goro toshima Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 hi all, this may be related to previous post. i'm shooting doc. on Z1 and will be in a medium sized living room w. fairly low light (in the nighttime). the last time i shot, it looked pretty crappy. so, next time i want to boost general light in room, but not so much that it looks like it's lit. i was thinking about using a rifa 44 (250watts) and just bouncing off ceiling. any tips/ideas? thanks. goro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Francis Kuhn Posted January 20, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted January 20, 2006 i was thinking about using a rifa 44 (250watts) and just bouncing off ceiling. any tips/ideas? thanks. goro The bounce thing can work well, but I?m thinking a 250w lamp might not have much punch. If the ceiling is high enough (or the subject low enough) I?ve had good luck using a small or medium Photoflex Starlight in their White Dome (http://www.photoflex.com) or a Chimera lantern, suspended at the center of the room on either a standard boom stand/arm or a Bogen Autopole. Both have Velcro-mounted side panels that allow you to selectively flag off light. You can put these lamps on a dimmer to fine-tune the output, or just switch to a different wattage lamp (250/500/1000). Any large still photo rental house should have these available for a reasonable rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trevor Swaim Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 why don't you use a tota? they work perfect for raising ambient room light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bryant Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 (edited) why don't you use a tota? they work perfect for raising ambient room light. Exactly, I think you lose the point of having a softbox(soft directional light) if you are bouncing it off the ceiling. Just save some cash and buy a Lowel Tota or Omni and bounce it off the white ceiling. We have Totas and I think they go up to 750 or 1000watts. Read the post about aim high. Just as they say in there I think you should have two lights to give some shape to you subject. Maybe a 250 Omni off to the side with some spun glass as your key, and like a 500 watt tota off the ceiling for your fill. Edited January 21, 2006 by johnhollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Francis Kuhn Posted January 21, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted January 21, 2006 I think you lose the point of having a softbox(soft directional light) if you are bouncing it off the ceiling. Hi John, Actually, I wasn't suggesting bouncing the softbox light off the ceiling, but rather, suspending the softbox from ceiling height. Sorry if it sounded confusing. And I agree the Tota lights could be a good solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Collier Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 with the same camera I got great shots in a small room with two tota lights. I put them about 1-2 feet from the roof. (watch those pesky sprinkler heads.) Then take about 4 feet of 48"wide blackwrap and make skirts and pin them with push pins so the light doesnt spill onto the walls (you want the skirt about 100-180 degrees around the light). The light is soft as can be (I was working comedy, so that was good.) and just by general position you can adequetly adjust ratios if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bryant Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Yeah we have an attachment where you can mount the totas to the metal tracks between ceiling tiles. At a school one time it burn a ceiling tile,almost catching on fire. Those can become hot little buggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goro toshima Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 thanks a lot for all the advice... i appreciate it. goro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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