalinejim Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 20 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said: turning off the practical lights and utilizing natural light entering through the windows and controlling the subject's location I'm a big fan of doing this. Sometimes clients are mildly shocked by the suggestion, as if it will suddenly be too dark to see if I turn off the lights... in daytime. Then I have to start explaining about CRI and green spikes versus full spectrum etc. Their eyes glaze over then and I guess they assume I'm not actually a mad person. But I always find it weird that they think it's a weird thing to do, when it happens from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHDcrew Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 1 hour ago, fuzzynormal said: Seeing light, which you're starting to do, is the only way to get a handle on it. See YouTube tutorials never seem to cover this stuff. I mean yeah some do, but most YouTube tutorials just point an aputure light dome at a 45 degree angle and it magically looks great. They never seem to talk about all of these subtleties that I’m beginning to see a glimpse of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzynormal Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 37 minutes ago, FHDcrew said: They never seem to talk about all of these subtleties that I’m beginning to see a glimpse of. I'm also a big fan of getting subjects as far away from any walls as possible. Depends on what you're doing, but that's a neat subtlety. I've had clients ask me as I move them to the opposite end of the room (so there's a ton of depth behind 'em, while I'm scrunched in a corner with my camera), "What are we doing over here"? "The light is really nice here and you're looking awesome" Yeah... I'm always always always looking for depth. I really don't like it when a videographer makes an already small room look smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyalinejim Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On the topic of placement within a room, where is the best spot for getting nice sound and minimising reverb? Maybe @IronFilm will know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.