Night
- Thread starter JZASMM
- Start date
David Mullen ASC
Active member
Generally a large open space at night, away from any city lights, would require simulating moonlight, usually as backlight. So you're talking about a condor crane with a big light on it.
The other common technique is to set-up a large soft overhead light, either a "moonbox" of some sort (a construction of pipe and diffusion material with some bright lights inside) or a lighting balloon.
If neither of these are affordable, then your options are:
1) find a smaller space that can be lit, like a small gulley/canyon boxed-in with trees and hillside, with a hilltop above to put a light
2) have it be pitch-black with only motivated source lights like headlamps, lanterns, flashlights, etc. and forget the moonlight
3) shoot day for night or dusk for night
The other common technique is to set-up a large soft overhead light, either a "moonbox" of some sort (a construction of pipe and diffusion material with some bright lights inside) or a lighting balloon.
If neither of these are affordable, then your options are:
1) find a smaller space that can be lit, like a small gulley/canyon boxed-in with trees and hillside, with a hilltop above to put a light
2) have it be pitch-black with only motivated source lights like headlamps, lanterns, flashlights, etc. and forget the moonlight
3) shoot day for night or dusk for night
David Mullen ASC
Active member
The helium balloon lights either are tungsten HMI, or sometimes a mix. I usually try to get the mixed ones so I can have a halfway color temp between 5500K and 3200K without trying to wrap the balloon with gel.
I don't know the exact wattages -- usually it's a couple of globes inside that can be switched off, and if tungsten, dimmed as well. Usually 1200w HMI globes I think, or 2K tungsten globes, but I don't know the total wattage, maybe 4x 1200w for some of the HMI ones, which would be 4.8K, 4x 2K would be 8K. Just depends on the company and their balloons.
500T would be typical, fast lenses would be smart, how much light you need depends on how far away the light is going to end up, what stop you want to shoot at, etc. Luckily with moonlight, your key can be a little underexposed.
I don't know the exact wattages -- usually it's a couple of globes inside that can be switched off, and if tungsten, dimmed as well. Usually 1200w HMI globes I think, or 2K tungsten globes, but I don't know the total wattage, maybe 4x 1200w for some of the HMI ones, which would be 4.8K, 4x 2K would be 8K. Just depends on the company and their balloons.
500T would be typical, fast lenses would be smart, how much light you need depends on how far away the light is going to end up, what stop you want to shoot at, etc. Luckily with moonlight, your key can be a little underexposed.
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