The Simplest, Fastest Interview Lighting Setup—Ever.

For a long time my primary source of employment was shooting corporate marketing communications videos. As these consist primarily of “talking head” interviews, I tried every lighting setup I could think of to make people look their best quickly, as many of these shoots have tight schedules and not much turnaround time between interviews. This setup is the result of years of experimentation.

Unboxing:  FloLight MicroBeam 128

I’m currently doing some social media consulting for a great company you may have seen me cover in the past, FloLight.  To familiarize me with their products, they were good enough to send me their MicroBeam 128, camera top, LED light.  This is a great little light that is the perfect solution for HDSLR “Run & Gun” setups.

Fill Light: The Underdog of Lighting

The day I stop learning about lighting will be the day my EKG goes flatline. There’s an extraordinary amount to learn and absorb, and I doubt I’ll ever learn all of it. That’s okay, because it means I’ll never run out of new things to learn. My most recent fixation is on the one light many think about the least: the fill light.

Blue Nile Shines Thanks to the Canon 5D and Apple Color

One of the best things about this business is that greatness lurks around every corner. If you are resourceful and creative you’ll find it well enough.

Unboxing:  FloLight’s MicroBeam 256

I recently had the opportunity to get my hands on the FloLight MicroBeam 256. This light is a fantastic light for mounting on to your camera’s shoe or where ever you want it. The unit is incredibly light for its size, and it delivers a nice wide wash of white light that will enhance any ENG production or hand held applications.

Gear In 60: Travel Lighting & Grip Kit

I travel a lot for simple sit-down interview shoots, and commonly need to fly with a lightweight lighting and support kit for DSLR or small HD cameras. Here are two videos from our new FreshDV Gear In 60 Seconds series that talk about the two Pelican gear cases I often fly with, and the affordable tools inside. Watch below.

REVIEW:  Litepanels Sola ENG LED Fresnel Light

I’ve gone on record in the past as not being a big fan of camera-top lights.  The last thing an interview subject needs is a glaring “sungun” to impart that “deer-in-the-headlights” look.  Of course, sunguns of the past were crude tools, usually a low-to-medium wattage tungsten lightbulb that – if you were lucky – might be hiding behind a piece of bathroom opal glass.  (If you are one of the six shooters in all the world that ever had an HMI sungun… good for you.)  In almost every setup, the light was mounted directly above the lens, right on axis with the optics – a recipe for flat, unflattering light if ever there was one.  And powering this device almost always required external batteries – anyone that has ever had a battery belt pull your pants down on a shoot, raise your hands now, please.

You’ve read my writing, now hear my talking

Izzy Hyman, of the website Izzy Video, interviewed me yesterday for his “Meet the Shooter” series.

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