Producing video is essential for promoting your business on the Internet. Most people know that, but the loud sound of groans tells me most video novices have a hard time figuring it all out.
Video production can seem like a lot to learn. For me, it’s easy because I did it for several lifetimes. (OK, just thirty years. It FELT like several lifetimes.) If you want, you can read more about that on our ABOUT page.
Somewhere along the way, I figured out how to make video production as easy as possible. I got tired of lugging all that equipment around!
But I still had to make it look as good as possible.
One of the tricks I learned to keep things simple was to TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NATURAL LIGHT.
So let’s talk about how to get away with NOT using lights yet still producing professional-quality video.
As a TV production professional, no matter where I was sent to shoot, (everywhere from the bottom of a cave to the governor’s office) the first thing I did was assess the light available to me. Windows, lamps, wall scones, anything already there.
Being able to shoot without adding artificial lighting saves TONS of time and trouble. Today’s cameras do a remarkable job in low light, however, merely relying on a low lux camera in a dark area will give you grainy, unprofessional video. Quality is improved remarkably if you learn how to take full advantage of available light, and usually there’s plenty.
EXAMPLES OF USING NATURAL LIGHT
The picture below was improved dramatically by simply placing the baby near the window and opening the blinds fully. On the other side of the room with the blinds closed, it was way too dark to take a good picture.
The window is about two feet to the left of the baby, just barely out of the picture.
If you open the heavy curtains and pull up the shades, a dark office can suddenly become plenty bright. Set your subject up near the window but not directly in front of it, just like the baby above. Have the window to the side of your subject and the camera. (Actually, what’s known as a ¾ profile is best for a head-shot. This means the subject is not looking directly into the camera, but looking off to one side just a bit.)
Side lighting using the window as your light source is simple and effective, but it’s also easily screwed up if you don’t position the camera and the subject correctly.
AVOID A SILHOUETTE
Putting someone directly in front of a light source (consider the window your light source), then pointing a camera at them, produces a silhouette. This can be beautiful, like this shot of my daughter swimming.
However, generally you want to avoid a silhouette unless you’re interviewing someone who doesn’t want to be recognized. Since this technique has been used so often on some sleazebag child molesters, many viewers will automatically assume the worst if someone is in silhouette. (You don’t want to know how many psychopath scum wads I met working in TV news. Well, maybe you do. That info is on my blog too. One guy threatened to have both my house and the TV station blown up cuz my documentary kept his sorry ass in jail. He bragged about killing people for fun and thought that made him cool. What a sorry idiot. Anyway… I digress.)
I see poorly shot interviews on the internet all the time. Usually, it’s exactly what I describe, someone standing in front of a window. I guess they realize the window is providing light, but they never stop to think about the direction of the light. I swear, if they would just rotate the subject and camera a little, their video quality would go from a D- to a B+.
Remember, anytime the light source is BEHIND your subject, you get a silhouette. Done well, a silhouette is a good thing. Done poorly, it’s a big fat mistake and makes your video look bad.
Available light comes in all forms. Look around. Move your camera to where the light is.
Are there any decorative lamps handy? Try taking off the shade and moving it closer to your subject. Even a 40 watt incandescent light bulb can greatly improve your shot if it is placed properly.
Place it about 2 feet from your subject and crop it out of the shot.
Turn on every single light source in the room. Observe where the light falls and how best to take advantage of it. Placement is everything!
Now, I would be remiss if I did not mention that different sources and types of light are different colors when seen by a video camera. The light all looks fairly white to your eyes, but the cameras see light differently. You can read more about that here. But honestly, I would not worry too much about it, as today’s cameras handle light and color much better than the cameras of yesteryear.
I hope this article helps you make awesome videos!
Lorraine Grula
