Lighting set-up

underground

underground

Active member
Is anyone out there with experience of cave video lighting? We're currently trying to get some quality footage of our exploits, but are finding lighting a problem. We even used some excellent lights lent to us (thanks, Shaun), but are finding that unless the subject is very close, the image is poor.

Any ideas would be welcome.

I'd also be interested to hear about your own set-up, especially of the budget/D.I.Y variety.
 
underground

underground

Active member
I just took a brief look- looks like some impressive stuff on there!

I found some useful stuff on the NSS (USA) site, simple halogen spot bulbs glued into a short piece of wastepipe.

Thanks for the tip....
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I have considerable experience of this subject! For our Third Eye Film productions (Cavesafe 1-3, Solo and current project in production) our standard lighting kit consists of: 1 x 100 watt, 1 x 50 watt, 1 x 30 watt, 2 x 20 watt. We have on occasions (in showcaves) used 240v lights up to 2000 watts, or hired a battery powered 250 watt 'sun gun'. We tend to avoid these more powerful lights prefering quality to quantity. Like all cave photography it is all about the balance of back light and fill light. Try not to flood your subject with flat lighting but experiment with strong backlights. Also, do not use static lights, move the light source to provide dynamic effects as yours cavers move across the screen.
 
bubba

bubba

Administrator
Thanks for that advice, mystery poster!

(the forums don't usually allow guest posts, but this one slipped through - this has been changed as we believe registration is a good thing)
 
R

Ralph

New member
I use up to 5 38 degree 50w 12 v dichroic bulbs in a "standard" holder off 12v 5ah batteries. If you want to see the result look at the "Sidetrack" video altho that was shot using 2 dichroics. (All profits to DCRO!!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top