What's your advice on using natural light

[PinProject]

Since I'm still new I havent yet invested in buying proper lighting and depend on filming using natural light. What advice would you give with working with natural light, or do you suggest a cheap light I can invest in?

 

[Munchito696]

Since I'm still new I havent yet invested in buying proper lighting and depend on filming using natural light. What advice would you give with working with natural light, or do you suggest a cheap light I can invest in?

Depending on your camera you can change the ISO settings and sharpness. Look up ISO to see what works best with bright light, incandescent light, etc. This will make the raw video look better and it will be easier to edit afterwards.

 

[Jawad Soomro]

I always use Natural light for filming, and it has awesome result on my videos!! Just stand near to window, the light should fall on your face, thats all!! But if u wanna buy lighting equipments, u can use any light present at your household, but make sure the lights should hit your face one from left and one from right, to balance the light

 

[PinProject]

Depending on your camera you can change the ISO settings and sharpness. Look up ISO to see what works best with bright light, incandescent light, etc. This will make the raw video look better and it will be easier to edit afterwards.

Thanks! I need to figure out how to use my camera. I bought a pretty expensive one and i feel like it way too complicated ahh. But thats a good tip, I'm sure there;s a youtube video to show how to figure that out lol

 

[Dakoda]

I'm a filmmaker, so I'm gonna give you some tips that they thought me in college for lighting and keeping it cheap if you have to.

First off, I don't know if you know any of this but I'll put it here for you anyway, there are three kinds of lighting:
Key light - The light that is pointed at the actor/lights his face the most. (Usually the most powerful light source but doesn't have to be)
Fill light - The light that is used to get rid of or dial back shadows on the face (if you have really strong shadows and want to get rid of them, sometimes you don't)
Back light - The light that is pointed at either the back of the actor or the backdrop of the actor (it makes them look more 3 Dimensional on film and less flat.)
^ That's just me being super anal retentive and covering all my bases haha
If you are working on a short film for use in festivals or something like that, something big, then this is a pretty good rule to go off of.
If not, then you don't have to worry about being so super over the top with your lighting, unless you really want.

If this is just for a skit video, something small and fun for Youtube or something of that nature, natural light can and will be your best friend.
But it's really hard to control, because, you know, the sun and everything.
But a good cheap alternative to natural light (or a good thing to do while using natural light) is to use a lamp that you have around the house, like a real lamp, one that sits on a end table or something, with a lamp shade on it. Taking off the lamp shade makes a good over all light, it hits the whole room and can really be a strong light source. This could be used by itself or you could mix it in with natural light and "fake" natural light.
It will look like the light source is the window, or outside, but really you are lighting the actor with the help of the sun.
Desk lamps can work well too, but they aren't as powerful so they are a good fill light, or you can trick people by using it as a back light in the background of a scene. It gives the character depth, but just looks like a regular background item. It will allow you to have a light in frame without it messing up the shot.
Another great option is a China Ball.
It's a big paper ball with a light in it. People hang it up at parties and around the house, it's suppose to be decorative but it's super helpful as a fill light, and you can put it where ever and even hang it from stuff. It gives a nice smooth clean light over a lot of surfaces in the room.

You could even invest in some Gels. They usually come in orange and blue. It's a plastic sheet that you pin to the lights (not super close, they will melt really easily if you are not careful! haha) with some C47s (film lingo for clothes pin, that's a funny story, but not important right now).
Orange will give you a warm tone, for a hot, happy, or afternoon scene. Blue will give you a cold tone, for a cold, sad, or almost night scene.
Strong Blue can even sometimes make it look like it is night time, which can be helpful.

I hope I helped out and didn't babble on too much haha.
If you need anymore info on something, just let me know!

 

[Munchito696]

Thanks! I need to figure out how to use my camera. I bought a pretty expensive one and i feel like it way too complicated ahh. But thats a good tip, I'm sure there;s a youtube video to show how to figure that out lol

I just started messing with it on my GoPro Hero 4 Black. The ISO really helped in my ski video, the white snow would have been way too bright without adjusting it. I need to experiment in doors at night with soft light, so far I haven't figured it out. If you have an expensive camera I'm sure you will be able to adjust it.

 

[PinProject]

I'm a filmmaker, so I'm gonna give you some tips that they thought me in college for lighting and keeping it cheap if you have to.

