Lighting the Sky!

[Jaden Scholes]

Hey guys!

 

Im shooting a project this summer and wanted to hear what you guys have to say about a particular set up we are looking into.

 

I want to create a glow behind a tree line in the parking lot of a motel. We are shooting on the Alexa mini at 2.8.

 

Right now I have a 12k about 50ft behind the tree line on the ground tilted up. What Im hoping to achieve is a glow in the sky behind the trees. Right now at 50ft the t12 direct flooded gives me a 52ft beam spread and a f8.7. I have heard of people putting big lamps behind building to give a similar effect.

 

Will it give me any exposure in the sky and if not how would you guys suggest getting that glow?

 

Would it make more sense to shoot the 12k in to a 12x12 ultra bounce that is rigged directly behind the tree line bouncing the light away and into the sky?

 

 

Let me know

Cheers

J

[Brian Drysdale]

I assume you're talking about a night shot?

 

If so you need something in the air to catch the light, the sky itself won't do much unless you've got very low clouds.

[Phil Rhodes]

That's going to be hugely dependent on what the atmosphere is like; put a bit of mist in the air and it'll become much easier, and you'll end up with quite variable exposure of the effect depending on the atmospheric conditions. What you're trying to do is to is fire light up in the air and have the air bounce it back into the lens, so I'm not sure I'd go for the bounce approach, as it'll scatter the light into a much wider cone and make it less likely to make it into the lens.

 

If it's an absolute must-have and you can't get more gear on short notice, I'd be prepared to have a lot of light available to do this. If it happens to be dry - and it's summer - it'll be practically invisible. Is it a small enough area that you can reasonably spray some steam or atomised water into the air?