I get people asking my opinion on cameras, lighting, and techinique all the time. I figure why not post my response for you all to see and maybe it will answer other questions. If you feel that my response could be expanded apon please leave a comment. Hope this helps.
QUESTION:
"Hey there, your work is amazing and definatly the best I've seen here. I had a question for you, you are obviously a good person to ask. I am using this camera: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/minolta_dimage7i.asp
And it seems the photos I am taking are not up to par with what the camera is capable of doing. Now I think a huge problem is that I do not have any lighting, and, if I were to look into getting a cheap setup what should I go about looking for? Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it"
Well before we start talking about what to buy let me just say this. The most common misconception in photography and film is that in order to be good you got to buy the gear. No I won't say that having a sweet camera and high priced lighting package won't make things easier, but I will say that just cause you can afford to buy the toys doesn't mean you can make amazing images. Truth is that style and technique is found during the despreate stage when you don't have what you need. So you change your mindset and stumble onto something new and original. Now with your question on lighting I could point you in the direction of some fancy new gear, and maybe you can buy it...but if you want my advice work on making art with what you have around you. Let me give you some cheap options.
Camera settings.
Digital cameras these days come with some amazingly low film speeds allowing you to shoot with little to no light. It will grain up the shot alot..but who the hell says grain is a bad thing. I creates the thing that alot of amazingly sharp images don't have...atmosphere.
Lighting.
There are all sorts of kits out there that you can buy and spend enough to pay for a half years apartment rent on. Why bother? I bet there are companies in town that will rent the gear to you. Most of the time they give sweet deals to beginners. Look around for a photography course or become friends with someone taking one...they can get you free toys to play with. Yea yea I can hear you..."TELL ME WHAT TO USE!". Well I can't tell you about a magic set that will solve all your problems but I can talk abit about stuff that works and that you might already have at yuor desposal.
Gear:
1. THE SUN
Seems simple right? Let me tell you this glorious free piece of equiptment provides the best quality of light. Companies actually make units that try to replicate its quality for thousands of dollars and it never really lives up to it. Try lighting a pitch black movie set for day time...those fucking lights are huge, and soe is the electric crew who uses them. Anyway so the sun. It's awesome..the trick to good sunlight is control. If you are doing a shoot in a house arrange it near a window. If you can't look around the place for big mirrors and reflect it in. I've seen people direct sunlight around corners with mirrors. The other thing to consider is how harsh the sun is. You may want to diffuse it. Ever been in a room with shear curtains? Next time you are look how soft the light is because of it. It also wraps around people more. Once again the film industry has spend alot of money designing diffent types of diffusion that you can put in frames to control sunlight or light from units. Each one is diffent and has a different effect. Its actually really cool. Now if you sit someone next to a window you will notice that the contrast is really heavy...that may be what you are going for but if it is too much then get a reflective surface to bouch the sunlight back at the subjects darker side. Depending on how shiny that object is will determine how hard your fill is. Keep in mind if the object is colored it will also bounce some of that color back onto them. They make a very handy piece of equiptment that is really cheap called a lightdisk or photoflex. Thats for fancy peeps. I actually go down to the are store and buy sheets of white foamcore and you can coat a the backside of that piece with tinfoil and make a hard reflective surface. The only reason why i suggest getting some sort of bounce material is because you will use that the most. With or without lights. Now to continue these concept of controlling the sun, remeber that a huge struggle is getting enough light to take a photo...but its the same amount of work creating shadows for an image. In the movie buisness they have a person who is in charge of this. The KEY GRIP. On top of rigging duties a really amazing key grip is in charge of creating shadows. Shadows create the illusion of depth. This is what makes good photos. How does one make shadows? Easy put shit infront of the light source. They have all sorts of gear to do this...things like "flags" and "patterns" and "blackwrap"(tinfoil sprayed with heatresistant black paint that you wrap around lights) but guys it could be anything. This is the one technique that alot of photographers don't use. They set up their soft box stroes and blast light onto the subject..This is cool, but ever fashion photographer does it. Life has shodows fellas so can your photos). Try it next time...tak an old pizza box and block out hald the light coming through the window. Create a hard shadow just under the breatline on a woman...play around...this work with darkness will add character to your images. So using sunlight and controling it will help you create amazing work cheap.
