Here’s a cheap and easy way to fake sunlight indoors

The sunlight on an overcast day is a soft light ideal for photos and videos. And in this video tutorial, George and Kevin of Filmora will teach you how to emulate the look of sunlight when shooting indoors. It takes very little time, it’s a pretty affordable setup, and you can use it for both video and stills.

First of all, you’ll need a strong light source. Kevin recommends that you use LED lights because they don’t heat up. He and George use professional lighting, but you don’t need super-fancy lights if you’re on a tight budget. You can go with something like construction lights that cost $30-40, but be careful not to put them too close to the diffusion material. Also, it’s recommended that you use more than one light, to create a larger light source. Just make sure that they’re all the same color temperature.

Then, you’ll need a large white diffusor. It can be a simple bed sheet, a shower curtain or any white fabric. Make sure it’s wide enough to spread evenly across the room and cover all the lights if you use more of them.

Lastly, you need a frame on which you’ll put the diffusion. You can build it out of aluminum or PVC pipes, or use a clothes rack (even though it might be too small). Or you can make a DIY scrim jim like this.

And now, all you need to do is set everything up. Turn the lights on and add the diffusion in front of them. Adding multiple layers of diffusion will make the light softer. Set the color temperature in your camera to 3400K or 3600K to match the temperature of your lights, and there you have it. This should give you believable results that the sunlight is coming through a window even if you shoot in a room without windows, or in the dark.

[Video Lighting — How to Fake Sunlight Indoors | Filmora Video Editor]