Mark Coger

Hi everyone, I'm looking at buying a portable lighting kit that I can use for corporate/interview work. I've been looking around and it seems like there are so many different options out there to choose from. Basically I'm looking for a lighting kit that's pretty durable and travel friendly. My budget is $3000, but I'm open to spending more for a reliable and high-quality kit that I will last me for a good number of years. Aperture lights seem to be pretty popular these days but I'm not sure about their durability or longevity. Any tips or advice on what to look for in a lighting kit would be greatly appreciated as well. Mark Coger

Also on a side note the guys that do make a living as underwater cinematographers especially the ones from the United States quite a few of them live in Monterey Bay, CA. It seems like that’s a popular spot for divers.

If you really want to get some hands on experience with underwater filming, you should check out Lindblad Expeditions. They are an expedition cruise company. I’ve worked with them as a regular videographer but they also have a position called an undersea specialist. They are responsible for filming the undersea life and then presenting the footage to the guest onboard. Also you will get experience diving in warm and polar waters. One of the divers I worked with a few years back was able to transition into one of the BBC Nature documentary films based on the experience she gained from working with this company. Hope that helps.

@Satsuki, that’s a very efficient head. I didn’t know such a product like that existed out there in the market.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will definitely take a look at the Astras. From what everyone says, it seems like it’s a very favored light among users.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent lighting brand for shooting basic interviews for corporate and documentary work. I’m working with a $3k budget. I was hoping for something pretty durable that will hold up with multiple use and also something compact and versatile for any travel work. Any tips or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for all the tips/advice and especially for the example screen grabs. I think I'll try to keep it simple as David suggested and add some fill w/large bounce source. I originally thought that I would have the two actors sitting side by side by each but realized I might have issues in coverage with the sun shining right into the camera lens since it will be at such low angle in the sky. Or the other option would be to shoot in the middle of the day and let the background go a little over-exposed compared to the actors.

Just had a question about how to control the light for a particular scene. I have scene where two actors are sitting on a picnic table that is covered by a canopy. I plan to shoot this scene in the morning between 7am - 9am where the light is still at a low angle and is side lighting the actors sitting on the picnic table. I did light meter test and came up with the following numbers: Key Side: f-8.0 Fill Side: f-2.0 Background: f-5.6 The test was done on a sunny day with no clouds in the sky. I don't have any lights to use so my only options is to try to manipulate the sun hitting the actors. Would it be better to try and diffuse the light hitting the actors using a butterfly w/silk or use a bounce board to balance out the fill side? If I shoot the scene as is there's a 4 stop difference from the fill and key side. I've attached an aerial photo the scene showing the angle of the light hitting the picnic table under the green canopy. Hopefully when it comes time to film it will be a cloudy day. That would make my life so much easier. But just in case I have to assume it's going to be a sunny day.

Hello everyone just wanted to get some feedback on my wildlife demo reel. After sorting through many hours of footage I'm kind of having a hard time judging it objectively. I would like to know which shots aren't working and also the pacing and length. I have lot of other good shots that didn't make the cut but first I wanted to get some feedback to see which shots could get replaced with something better.

Thank you so much for the tips. In terms of trying to figure out dynamic range in the shadows I was in the mindset of thinking how many f-stops wider the lens could open too. I just bought a light meter and learning how to use it. I see that it can calculate the EV difference which makes a lot more sense now.

I just had a question about trying to figure out the dynamic range of a scene when filming at a wide f-stop. If I'm shooting at a f-2.8 or 4.0 for my base exposure how much latitude would I have in the shadows if I'm using a camera such as the c300 that has about 6 stops of latitude on the shadows. The reason I ask is that there are no more stops that the camera can open to past f-2.0 or whatever the limitation of the lens. Should I be thinking in foot-candles to figure out if there will be details in the shadows?

Does any one know of any good production design forums with a large user base and community support similiar to this site?