Light And Easy
I have been looking for a light and easy video interview lighting setup for a while now.
The elements are there, portable lights, small stands etc, but modifiers have been a problem.
I want it to be a “one trip from the car” kit, which does allow for a light trolley to be used, but not much else.
What do I need?
A soft main light that can light two subjects.
A hair light which can also partially balance the second subject
At least two background light sources, to motivate the light and add interest.
My light options are an Amaran 60d, Smallrig 60b, Weelite RB9 and some little LED’s. I have four more COB lights and several LED panels, but these are my smaller main lights, able to fit in one bag.
Amaran 60d is D for daylight only, NP batt or wall power and Bowens mount.
The Smallrig is B for Bi-colour, has an internal batt with C-type powerbank charge, but not a Bowens mount.
The RB9 is RGB, internal batt and has limited modifier options.
Between them all, I can run for about one hour constantly at full charge without wall power, but that is pushing it, but for each I do have other power options.
Main light is probably going to be the Amaran as I can run it the longest and it has the most grunt as well as the limitation of daylight colour is less of a problem. So, this is the key, literally.
I tried a few ways of making this quite weak little light enough for my needs.
All images EM10 Mk2 and 25mm Olympus lens.
First I went for a book light idea, using the light into a westcott white brolly then out through a diffuser panel. This only needs two stands and has reasonable efficiency.
Lovely open light, but quite dull, flat and cool. The room was dull, the hallway indicating that the overcast day and closed shutters would have produced a flat and mirky image at the ISO 400 1/80th f2 exposure (allowing for a roughly ISO 100 1/25th f2 shoot, so plenty of power in.reserve).
Next I tried a few large soft boxes I have, but the weight of these, especially on the front of the little light using a very light stand was not feasible.
Looking around I found no less than fur 4” reflector soft boxes, the sort you have to put the flash inside of, but they also shift the centre of balance to the stand head, not front of the light and are easy to set up. I found little use for these preferring simple brollies, but for this they may be ideal.
Much brighter and slightly more efficient with some pleasing brilliance, this is also more controllable, the light spill on the wall possibly reduced by feathering the modifier. The shadows are a little harsh and the brilliance maybe too much. It would also need fill.
Next I removed the front diffuser cloth and had my wife hold the large diffuser in front of the mod.
A nice compromise, but two stands needed and again very little control over spill.
Ok, so softer, but one stand and more control.
My last test was an idea I like from the start and is easy as. I clamped a sheet of soft white diffuser cloth over the 4” with it’s diffuser on.
There we go and I can use the large panel now to flag spill or as a fill reflector. Oddly, the exposure was the same as the others. It is warmer and more 3d than the top one, while being close in softness. A small hair light behind (weelite) and I am done. The Smallrig will be used to “paint” the background.
Compared to the book light on the left, there seems to be little real difference overall, just a little more contrast and a mire 3d look.
So, the winner is an Amaran 60d on a cheap Neewer stand (one of their super light fold back leg models that bend when stressed), a Godox 4” bounce-brolly modifier, a $5 sheet of white cloth, two pegs and that is it (grand total about $300au).