Outdoor Shadows what to do? at DVinfo.net

Scott Aston · September 25th, 2006, 03:11 PM

I have a weekly car show shoot that is done outdoors. The cars drive up one at a time with talent out in front. The way the dealership is set up and the window of time I have to shoot this (has to be in the morning before the dealership opens for business) the sun is always at side angle, thus casting a shadow on the car and the talent. We cannot cut and wait until the sun pops back out if clouds appear so I am thinking a HMI would help with this. Reflectors would do it, however due to occasional cloud cover I am wondering if a HMI wold be more consistant. I need to light just the car and the talent..any suggestions?

Dean Sensui · September 25th, 2006, 04:53 PM

If it were me I'd use an HMI.

We shoot standups for our fishing show outdoors using reflector fill, and everytime the sun goes behind a cloud we're stuck waiting... We don't have an HMI.

An HMI would provide some "pop" to your shot even if the sun were obscured by clouds.

Joshua Provost · September 26th, 2006, 02:30 PM

Scott,

One solution is to completely shade the area. You can get a big silk screen to cover the top of the whole shoot and provide an even soft light that will be more consistent.

Josh

Marcus Marchesseault · September 27th, 2006, 10:24 AM

A trick that can help once a silk of some sort is overhead is to hit the side of the talent's face to give some brightness without blasting too much light in their eyes. A silk can put the talent under a bit of a shadow. A silver or gold reflector off to the side will make bright highlights and give a bit of a sunset/sunrise look. You still need to get enough soft fill on their face so details are clear, but a bit of side light can make it seem brighter without roasting someone's eyeballs. A black netting on a tight frame out of focus behind the talent can bring down the background levels a bit so it doesn't blow out.

Scott Aston · September 27th, 2006, 12:07 PM

All great ideas, unfortunately when we start rolling camera's we don't stop for ANYTHING (except emergencies ie car won't start etc) and we shoot for 60 straight min. The light changes often in that amount of time. Also, a butterfly to cover that much real estate (Entire car and talent) would have to be huge in size, and adjusted while shooting. I wished the time constraints weren't there, so I can could control the light a bit better, but alas they are. So I am buying a 2k or 4k HMI. Thanks for all of the responses!

September 25th, 2006, 03:11 PM	#1
Scott Aston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 75	Outdoor Shadows what to do? I have a weekly car show shoot that is done outdoors. The cars drive up one at a time with talent out in front. The way the dealership is set up and the window of time I have to shoot this (has to be in the morning before the dealership opens for business) the sun is always at side angle, thus casting a shadow on the car and the talent. We cannot cut and wait until the sun pops back out if clouds appear so I am thinking a HMI would help with this. Reflectors would do it, however due to occasional cloud cover I am wondering if a HMI wold be more consistant. I need to light just the car and the talent..any suggestions? __________________ Scott Aston Eyecon Pictures, Inc.

September 25th, 2006, 04:53 PM	#2
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	If it were me I'd use an HMI. We shoot standups for our fishing show outdoors using reflector fill, and everytime the sun goes behind a cloud we're stuck waiting... We don't have an HMI. An HMI would provide some "pop" to your shot even if the sun were obscured by clouds. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

September 26th, 2006, 02:30 PM	#3
Joshua Provost Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 493	Scott, One solution is to completely shade the area. You can get a big silk screen to cover the top of the whole shoot and provide an even soft light that will be more consistent. Josh __________________ Owner/Operator, 727 Records Co-Founder, Matter of Chance Productions Blogger, Try Avoidance

September 27th, 2006, 12:07 PM	#5
Scott Aston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 75	All great ideas, unfortunately when we start rolling camera's we don't stop for ANYTHING (except emergencies ie car won't start etc) and we shoot for 60 straight min. The light changes often in that amount of time. Also, a butterfly to cover that much real estate (Entire car and talent) would have to be huge in size, and adjusted while shooting. I wished the time constraints weren't there, so I can could control the light a bit better, but alas they are. So I am buying a 2k or 4k HMI. Thanks for all of the responses! __________________ Scott Aston Eyecon Pictures, Inc.

September 27th, 2006, 10:24 AM	#4
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	A trick that can help once a silk of some sort is overhead is to hit the side of the talent's face to give some brightness without blasting too much light in their eyes. A silk can put the talent under a bit of a shadow. A silver or gold reflector off to the side will make bright highlights and give a bit of a sunset/sunrise look. You still need to get enough soft fill on their face so details are clear, but a bit of side light can make it seem brighter without roasting someone's eyeballs. A black netting on a tight frame out of focus behind the talent can bring down the background levels a bit so it doesn't blow out.