Chapter 16 Lighting Applications 359
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Small Objects and Areas
Lighting small objects can be difficult
because most professional lights are scaled
to illuminate larger subjects. To overcome
this problem, several techniques are
available.
Tabletop
Tabletop cinematography involves
shooting small objects and/or activities
on a table, counter, or special photo stand
(Figure 16-44). It is a common procedure for
science experiments, product demonstrations,
and how-to training sequences.
In shooting small subjects, camera and
lighting problems generally arise from two causes:
• The short camera-to-subject distances
(and/or telephoto lens settings) create
very shallow depth of field. This fi
makes small objects difficult to keep in fi
sharp focus.
• The hands, arms, and head of the
demonstrator tend to get into the picture.
To help solve these problems, you need
lights that are both very bright (to force smaller
lens openings and thereby increase depth of
fi eld) and very soft (to eliminate or at least fi
minimize shadows in the picture).
Green screen backgrounds that include
floors permit the use of “virtual” sets—complete
digital environments into which subjects can be
composited.
In this studio setup, more than 20 one-foot LED
arrays on overhead pipes are used to light the upper
part of the background. Large arrays, such as the
16-panel floor unit pictured on the right of the studio
setup figure, cover the lower walls and floor. Smaller
units, such as the single and four-panel arrays stored
on the left of the studio setup figure, are moved into
position to light subjects in the foreground.
LED arrays are very useful in compositing
applications where large numbers of lights are
required for uniform coverage because they emit
relatively little heat, they can be balanced by
adjustable, remote controlled dimmers, and they
consume so little power. When this studio uses 50
panels, all of the panels together draw 2,000 watts.
Achieving a comparable light output with halogen lights
would demand over ten times as much power—not
counting the wattage of the air conditioning needed to
counteract their heat.
Permanent Compositing Studios
A permanent compositing setup.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 16-44. A tabletop shot of a vintage sewing
machine.
Photoflex