 |
|
|
UER Store
|
|
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
|
|
|
|
Activity
|
|
774 online
Server Time:
2024-05-07 13:44:03
|
|
|
 Whitecat
 
Location: Belgium
Gender: Male
 |  | Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
< on 6/11/2013 7:38 PM >
|  | | | After a little under 4 years of shooting with a small handycam, I've went and got myself a HV30  . But now, there are some underground locations on my agenda in the near future, and they are pretty damn dark.
I was wondering, can anyone here give me some advice on shooting video where there is zero light except for your own, and time and the amount of gear to bring is pretty limited?
Or any general advice on shooting with minidv cameras?
Thanks!
...still I venture some place scary. |
|
CatAndTie
 
Location: Southeastern PA
Gender: Male
LifeInDecay. com
| |  | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 1 on 6/12/2013 12:06 AM >
| | | | I've used lanterns before to set up some light, or you can get a nice powerful flashlight/ lantern, and maybe a reflector of some sort to diffuse the lighting so it's not so harsh. I personally picked up a pack of these: http://petapixel.c...-cheap-reflectors/
Or if the walls are reflective at all you can bounce lights off of the ceiling, etc. to get a more even look to it.
What are you going to be shooting? Narrative short films? Or just some exploring footage?
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - Andre Gide |
|
ISO640
 
Location: Somewhere in Maryland
Gender: Female
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 2 on 6/12/2013 1:12 AM >
| | | | You could also go with something like this.
Flickr
|
|
Therrin
   
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| |  | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 3 on 6/12/2013 1:21 AM >
| | | | ^^^ One of our buddies has been using one of those to pretty good effect while shooting video underground.
Since we do mineshaft exploration, we exist in a world of zero light other than what we bring with us when exploring.
I am not a photographer myself, but there are many guys in our group who do awesome photography underground.
Everything from external flashes to long-exposure shots using light-painting.
I would ask Dav, DesertRatMatt, or OpenTrackRacer or a dozen of the other folks around here who work in zero-light conditions. Even most of the drainers. There are lots of options available out there.
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
|
AnAppleSnail
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| | | | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 4 on 6/12/2013 2:47 AM >
| | | | I have used high-power light rigs to provide lights for other people's good video cameras, and my and other people's photography. First, get the best low-light lens you can. Bringing your aperture to a lower number halves the light you need or doubles your framerate. This is where most digital cameras suffer, the lens or the sensor isn't up to the task of working with practical portable lights.
It's technically very difficult to get balanced, adequate lighting for video work, especially in long tunnels or otherwise mixed depth framing. Most (affordable) lights of adequate output have too much foreground light or too much light in the center of the beam, leaving washout and stuff. This can be most easily defeated by diffused lighting (requires about 50% more output) or multiple light sources. Multiple light sources work nicely with an F/2 or lower lens, because that's where multiple 600 lumen lights with lantern diffusers are enough to film by.
Practice. Buy good lenses. Buy good lights. Watch out for bullshit like "40 watt equivalent" output, which can be as low as 400 lumens. The color temperature is usually less important than having all your sources very similar in CCT. I like to use neutral-white or cool-white LEDs because this lets me use general-purpose lights for photography. I also use cool-white HID spotlights for higher output.
It's possible to spec out a multi-thousand lumen setup for $150. But it won't have several features you may like, and that's where you get stuck with lower-output 'real camera light' gear that gives better control over the light beam shape.
[last edit 6/12/2013 2:49 AM by AnAppleSnail - edited 1 times]
Achievement Unlocked
|
|
Whitecat
Location: Belgium
Gender: Male
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 5 on 6/12/2013 10:31 AM >
| | | | Posted by CatAndTie
What are you going to be shooting? Narrative short films? Or just some exploring footage?
|
For now, it will just be just some exploring footagen, with a hint of a story to tell.
I'm planning to visit a very, very old water reservoir under the streets, but access is not easy.
But thanks for all of the tips, I'll probably shoot some other footage first in a less difficult location and maybe I'll post it here, to get a review.
[last edit 6/12/2013 12:17 PM by Whitecat - edited 1 times]
...still I venture some place scary. |
|
fiftyone_eggs
 
