Lighting

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California/Arizona Time Lapse from Dan Eckert on Vimeo.

Dan Eckert sent me a message about being able to find some cheaper LED's through the Cheesycam website that he was able to use in one of his recent Timelapse videos. Apparently Dan used the popular 126 LED lights and modified them to tripod use. I took a look at the timelapse video Dan Eckert put together, and was just blown away. Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, this timelapse video showcases some of the most amazing footage i've seen. It's not so much about catching moving clouds that we've all seen before, but more about finding appreciation for the hard work and endurance that is involved with capturing this kind of footage day after day, most of which in the desert heat. This is some amazing stuff, you've all got to see. Shot completely with still images, yet the video seems extremely fluid, and no signs of flickering. Lots of camera movement makes this a truly amazing piece. Involved in this video is a custom dolly built for train tracks, panning shots, sliding shots, and techniques with image shutter speed. It's too bad there isn't a BTS video on his road trip, as i'm sure many of us would love to see the journey involved in creating something a piece like this. Great work Dan, looking forward to seeing more! My offer to carry some gear still stands!

A bit of BTS with Dan's DIY train rail dolly. Very cool, looks pretty smooth.

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Was just reading an article from Timothy Allen explaining some TimeLapse tips and techniques. At the end of the article you'll catch this video (above) of a behind the scenes documentary on some insane TimeLapse planning and rigs. Switch to HD for best quality. I love how they built their own Ladder dolly, used a bike wheel and some string as their motion controller. True innovation happening here and definitely masters of their craft. Here's the link to the Article: https://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/2009/02/24/time-lapse-photography/

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photo 1

The studio is still being built out, but I got a request to do a an interview in the place tomorrow. Since it will be 1-2 people in the shot, I thought i'd just pick up a simple, cheap, but effective 3 piece lighting set. Just got these in today at the studio, so I unboxed and set them up. The 3 piece set I received, comes with 3 lights, 2 medium sized softboxes, one has a barn door attachment, all three light stands, three bulbs, and each one dimmable, and large bag to keep them all together. The barn door light will be used overhead and behind the subject(s) for some edge / rim lighting, softbox lighting on each side, and since they are all dimmable i'll try to use one as main fill. Each head I think rated at 800w halogen. I still don't have my gels in the studio and these bulbs are quite warm, but since I have total control over the lighting in the studio, perhaps I can get away with just white balancing.

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To sorta mask the background and keep things looking nice, i'll be shooting with long lenses with a shallow depth of field. These lights should be plenty for my ideal tight shots on each person (multi camera angles). I totally wasn't ready for this project to be done in this space, but it's good practice to see what i'll need for future projects. I'll post some videos of how that lighting comes out next week. Total spent $299 + Free Shipping. Here's the link to the 2400W 3 pc Light SOFTBOX BARNDOOR PHOTO VIDEO LIGHTING KIT

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find-price-button 3pc 800w (each) Dimmable Light Kit w/ softboxes

If the above link is not available, you can find other sellers (below) but not all come with the Softboxes

find-price-button 800w 3pc Dimmable Lighting Kit

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So first thing in the larger bag is my YongNuo Wireless Trigger / Remote set. I talked about them in this article: http://cheesycam.com/never-ending-upgrades-wireless-shutter-flash-remotes/. As you know i've been building up a studio and these versatile triggers can wear many different hats around the equipment i'm using. First off, I can now use my Canon 580 EX II's through the hotshoe these remotes provide, or trigger my studio strobes through a PC sync cord these offer, and if I really needed to, trigger my camera shutter. OK that's a bit overkill to remotely trigger my camera in studio, but I really was just looking to replace some old Pocket Wizards since these will allow me to expand to more triggers at very minimal cost. For times when I don't want to travel with my ST-E2 or Radio Popper PX's, these will work great. I'll do some closeup detailed photos possibly tonight or this weekend and explain why I currently use so many different trigger sets.

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find-price-button Yongnuo RF-602 Wireless Triggers for Studio, Speedlight, and Camera

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Customer image submitted to Amazon.com shows the use of two Adorama 'L' brackets spaced out to create a 'fig rig' style stabilizer. This simple solution would definitely work much like a common fig rig, while still allowing cold shoe attachments on each side for your LED lighting and Shotgun Microphone (as the above image displays).

Doesn't really show how the camera is mounted in between these two brackets, but a short piece of AL flat bar is all that i'm thinking this setup would need. The Aluminum flat bar can also be cut to widen the space between the handles for more stability, but going too wide might throw off the axis of your LED light and shotgun mic. The brackets used in the image above are the Adorama L Brackets, but there's also other notable L flash brackets available from other manufacturers.

