Interior Lights

[pinay]

What kind of lights do you bring when shooting Interiors for resorts/hotel ?
Do you bring mono lights or just small speedlights?
What's on the bag when shooting interiors/architecture?
I hope for suggestions and comments please

[TMARK]

Deleted

[free1000]

You can start with Michael Harris book

'Professional Interior Photography'

http://tinyurl.com/ywohaj

[Foliagegroup]

You can start with Michael Harris book

'Professional Interior Photography'

http://tinyurl.com/ywohaj

You can check the The Foliage Group website, they will surely help you.

[CBarrett]

You can check the The Foliage Group website, they will surely help you.

I carry the same kit to every interiors job.  The one time that I leave something I never use at home, I'm going to need it!

5x Profoto D1 500 Air  (love these!  use them as hot lights too, beautiful light and really fine control)
6x Dedolight 150's  (the ulitmate inky!  150 watts with a spotted intensity as bright as an Arri 300 + on board dimmer)
3x Mole Inkies  (these will flood broader than the Dedos.  I use them when the light has to be real close)
8x Lowel Omnis  (crappy but effective workhorse 600watts, flood and spot, usually throw them through a silk or ceiling bounce)
4x Smith Victor Flood  (you usually see these on top of wedding videographers cameras, I never use them, but 600 watts each in tiny space good backup light)

15 8' Stands
4 13' Stands
2 12x12 Silks
4 3x6 Diffusion Panels

Chris' Inky Review

I recall this shot at LAX took every light I had... also, I like to carry an incline vial... had my assistant set the tilt on the monitors all to the same angle.  Ok, yeah, I'm a little crazy, besides being a gear junky.



-C

[JoeKitchen]

I usually bring the following:

Lowel Tota Lights 750 watts: great for flood lighting but little control over the light, I usually bounce the light or have it shine through a 32 in. umbrella

LTM Peppers (Fresnel lights): these are great, they have very well designed barn doors and you can zoom the light in and out, I bring 420 and 650 watt versions with scrims to help control the light even more.  

Cheap conical metal lights you can get at a hardware store with GE Reveal Light bulbs which are very close to photo bulbs, I also carry daylight balanced cf's which work well with my strobes.  

Profoto strobes, power pack kits, I find that they are more reliable when it comes to color.  With monolights you could get into a situation where two separate lights give different colors making post editing more fun.  

And then an array of umbrellas, color correction gels for tungsten to daylight, tungsten to florescent, daylight to tungsten, and daylight to tungsten minus 2 stops (large sheets of these to gel windows if the shot can not be done with strobes) along with other color gels, diffusion gels, plenty of light stands, large black canvas cloth to block sunlight, white canvas to place on the wall/floor to bounce light.

[Craig Lamson]

I carry the same kit to every interiors job.  The one time that I leave something I never use at home, I'm going to need it!

5x Profoto D1 500 Air  (love these!  use them as hot lights too, beautiful light and really fine control)
6x Dedolight 150's  (the ulitmate inky!  150 watts with a spotted intensity as bright as an Arri 300 + on board dimmer)
3x Mole Inkies  (these will flood broader than the Dedos.  I use them when the light has to be real close)
8x Lowel Omnis  (crappy but effective workhorse 600watts, flood and spot, usually throw them through a silk or ceiling bounce)
4x Smith Victor Flood  (you usually see these on top of wedding videographers cameras, I never use them, but 600 watts each in tiny space good backup light)

15 8' Stands
4 13' Stands
2 12x12 Silks
4 3x6 Diffusion Panels

Chris' Inky Review

I recall this shot at LAX took every light I had... also, I like to carry an incline vial... had my assistant set the tilt on the monitors all to the same angle.  Ok, yeah, I'm a little crazy, besides being a gear junky.



Have you tried redheads instead of the omni's?  I just hated the omnis I had but the redheads are really sweet and the case stays cool.  You can put it right next to fabic when on and not worry.

[JoeKitchen]

Interesting take on the inky's

I've been using peppers for years, and I have 12.  You are correct the get really hot and the spot-flood wormscrew gets crummy with time.  Polishing it helps extend the life.  I've shot a ton of work with these things.

