Video Project

It was over Christmas that this idea came to me. We were at my wife's parents house and her dad was playing so old home movies on the VCR. Most were cookouts or other family get togethers but at the end of one of the tapes was an interview with my wife's grandmother. Someone thought enough to sit her down at the kitchen table, turn on the camera, and get her to basically tell her life story. Be a photographer, the first thing I noticed was the poor lighting quality. Can't help it. It just jumps off the screen at me. Once I got past that, I could see the real value of this piece. The grandmother, long deceased, was captured on this film for future generations to see and hear. I thought of my family and my wife's and knew that I had to put together something honoring the elders of our families. I spoke with my wife and she was all about the idea. There was only one problem. We don't own a video camera. Seems silly in this day and age but I had almost always rather have still images from an event. I managed to talk my sister into borrowing her camera for the project. Problem one solved!


Next was the lighting. Being my usual cheap self, I couldn't reason buying "real" video lights for this one time personal project but I refused to film it with one tungsten bulb in an overhead fixture. A little research led to me these little guys.


I had a small one with a 5 inch or so reflector hanging in the garage and went to Home Depot and picked up another with a 10.5" reflector along with a 150 watt CFL. My first thought was to run the main light thru a diffusion panel to soften the light. Since I like to travel as light as possible, I opted for a small umbrella instead. This allowed me to leave one stand behind. I only needed to modify the main light's reflector by drilling a hole in it to slip the umbrella through. With my main light set, I looked toward the second, smaller light. I used a super clamp and attached it to a 40" extension arm. Using it bare bulb would be ok for a hair/rim light. I went ahead and set everything up in the living room. Looking at the hair light closer led me to think that I had a soft box  that would fit. Low and behold, it was almost as if it were made for it. I just left the hot shoe adapter off and it slipped perfectly over the work light's reflector.


I had a complete three light (a reflector for a third light) setup ready and it only cost me 25 bucks. And since I think photographers are going to have to learn at least a little video to stay competitive in the future, this was a great exercise for someone who has no video experience. I would love to have had a two or three camera setup for the project, but didn't have the software, knowledge, or time to mix the three together properly. Oh yeah, and I was a couple of camera's short. Maybe next time!