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Master outdoor video lighting with these simple tips

Mar 9, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

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It’s one thing to shoot video and record audio indoors. But what happens when you need to start filming in outdoor locations? Moving your whole production outside can feel a little bit daunting, particularly regarding lighting. Without making an effort, your footage could quickly look flat and dull.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Filmmaker Aidin Robbins does most of his shoots outdoors, and in this video for Adorama, he shares a range of simple lighting setups for creating interesting footage outdoors.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to lighting for the solo filmmaker is not being able to carry large amounts of equipment. Even small indie film productions generally have a crew for this. So you will have to get creative instead.

One thing to remember is that natural light is your friend. You want to be able to understand it well enough that you can manipulate it and enhance it to your advantage. You’ll unlikely be able to out-power the sun with anything you can carry, so work with it instead. You can use it as a kicker or backlight to significant effect.

The time of day, angle of light, and weather will all significantly impact how the light appears in your footage. You can plan accordingly using apps such as Windy or Photo Pills.

You can also use a five-in-one reflector to modify the natural light in the scene. You can use it as a diffuser or as a fill light to bounce light into the shadows.

Aidin says he likes to use small, portable battery-powered lights for remote locations outside. You don’t have to worry about power; they are small, light, and generally relatively weather resistant. Anything similar to the Godox Knowled C5R will work just fine. Portable tube lights, or DIYP’s favorite, the KYU-6, will work easily.

You can use these lights as either practical lights, where they are visible and part of the scene, or as hidden lights, where you see the light given off from them and not the light source itself.

Aidin uses these ideas to show some creative ways to make your outdoor footage more interesting. It’s all very doable and not at all daunting or complicated.

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Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: filmmaking, lighting, one man crew, outdoor shoot

About Alex Baker

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

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Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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