First off, I don't know if you know any of this but I'll put it here for you anyway, there are three kinds of lighting:
Key light - The light that is pointed at the actor/lights his face the most. (Usually the most powerful light source but doesn't have to be)
Fill light - The light that is used to get rid of or dial back shadows on the face (if you have really strong shadows and want to get rid of them, sometimes you don't)
Back light - The light that is pointed at either the back of the actor or the backdrop of the actor (it makes them look more 3 Dimensional on film and less flat.)
^ That's just me being super anal retentive and covering all my bases haha
If you are working on a short film for use in festivals or something like that, something big, then this is a pretty good rule to go off of.
If not, then you don't have to worry about being so super over the top with your lighting, unless you really want.

If this is just for a skit video, something small and fun for Youtube or something of that nature, natural light can and will be your best friend.
But it's really hard to control, because, you know, the sun and everything.
But a good cheap alternative to natural light (or a good thing to do while using natural light) is to use a lamp that you have around the house, like a real lamp, one that sits on a end table or something, with a lamp shade on it. Taking off the lamp shade makes a good over all light, it hits the whole room and can really be a strong light source. This could be used by itself or you could mix it in with natural light and "fake" natural light.
It will look like the light source is the window, or outside, but really you are lighting the actor with the help of the sun.
Desk lamps can work well too, but they aren't as powerful so they are a good fill light, or you can trick people by using it as a back light in the background of a scene. It gives the character depth, but just looks like a regular background item. It will allow you to have a light in frame without it messing up the shot.
Another great option is a China Ball.
It's a big paper ball with a light in it. People hang it up at parties and around the house, it's suppose to be decorative but it's super helpful as a fill light, and you can put it where ever and even hang it from stuff. It gives a nice smooth clean light over a lot of surfaces in the room.

You could even invest in some Gels. They usually come in orange and blue. It's a plastic sheet that you pin to the lights (not super close, they will melt really easily if you are not careful! haha) with some C47s (film lingo for clothes pin, that's a funny story, but not important right now).
Orange will give you a warm tone, for a hot, happy, or afternoon scene. Blue will give you a cold tone, for a cold, sad, or almost night scene.
Strong Blue can even sometimes make it look like it is night time, which can be helpful.

I hope I helped out and didn't babble on too much haha.
If you need anymore info on something, just let me know!

Wow was not expecting to get that much feedback. This is amazing thank you so much. You're right we can't depend on sunlight especially nowadays in the winter I like the idea of the China ball I have look into that on buying one. What i;ve been doing is placing like a light right above where i stand but I find later in the day when i use that it creates shadow.

You mentioned to use a lamp what about using the lights from the room like from the chandelier or something?

 

[Adam_Fitz]

Natural lighting can be soooo nice
BUT its unpredictable and restricts you to times when the sun is out
Id say your best bet is to come up with something more predictable
some softboxes are really cheap on amazon
Or you can look up some lighting tips on youtube, theres a bunch using regular table lamps and paper lanterns

 

[Dakoda]

Wow was not expecting to get that much feedback. This is amazing thank you so much. You're right we can't depend on sunlight especially nowadays in the winter I like the idea of the China ball I have look into that on buying one. What i;ve been doing is placing like a light right above where i stand but I find later in the day when i use that it creates shadow.

You mentioned to use a lamp what about using the lights from the room like from the chandelier or something?

No problem!
Yeah your room's lights will work too. It's just that, like you said, most lights in a room come from above and go down, which on film can cause some fairly strong shadows.

I took some time to check out your channel to see what kind of lighting you were looking for.
I think the room light will work well (natural lighting too, when you can get it), you could just use a small amount of fill light to brighten up some of those shadows. Which a china ball would work good for. It will make everything a nice, smooth, warm tone, which is what I think you would want for the types of videos that you do.

Also, just in case you don't already know, if you ever have someone in front of a window, and the camera is pointed directly at the window and not off to the side, it will make a super overpowered back light and the actor or person on camera will just be a silhouette on camera.

 

[PinProject]

No problem!
Yeah your room's lights will work too. It's just that, like you said, most lights in a room come from above and go down, which on film can cause some fairly strong shadows.

I took some time to check out your channel to see what kind of lighting you were looking for.
I think the room light will work well (natural lighting too, when you can get it), you could just use a small amount of fill light to brighten up some of those shadows. Which a china ball would work good for. It will make everything a nice, smooth, warm tone, which is what I think you would want for the types of videos that you do.

Also, just in case you don't already know, if you ever have someone in front of a window, and the camera is pointed directly at the window and not off to the side, it will make a super overpowered back light and the actor or person on camera will just be a silhouette on camera.

Should I place the China Ball right above me or more behind me to get the better light effect?