Location: jerzey
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 6 on 6/12/2013 11:29 AM >
| | | | I've done some underground video. Like CatAndTie said, if there are ceilings and walls to bounce light off of then you can bring a strong light with a diffuser and maybe bounce it off the ceiling or something. If you're in a cave or a mine then I'll suggest at least two strong lights with diffusers. I shot some video in a coal mine and brought 2 400 lumen tripod-mounted lights with me and it still wasn't really enough.
Also, if you're using LCD lights (and you probably are), the colors they produce tend to be quite cool (a little on the blue side). Your warm red and orange tones will get subdued. So you could also add a slight yellow or amber filter to your lights and get more natural looking results.
|
|
Whitecat
Location: Belgium
Gender: Male
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 7 on 6/12/2013 4:37 PM >
| | | | Posted by fiftyone_eggs
... if there are ceilings and walls to bounce light off of then you can bring a strong light with a diffuser and maybe bounce it off the ceiling or something.
|
Looking at the time in wich it was built, the early 1700's, it's probably brick, so bouncing light will sadly be out of the question. Though I can't be sure, really can't find a lot of documentation on it.
Posted by fiftyone_eggs
I shot some video in a coal mine and brought 2 400 lumen tripod-mounted lights with me and it still wasn't really enough.
|
O.O I really hope I can avoid having to bring out such big guns. I guess I'll just have to see what I can fit in my backpack.
Does anyone have some advice on the settings of the camera (gain, ...)
...still I venture some place scary. |
|
fiftyone_eggs
Location: jerzey
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 8 on 6/12/2013 5:19 PM >
| | | | Posted by Whitecat
O.O I really hope I can avoid having to bring out such big guns. I guess I'll just have to see what I can fit in my backpack.
|
looking my post over, it looks a little like I said "2,400 lumens" buy what I meant was two separate 400 lumen lights. They both fit into my backpack and really weren't all that expensive. If I had three that probably would have been perfect. Part of the challenge in a pitch-black wide-open space is illuminating more than what is right in front of you. It helps to set some extra lights in the background as well soo I def recommend more than one light.
|
|
WillieMcV
Location: Underneath Upstate Ny
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 9 on 6/12/2013 6:00 PM >
| | | | For video, this. With a lot of diffusion. You need more light for video than photography, and therefore even more diffusion than normal.
http://www.youtube...atch?v=RalBw6hdySQ
"Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." -George S. Patton
WillieMcV on Flickr: http://www.flickr....otos/65805109@N08/ |
|
Whitecat
Location: Belgium
Gender: Male
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 10 on 6/13/2013 10:27 AM >
| | | | This is gonna be quite the challenge, it seems. Maybe I'm able to get electricity down there, but chances are slim, and the odds of getting caught go up a lot.
Thanks for the advice everybody. I'll try and make something out of it.
...still I venture some place scary. |
|
AnAppleSnail
Location: Charlotte, NC
Gender: Male
ALL the flashlights!
| | | | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 11 on 6/13/2013 11:23 PM >
| | | | I've got a 35W HID spotlight I use with a homemade diffuser. It puts out about 2000 lumens, and burns about four hours on one of those "jump a car" portable battery packs, or half an hour with the onboard thing. A few thousand lumens isn't SO difficult these days, but the batteries are heavy and bulky. Lithium-Ion, NiMH, and NiCd, are all better (And often more expensive) than Lead-Acid.
Check out HIDCountryUSA for some of the flashlights that are possible. Do invest in decent quality cells and charger. You can get a mag-lite-sized light with 2000-lumen output for about $150 there.
Achievement Unlocked
|
|
Whitecat
Location: Belgium
Gender: Male
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 12 on 6/14/2013 7:32 AM >
| | | | Well, so far, I've got a led lenser p7, but I'll be on the lookout for some high power lights. Seems like I can't go without. :p
...still I venture some place scary. |
|
paulpowers
Location: Manchester, UK
| | Re: Advice on shooting underground, no-light?
<Reply # 13 on 6/16/2013 12:10 PM >
| | | | Posted by Whitecat
Well, so far, I've got a led lenser p7, but I'll be on the lookout for some high power lights. Seems like I can't go without. :p
|
I use a Trustfire XM-L 3800 for light painting large tunnels and a P7 for smaller tunnels
I wouldn't knock the P7
Website:- http://www.Paul-Powers.co.nr
Flickr:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_powers
Email:- [email protected] |
|
|
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 171 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 740926032 pages have been generated.
|
|
