SUNLIGHT USAGE

[jijhh]

I am shooting black and white 16mm for a 15 minute short in about a month or two, and am looking for opinions about sunlighting. I plan to shoot it, which primarily takes place out on a bright pool deck in direct sunlight, using only natural light, so my question is: Do I need to use a butterfly to diffuse the light? Will the light be too harsh if I don't? How big of a difference will it make?

[David Mullen ASC]

16mm b&w can look a little soft, so I would tend to prefer working with hard sunlight and filling in the shadows with reflectors rather than softening the light with a silk, unless it would solve continuity problems.

 

But it also depends on if you are shooting 16mm b&w neg or reversal -- reversal is more contrasty so you may want to soften the light more than if you were using neg.

 

Remember that contrast in b&w is part of what makes it attractive, so don't kill too much of it or else the image looks gray and muddy.