Hair light position to stop bald forehead reflections

[Bill Davis]

I started to read this thinking two things. First, that I had totally misunderstood your circumstances. And second that that with a 3" fixture, you had a much better chance of a "cuttable" light than with the typical 12" led array - and I was going to mention that my suggestion only works IF you keep the 12" diffusion out of the mix.

If you're spreading your beam to a 12x12 surface, than barn doors clearly don't work the same way they do or a larger light emitting surface.

The fresnel lens is the ONLY light modifier that can soften a beam over distance without losing significant edge detail, but the moment you use front of light diffusion that's LARGER than the beam origination size, you're somewhat defeating the point of the fresnel lens.

We're trying to help you minimize bald head reflections. That implies VERY tight edge control of the rim light.

I haven't worked with the Sola units. So I don't have an opinion of their effectiveness. And I doubt I'll risk even a $1000 on a pair to test knowing that Arri is working on their LED fresnels in a shop that has literally decades of experience in light design and manufacturing.

If this array works for you - then by all means enjoy.

But next time, please do try to be a little clearer about your kit if you come looking for advice. It's tiresome to take the time to write out what one of us hopes to be an informed opinion only to learn that someone's using an entirely different form of light than one might expect. It leaves one thinking that the time I took to TRY to help was, in the end, kinda wasted.

FWIW.

[Charles Papert]

Bill, unless a post got deleted somehow, you are referring to Steve's only post in this thread and he wasn't the one looking for advice.

As for me, what I didn't get around to saying is that not only do I have a tendency to not use hair lights more often than not, in an interview situation where it is going to cause problems as with a bald person, I'll just use an eye-level or lower rim or skim light that creates a highlight along the side of the head and still gives a little separation to the shoulders. Always a soft source like a diffused Kino or tungsten unit bounced into card.

[Tom Morrow]

Bill, I didn't specify my fixture in my original post, but I have both 12x16" LED panels and a 650w Arri fresnel, so your advice on flagging wasn't wasted; I will consider using the Fresnel on a boom with a flag in the future.

I just watched the movie "Inside Job" which had lots of very well lit interviews, and they seemed to be using very diffused hair/side lights. The reflections on people's faces seemed natural looking, rather than looking like hot spots. In one case they pulled the camera back to expose fabric diffusion panels in large frames to the side of the person. I suppose that's the hollywood style of lighting when you have the resources for big crews.

[Charles Papert]

Doesn't take a "big crew" to use large soft sources--might be a bit much for a one man band but after that, it's the style I generally use even with the skimpiest crew. These days you can get shockcord bounces and diffusion that fold up nice and small with mounts for boom or standard light stands; it's just a matter of having units that can fill them (no point if you are making a small hotspot in the middle).

Two things about achieving a naturalistic look: it's generally not about small units, and it's rarely traditional 3 point lighting. If you are going for the classic TV-style "lit" interview, all well and good--but if you have the opportunity to deviate, do so!

[Bill Davis]

You guys telling me I somehow got CONFUSED as to who was posting what?

(moving into "Claude Rains in Casablanca" mode)

I'm shocked, SHOCKED at the very idea!


; )