shooting in a lighting showroom

[Matthew Eastwood]

i will be shooting some footage with my XL1s of onscreen talent displaying product in a lighting showroom in a few weeks. she will be holding and talking about certain household lamps and she will be surrounded by hundreds of different types of lamps with all types of shades. (table lamps, floor lamps, track lighting, outdoor lights...)

i was wondering if anyone had any tips or experience doing this?

of course, i am going this week to make some test shots. however, in the past i have taken many still shots with my fuji digital still camera and that's a lot of work. is it going to be even harder with my XL1s, or relatively the same issues?

how will i avoid blown out lamps in the background if i have the aperture set for my subject in the foreground?

should i plan on putting dimmers on all the lamps in the bkgnd?

also, do i white balance in the showroom, with multiple light sources involved, or WB with only a single light source?

thanks for all your help in advance, i'm new to this and really excited to get started. you guys seem to be the best at what you do.

[Ken Tanaka]

Hello Matthew,
Gee, lucky you! <g>

I have never attempted such a feat but have had to shoot scenes where bright lamps were in the shot.

Your underlying objective is esentially to manage contrast. That is, as you remarked, to keep the peripheral lamps and fixtures from blowing-out (if you want to maintain any detail on them).

So your basic choices here are:

1. dim all of the lamps and fixtures in the frame (perhaps not very practical or even possible), or

2. raise the light level of your primary subject(s) to be closer to, or exceed, that of the lamps.

This latter course may not be as difficult as it might seem if you use a good lighting instrument or two. You might be able to dim the fixture being discussed by under-lamping it or dimming it, further helping your cause.

If the shoot is very important to you I would recommend experimenting beforehand.

But, in essence, you're trying to manage the relative brightness of objects in your frame.

Good luck!

[Matthew Eastwood]

thanks for the tips tanaka!

also, i would like to add that in the past we have put dimmers on banks of bkgnd. lamps (i have edited/produced the video for years, just not been actually shooting it) and also lighted the talent generously.

i am guessing i need to WB in a separate room, without all the "noise" from the multitude of lights. is this wrong thinking?

get me? i am thinking that the zebra stripes will give me an artificial setting that will end up too dark.

if i balance the levels for the subject, the bkgnd will probably blow out. if i balance the levels for the bkgnd, the subject will be too dark.

please help me!

[Rick Bravo]

If you are shooting in a lighting showroom, chances are that the great majority of lights in the showroom will be tungsten. This should not be a problem as long as whatever you are using to key your subject is the same color temp.

Your white balance should be done on location, in the same spot where you are shooting. As long as you use your keylight to carry out the WB, the rest will fall into place.

This scenario, as a whole, should not be too much of a problem. Just bring your subject's level up to match the bg and you'll be fine. Probably easier than having to dim the bg.

The one thing that I do forsee as a possibble stumbling block, is keeping your lens and filters clean of any hard points of light that may cause lens flare and double reflections between filters. This is probably going to be your greatest challenge.

Good luck, RB.