Here's link to what appears to be a pretty snazzy deal on an umbrella lighting kit -
LINK -Handheld Items
I'm guessing that none of this gear is particularly beefy, but the price is right and it's one of those things that's very useful to have in your bag of tricks.
An umbrella give you a nice soft light source, very flattering to the talent. I suspect this particular kit still gives a bit of a hotspot, since the light source has no reflector directing all of the light into the umbrella. Still, this could be useful for lighting someone in an interview, or for lighting up a green screen.
One popular methods when working with umbrellas is to actually us the light coming through the umbrella, rather than the reflected light. So you aim the pointy part of the umbrella at the talent. You get less light, but it's very soft and even.
The down side of umbrellas is that you have very little control over the light, which tends to spill all over your set and background. This can be a problem, especially in small spaces. That's why most soft lighting for video is done using Chimera's, which provide much more directional control over a soft source than an umbrella. They are also much more expensive, but in my own experience they are a worthwhile investment, making it much easier to achieve a nice lighting effect quickly.
Still, having a couple of umbrellas in your kit is a good thing, and at these prices it's hard to go wrong.
Support PixelCadabra Via Our Amazon Main Page
2 comments:
Yep, great for filling an area with lots of flat light. Really hard to get anything that's not a plain flat light with tho.
I spent a number of years with only a set of 3 tota / umbrellas and now that I have a real set of Fresnels I don't use the totas much anymore.
I do think they're great tho, especialy for filling greenscreens.
Yes, Adam, my experience is very similar. Started out with a Lowell kit, two Omni's, two Totas, two umbrellas. Moved on to fresnels and never looked back. But that Lowell kit still comes along on shoots! You never know when you need that extra light, bounced off a wall or ceiling.
Post a Comment