Wow I am typing faster than this crappy laptop can think..pardone the spelling errors I hate editing.
Lighting:
So you still need to buy lights huh? Well the skys the limit on that one. The first thing you need to ask yourself do I want flash based lights or "Hot" lights. Hot lights stay on all the time so you can see exactly what you are doing, flashigng units only go one when you trigger them. Flash units require less power ans run much coller than hot lights, and are alot less dangerous. I use hotlights coming from my movie backround. I like being able to walk through the light I set and really see how it effecting things before we snap a shot. The talent hates it though cause it gets hot! With either the most important thing to look for is wattage. How bright does this puppy get. Will is get me an exposure. Think of it in terms of your regular house hold light bulbs. Look at the difference between a 60 watt and a 100 watt. I recently worked on my last job with 10,000 watt lights...those babys will cook a steak on them. If you are looking for a kit you usually want a large watt light as your key. Something with power that can be diffused and bounces to soften. They make all sorts of units..I prefer something that puts out atleast 1000w as my key. Then you can get all sorts of smaller units to pepper a subject or surrounding with. Units from 650w to 100w will work fine for this. With these lights and a tight frame you should have enough poop to shoot in the 800asa and above range. How much will a pro kit containing those lights cost? about $1500 to $2500. Sucks right? Look around on ebay for single units or even talk to an electrician pal of your and have him make you up homemade units that can carry a 1000w light bulb. Be resourceful. Shoot faster film speed. 800asa and above will allow you to light with house hold bulbs. Pick up some used construction lights..they work too. Watch the color temp though(we can get into that later). Anyway...I could keep going but god knows if you guys even want to hear this shit. Let me know if you are interested in tech help...maybe I'll start a group? Give me some feedback. Below are some images for refernece and pardon the spelling once again.
Mike Pecci
Light Disk:
Mole Baby 1000w Light:
1000w Light in soft box(diffusion)
Flag on a C Stand:
Flagkit with patterns and silks for diffusion:
Pizza Box
Lame lighting diagram I found on google. Basic.
QUESTION:
"Hey there, your work is amazing and definatly the best I've seen here. I had a question for you, you are obviously a good person to ask. I am using this camera: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/minolta_dimage7i.asp
And it seems the photos I am taking are not up to par with what the camera is capable of doing. Now I think a huge problem is that I do not have any lighting, and, if I were to look into getting a cheap setup what should I go about looking for? Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it"
Well before we start talking about what to buy let me just say this. The most common misconception in photography and film is that in order to be good you got to buy the gear. No I won't say that having a sweet camera and high priced lighting package won't make things easier, but I will say that just cause you can afford to buy the toys doesn't mean you can make amazing images. Truth is that style and technique is found during the despreate stage when you don't have what you need. So you change your mindset and stumble onto something new and original. Now with your question on lighting I could point you in the direction of some fancy new gear, and maybe you can buy it...but if you want my advice work on making art with what you have around you. Let me give you some cheap options.
Camera settings.
Digital cameras these days come with some amazingly low film speeds allowing you to shoot with little to no light. It will grain up the shot alot..but who the hell says grain is a bad thing. I creates the thing that alot of amazingly sharp images don't have...atmosphere.
Lighting.
There are all sorts of kits out there that you can buy and spend enough to pay for a half years apartment rent on. Why bother? I bet there are companies in town that will rent the gear to you. Most of the time they give sweet deals to beginners. Look around for a photography course or become friends with someone taking one...they can get you free toys to play with. Yea yea I can hear you..."TELL ME WHAT TO USE!". Well I can't tell you about a magic set that will solve all your problems but I can talk abit about stuff that works and that you might already have at yuor desposal.
