We Need Advice on Continuous Outdoor Lighting

[f._schall]

We are trying to shoot fashion/model images in downtown Chicago Loop

area at night. Previously we have shot nice daytime images with ambient light.

Now however, we need advice on what continuous lighting systems would match the best natural light. We have appropriate battery powerpacks to keep the lights lit but need to know what the pros find best to simulate soft, natural lighting to compliment the night city lights.

HMI's? Floods? Tungstens? Which film should we be using (120 roll)

with what lights ??? What's the way to go here? ....Thanks......

[m.a._chojnowski]

Frank,

Any lighting will work, as long as it's softened properly. Any good Novatron, Norman, etc. setup will do. Even a couple of Vivitar 283's slaved will work. Just put diffusers in front of them, or bounce them off an umbrella, keeping in mind the power setting and your distance from the model.

You can also use filters, but they'll soften the background as well.

Don't worry total about exposure, just make sure the strobes have the proper exposure, then practice with shutter speed settings to get the right background exposure.

Happy shooting.

MAC ~~~ The Camera Rehab Center

[ellis_vener_photography]

HMI is the way to go, but these are not battery powered, They are daylight balanced. Rent a grip truck and a a generator.

[s_p]

Is there some reason you don't want to use strobe and prefer

continual light sources?<p>

Strobe, for people shooting, I think is the way to go. Perfectly

balanced for EPP, E 100s, Provia; any 120 slide film you care to

use. Also perfect for any color neg film. A Hensel or Norman

400b are very portable, and, with a fast shutter speed, will

easily overpower off color ambient light from streetlights, etc.,

that may throw color balance off.<p>

HMI lights are really expensive to rent or to own ans you will

need a generator to keep them going unless you are shooting right

outside your front door and can run extension cord. I know of no

battery pack for HMIs. HMIs are also HOT, delicate, heavy (each

light requires its own transformer), bulky, expensive; a real

bother. I wpuld only bother with them if you were shooting cine

film or with certain kinds of digital scan backs (although the

scan back WOULD NOT work for models wearing fashions downtown at

night).

For still photography, Tungsten lights are a cheaper alternative.

They are not truly flicker free (like HMI) but constant enough

for still photography. These also require a generator, but you

can rent a smaller, gas powered model. You can even buy tungsten

bulbs with standard light bulb sockets and put them in cheap

reflectors from the hardware store; not the most elegant solution

but cheap. I have used Tota and Omni lights to shoot portraits

with ISO 50 film and full blue gels on my lights. I recall that

I had to ask my subject to keep very still; in order to get f8 or

so I needed a shutter speed of 1/4 or 1/8 a second as I recall.

They are not the brightest light source. You can use them with

Tungsten balanced film with no filtration. If you want to use

them with daylight film,; you will need to either put an 80A

wratten filter on your lens (eats up about 2 stops of your

exposure) or blue gels like the Rosco 3202 full blue (eats up a

lot of your light). I prefer to gel the lights because the 80a

really darkens the viewfinder of my slr. Some people say if you

are using color neg to forget the blue filters and correct at the

lab; I think that is a bad idea.<p>

If you want to shoot outdoors at night and need to be portable, I

think battery powered strobe like the Normans or the Hensel is

the way to go. I have even used a Vivitar 283 with a Quantum

battery pack with good effect. With tungsten or HMIs you will

also probably need lots of permits from the Police, property

owners and public officials; if you use the portable battery

pack, depending upon where you are shooting you can be done

before anyone gets bothered. If these photos are for a client

(and not just for your personal portfolio), you will need

property releases as well.<p>