I bought out a studio when I started my business and got a few minispots in the deal.  I ended up using the carcasses for target practice.  Amazing what a 9mm fmj will do to one of those suckers

Have you tried redheads instead of the omni's?  I just hated the omnis I had but the redheads are really sweet and the case stays cool.  You can put it right next to fabic when on and not worry.

I have found that the pepper's wormscrew gets stuck too and have been thinking about applying a little graphite to them.  Think that would help it out?

[CBarrett]

I have found that the pepper's wormscrew gets stuck too and have been thinking about applying a little graphite to them.  Think that would help it out?

Quick Note:  Graphite is known to corrode aluminum (alloy to you Brits).  Molybdenum Disulfide does the trick without affecting expensive metal bits.  I've used it to smoothen the movements on my old Arca F Line.  I still have way more than I'll use in my lifetime if anybody wants some.

[JoeKitchen]

Quick Note:  Graphite is known to corrode aluminum (alloy to you Brits).  Molybdenum Disulfide does the trick without affecting expensive metal bits.  I've used it to smoothen the movements on my old Arca F Line.  I still have way more than I'll use in my lifetime if anybody wants some.

Good thing I said something before using it.  Where do you get that stuff at?

Setting the monitors all to the same angle Chris, nice.  I just did a job where my assistant got to the room first while I was speaking to building engineer and alined all 40/45 chairs; I thanked him but then reminded him that we now have to make sure they are all at the same height and all of the legs are pointed in the same direction.  Yes, we architectural photographers are crazy.

[Craig Lamson]

I have found that the pepper's wormscrew gets stuck too and have been thinking about applying a little graphite to them.  Think that would help it out?

I've not tried lubricantsd on the wormscrews, figuring the heat would render it useless.

[marc gerritsen]

for these I brought none
not to say that using lights is un-nessecary
but you can do a lot without

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

You can start with Michael Harris book

'Professional Interior Photography'

http://tinyurl.com/ywohaj

Did you like the book from personal experience? I was interested in the book but the mixed reviews kept me away.

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

for these I brought none
not to say that using lights is un-nessecary
but you can do a lot without

most of those pictures are nice, but they don't have the "wow" factor.

[Murray Fredericks]

most of those pictures are nice, but they don't have the "wow" factor.

I disagree...

[JoeKitchen]

I've not tried lubricantsd on the wormscrews, figuring the heat would render it useless.

I did some research and that lubercant can work well up to 350 degrees C or 662 degrees F.

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

I disagree...

Do you disagree because you find the scene amazing or the lighting? I look at an interior picture in two ways, the work of the architect or designer, hence the interior, and the work of the photographer, hence lighting and composition.

Those pictures might portray amazing places, but given the discussion is about lighting they don't look amazing in that context.

[carstenw]

Do you disagree because you find the scene amazing or the lighting? I look at an interior picture in two ways, the work of the architect or designer, hence the interior, and the work of the photographer, hence lighting and composition.

Those pictures might portray amazing places, but given the discussion is about lighting they don't look amazing in that context.

Just to put your opinion in  context, could you point us at some similar photos which for you do have the wow factor?

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

Just to put your opinion in  context, could you point us at some similar photos which for you do have the wow factor?

Ashley Morrison's work for example goes beyond beautiful scenes, it demonstartes awesome lighting: http://www.ashleymorrison.com/


By the way what I am stating above really goes beyond stating opinions. From studying many amazing interior pictures I came across a common theme to amazing lighting: direction. Directional light gives definition to a scene, flat light on the other hand kills a scene.  There are exceptions, of course, like the shot CBarrett posted where the general lighting mood is flat but still offers definition by smart placement. Looking at the naturally lit shots in question my first impression was "ok". Later as I looked at them I thought the light was flat and that's why I thought they were ok but not amazing.



I know this is not in response to you CBarret but if you are reading let me ask you, was the original scene lit like the picture? There are beautiful lights coming from the bottom of the bar and computer tables. You placed those there, correct?

[Mr. Rib]

most of those pictures are nice, but they don't have the "wow" factor.

Judging by your statement, one could get the impression that you'd gladly dive into the world of candy/disneyland photography.

I look at an interior picture in two ways, the work of the architect or designer, hence the interior, and the work of the photographer, hence lighting and composition.

I'm sorry but you are mistaken. Architecture IS about lighting and composition.. If someone doesn't realise it then I don't know how can someone shoot architecture and be proficient in it.