Aputure Amaran

Justin Oakley · January 28, 2019

Months ago I was researching AFFORDABLE lights that are portable, for use outdoors. I still have the Amaran saved to my wishlist on B&H but I was wondering if there is any first hand experience here using them to light an exterior scene at night.

The scene I will be working with is pretty remote. Its an open area in the woods and Im going for moonlight. Additional light in the scene will be the headlights of a car.

Would this light be powerful enough? Im not trying to light acres here, but enough.

Gurvir Riar · January 28, 2019

Hey Justin, I have the Aputure Amaran HR672S and I used it on my recent short film. I would recommend it. I would also recommend getting the Manfrotto Lite-Tite Swivel Umbrella Adapter instead of using the included swivel mount, and a good stand. I was using a Matthews C-Stand. I shot in similar conditions, a remote location during the night and was running power off of the included NPF batteries. The scene was of 2 men lit by a campfire and a 3rd man who walks up to them in a silhouette cast by blue moonlight. I used the HR672S to imitate the campfire using 2 CTO gels in front of it and was pretty happy with the results. I also used the light in a separate setup for the singles of the man in a silhouette cast by moonlight. I believe I used 1 or 2 CTB gels for the deep blue moonlight I wanted. I wish I had 2 units so I could of lit the wide shots better (I had to use a different light with less output for moonlight and HR672S for campfire for wide shots). Ill leave a link to my short film below if you want to check it out to see the results. I was going for a very dark/contrasty image for it. Hope I helped.

Justin Oakley · January 28, 2019

Nice. Thats actually what I was hoping to hear.

The example you provided was pretty sweet. A little darker than what Im going for, but I assume you had the area around the man flag and what not. I would like to get as much of the area around and behind my subject as possible...I guess you can say I actually WANT plenty of spill, like moonlight is being cast over the area.

I know that the light wont be powerful enough to light the entire area, as it is probably 10 square acres to the tree line behind him. But I still want it to look like hes standing in an open area at night...if that makes sense.

Do you think one light would cover the area around my subject adequately if I place it about 20 feet away?

Gurvir Riar · January 30, 2019

Sorry for the delayed reply, but yes, I intentionally wanted it darker (although I did this by darkening the area around him in post). I think itd work for your situation. If possible Id try to have a fast lens with you just in case. I have the spot version of the light so depending on if you get the flood version (25 degree vs 75 degree beam) maybe your results will differ? You may still be able to get the effect you want with the spot version too, if you want the light more focused on him. In my short film, for the singles of the guy in blue light, the light was about 10-15 feet away and about 12 feet high. I THINK I was shooting roughly at about F2 (maybe higher), SS 1/50, and ISO 400. I also decreased the exposure more in post too. Im going to GUESS it will work for your needs, it would really just depend on how wide the shots will be and the settings you are shooting at.

Justin Oakley · January 30, 2019

Sorry for the delayed reply, but yes, I intentionally wanted it darker (although I did this by darkening the area around him in post). I think itd work for your situation. If possible Id try to have a fast lens with you just in case. I have the spot version of the light so depending on if you get the flood version (25 degree vs 75 degree beam) maybe your results will differ? You may still be able to get the effect you want with the spot version too, if you want the light more focused on him. In my short film, for the singles of the guy in blue light, the light was about 10-15 feet away and about 12 feet high. I THINK I was shooting roughly at about F2 (maybe higher), SS 1/50, and ISO 400. I also decreased the exposure more in post too. Im going to GUESS it will work for your needs, it would really just depend on how wide the shots will be and the settings you are shooting at.

Right on. Hey man, I appreciate it. Ive been all over google and YouTube and whatnot and I just couldnt find any good feedback on the situation Ive got going on.