Ya, makes sense Don. I like the idea of the fill really close to lens, doubling as catch light, with key in normal 45 35 degree placement.

Once again, thank you.

Thats another way but what I was really talking about in the last post was 1 light-either a softbox or I also like the Lowel Focus lights with a bit of toughspun.
One light can go a long way depending on what you are looking to accomplish but 2 is better and 3 is generally better than that.
I used to shoot fashion stills for print ads with 1 strobe on a 40 inch umbrella and a reflector panel. I'm not sure I even had a 2nd strobe head. Same concept for softboxes.
I learned how to light using 1 light then once I learned what THAT could do I moved to learning how to use 2 and the n3. I pretty much always preferred 1.

But that's just me ;-)
Don

Gotcha Don. I'll try that.

By the way, what exactly is tough spun?

I'm just gonna mess around with this stuff, and figure it all otu when I get my new camera (a few days). I'm gonna scour the threads of answers I've gotten, and try out everything suggested that sounds good. The main problem is I have little to no lighting gear of my own (I will be borrowing it all) so I dont have access to it for long convenient periods...
Oh well.

Thanks for all your help guys.

Brian

I didn't say the light had to be extremely close to the camera, just close enough so you don't need a fill
In German tv it has become a standard for studio presentations (not interviews) to use a central key light, really low, right above the camera - and two fills on both sides. People just seem to like that look better than what a classic photographer would do (and tv is for the masses...)

For interviews I'd put the key further away from the camera, but if you don't have a fill then you're in for some really dramatic look. To be honest, even when it's supposed to be very dramatic I really don't like interviews where half of the face is just one stop above black. A friend of mine who does a lot of industry films recently told me he always goes for that look because it's en vogue, but well... I like to see all of the face (and I can still get a little detail with a smaller angle between my key and the camera, or would you say this http://www.heiko-saele.de/close.jpg is totally flat? It is almost flat, I know, but not totally)

Heiko,

I understand, and you are quite right. The chiaroscuro style, high-contrast look isnt always desirable.

I do like the subtle modelling on that (pretty) woman's face. Quite nice.

Thanks again. :)

Often just called spun, it is a product from Rosco, one of the leading gel suppliers. #105, Tough Spun, or #106, Light Tough Spun are great diffusion products that usually don't catch fire even on a hot light.

Fairly inexpensive, there's always a couple 8"x8" pieces and a 2x4 foot piece in my kit. The small ones clip to barn doors, the large one hangs from a stand in front of the light. With the large one I can quickly make a soft box-like source with almost any light... but no box.

Everybody has their favorites. I like spun, some like frost, some silk, scroll down this page http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/roscolux.asp to see some alternatives. Be sure to check out the technical info section of their web site, lots of good stuff there, too.

Thank you Seth. Good to know.

One other feature of the spun diffusions is that they are soft - more like a fabric than a gel. This is a great feature in the breeze since they don't make nearly as much noise as diffusion gels. Your sound guy will thank you :-)

Interesting. Hadn't considered flapping diffusion as a problem. Thank you Ralph.

Brian