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boosting light in room...w rifa?


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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

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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.

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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 by johnhollywood
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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.

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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.

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