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An image of a Z96 LED light on a Glidecam HD4000 + Steadicam Vest + Rode VideoMic + Canon 5D Mark II + Battery Grip + Zoom H4n shows up in the wild. Well it wasn't really that wild. Somehow an image of just a small part of my rig showed up on the BayCitizen.org website, as I was part of the video team covering the Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp event over at UC Berkely. I was the only one roaming with any type of Steadicam, let alone a Steadicam Vest and sure did get lots of attention and questions about the rig. It's smooth to fly, gets good audio from the Rode VideoMic shotgun + Zoom h4n (on the lower sled - not seen), and when cruising indoors I have the ability to switch on some extra LED lighting. It's a versatile setup that works for me, and I use this same setup consistently for many types of event coverage. It's change a little bit, but you can see more of the Steadicam + Glidecam rig I've assembled in this article.

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Canon MR-14EX TTL Macro Ring Flash

So friend of mine recently picked up a T2i only for Photography and no interest in Video. Most of the shots he's been sharing is all related to close up nature / macro type images. There's several things he can probably improve upon such as shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings, but he's learning. Another great item to really boost the color, focus, and sharpness with Macro photography is Flash Lighting. Macro flashes are designed to throw the light evenly around a small subject providing almost shadowless lighting. Of course you have to be pretty serious about Macro photography before you getting into the flashes, as the good ones like the Canon MF-14EX TTL (above) will easily run you over $400 dollars.

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Ray Flash Ring Adapter

If you want to go a bit cheaper with off the shelf gear, there are some options such as the Ray Ring flash adapter that bend the light from your normal Speedlite. This item sits over your existing Flash. The Ray Ring will still run you about $199.95. There's obviously clones to everything these days and you can find Ray Ring Flash clones (probably not the same build quality) called O flashes for around $32.00 dollars (below).

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O Flash Macro Ring Light

If you're on the cheap cheap like me, this all reminded me of that very old DIY Ring-Flash article and got me inspired to try my hand at it. I'm sure he's not ready to dish out quite so much money, so maybe I can whip something up for him to get better photos on the cheap. This thing looks pretty effective.

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click images to jump to the article

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click to find Z96 Dimmable DSLR Video Light

Good news for those who are looking to start making a 2x2 LED light panel (four total lights) with the Z96 Dimmable LED DSLR Video lights. New auctions at the eBay store are showing for this purpose while shaving a few dollars off the complete set. Of course, It makes total sense to sell them in these bundles since one of the biggest marketing features is that they can be stacked together to create a larger softer light source. Where was this before?

After my weekend of use with mine, a 2x2 light panel is something i'm going to build, who knows maybe a 3x3 or even a 4x4 would be nice. I've found ways not only to use them for video but for photography as well. Not only used in a dim lit area, but also in daylight as fill.

Note: By default they have clips molded only on the sides of the LED light which appears they can only be stacked horizontally. Myself as well as another reader here didn't poke through the box enough to find special 'Vertical' clips and losing it. So if you receive these items, don't get too excited and start pulling pieces out without looking for this special Vertical clip to give you a nice portable 4 x 4 completely battery powered LED light panel.

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4 pcs. Z96 Dimmable LED DSLR Video Light

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Do these guys ever quit?!! Sheesh, when I think i'm on top of things, again they come out with something better. This is now the latest LED Video light panel that followed up from my last post 'Latest LED Video Lights'. These new panels have all the fine features of the previous 1000 LED Video Light Panel model, but now add the dimmable option to the large 1000 LED Video Light + The Ability to Color Change the temperature. This is a great feature to have that should allow you to better balance along with ambient light. 1000 LED's + Brightness control + Color temp control FULLY DIMMABLE: 0%-100%, COLOR TEMP: 3500K-6000K is a perfect combination for any video lighting you plan to use on set. Might save you time and money by not requiring color gels, who knows. This is an exciting new advancement in an already well priced tool compared to the other big brands. Now..just need to get a hold of this for an official Cheesycam run through...

Product Description:
These are the newest product 1000 LED Color changing from 3500K - 6000K temp. It uses 1000 ultra bright 3mm LED. The changing color temp 1000LED panel will be suitable for any photography and video production for years to com. These daylight balanced LEDs offer a full spectrum, beautifully soft light. LED lights off significantly further "throw" than a comparable fluorescent light. This is because each of the 1000 LED lights has a 60 degree beam angle lens that directs light forward. This beam angle creates a beam pattern that is useful from 1 - 15 feet. The LED Panel lights are ideal for location work because they are virtually shockproof and offer the brightest light in the smallest form factor. In addition, this new version operates on 110v-240v adapter with a 12v DC output. Brand New

* Input Voltage: 100-260V AC. OUTPUT: 12V * FULLY DIMMABLE: 0%-100%, COLOR TEMP: 3500K-6000K * No flickering & FR interference * Easy to install with removable mounting brackets * Dimmension: 14" x 14" x 4"