Gear:
1. THE SUN
Seems simple right? Let me tell you this glorious free piece of equiptment provides the best quality of light. Companies actually make units that try to replicate its quality for thousands of dollars and it never really lives up to it. Try lighting a pitch black movie set for day time...those fucking lights are huge, and soe is the electric crew who uses them. Anyway so the sun. It's awesome..the trick to good sunlight is control. If you are doing a shoot in a house arrange it near a window. If you can't look around the place for big mirrors and reflect it in. I've seen people direct sunlight around corners with mirrors. The other thing to consider is how harsh the sun is. You may want to diffuse it. Ever been in a room with shear curtains? Next time you are look how soft the light is because of it. It also wraps around people more. Once again the film industry has spend alot of money designing diffent types of diffusion that you can put in frames to control sunlight or light from units. Each one is diffent and has a different effect. Its actually really cool. Now if you sit someone next to a window you will notice that the contrast is really heavy...that may be what you are going for but if it is too much then get a reflective surface to bouch the sunlight back at the subjects darker side. Depending on how shiny that object is will determine how hard your fill is. Keep in mind if the object is colored it will also bounce some of that color back onto them. They make a very handy piece of equiptment that is really cheap called a lightdisk or photoflex. Thats for fancy peeps. I actually go down to the are store and buy sheets of white foamcore and you can coat a the backside of that piece with tinfoil and make a hard reflective surface. The only reason why i suggest getting some sort of bounce material is because you will use that the most. With or without lights. Now to continue these concept of controlling the sun, remeber that a huge struggle is getting enough light to take a photo...but its the same amount of work creating shadows for an image. In the movie buisness they have a person who is in charge of this. The KEY GRIP. On top of rigging duties a really amazing key grip is in charge of creating shadows. Shadows create the illusion of depth. This is what makes good photos. How does one make shadows? Easy put shit infront of the light source. They have all sorts of gear to do this...things like "flags" and "patterns" and "blackwrap"(tinfoil sprayed with heatresistant black paint that you wrap around lights) but guys it could be anything. This is the one technique that alot of photographers don't use. They set up their soft box stroes and blast light onto the subject..This is cool, but ever fashion photographer does it. Life has shodows fellas so can your photos). Try it next time...tak an old pizza box and block out hald the light coming through the window. Create a hard shadow just under the breatline on a woman...play around...this work with darkness will add character to your images. So using sunlight and controling it will help you create amazing work cheap.
Wow I am typing faster than this crappy laptop can think..pardone the spelling errors I hate editing.
Lighting:
So you still need to buy lights huh? Well the skys the limit on that one. The first thing you need to ask yourself do I want flash based lights or "Hot" lights. Hot lights stay on all the time so you can see exactly what you are doing, flashigng units only go one when you trigger them. Flash units require less power ans run much coller than hot lights, and are alot less dangerous. I use hotlights coming from my movie backround. I like being able to walk through the light I set and really see how it effecting things before we snap a shot. The talent hates it though cause it gets hot! With either the most important thing to look for is wattage. How bright does this puppy get. Will is get me an exposure. Think of it in terms of your regular house hold light bulbs. Look at the difference between a 60 watt and a 100 watt. I recently worked on my last job with 10,000 watt lights...those babys will cook a steak on them. If you are looking for a kit you usually want a large watt light as your key. Something with power that can be diffused and bounces to soften. They make all sorts of units..I prefer something that puts out atleast 1000w as my key. Then you can get all sorts of smaller units to pepper a subject or surrounding with. Units from 650w to 100w will work fine for this. With these lights and a tight frame you should have enough poop to shoot in the 800asa and above range. How much will a pro kit containing those lights cost? about $1500 to $2500. Sucks right? Look around on ebay for single units or even talk to an electrician pal of your and have him make you up homemade units that can carry a 1000w light bulb. Be resourceful. Shoot faster film speed. 800asa and above will allow you to light with house hold bulbs. Pick up some used construction lights..they work too. Watch the color temp though(we can get into that later). Anyway...I could keep going but god knows if you guys even want to hear this shit. Let me know if you are interested in tech help...maybe I'll start a group? Give me some feedback. Below are some images for refernece and pardon the spelling once again.
Mike Pecci
Light Disk:
Mole Baby 1000w Light:
1000w Light in soft box(diffusion)
Flag on a C Stand:
Flagkit with patterns and silks for diffusion:
Pizza Box
Lame lighting diagram I found on google. Basic.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
Nothing to do with your post, but I got to be in a movie this weekend. I was thinking about you and your lady while on set and thinking to myself how much cooler it would be to be on one of your shoots. I don't know how this thing is gonna turn out and I've never seen any of this guys work so I don't know how well his editing is gonna be, but it was low budget as heck and I am by no means an actor (my first time with anything like this) but it was pretty fun. I could see myself getting into it.
They're supposed to play it at the Sundance film festival. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Can't wait to see yours.
Peace