In this article one of our resident videographers, Lane Peters, discusses his process for shooting our latest video on the Aputure Light Storm series. Read on for his impressions on the Aputure lights, and how he used them to get the look he wanted for this project.
Earlier this summer, Aputure sent me some lighting equipment to test out on a video shoot. I had read a little bit about the Light Storm Series online, but I honestly didn't think much of them. That was until I got my hands on them, and I'll tell you, these systems are sweet! As with most photographic specifications, they don't really mean much until you have real-world experience with them and the The Light Storm Series blew me away. What really amazed me was the output, these systems are crazy bright!
We had absolutely no problem over powering the ambient light. We were able to do this even though we were shooting in the middle of the day when the gym was the brightest from the sun coming through the windows.
Here's what I worked with from Aputure:
(2) LS C300d lights
(2) LS C120d lights
(1) Fresnel Spot Mount
(1) Light Dome
(1) Space Light
Other Equipment:
Phottix Raja Deep 60 Parabolic Softbox
Sony A7III
Sony 50mm 1.4
Sony 85mm 1.4
Sony 35mm 1.4
The Process
For the project, I worked with my good friend Andy Marsh, and some great people down at Salt Lake City Crossfit, including Lauren Shawver (the athlete shown) to create a dramatically lit video. I was confident we could get some great light with the modifiers we were using but, I didn't expect the high output the lights were able to produce. This made filming extremely easy.
For lighting we mostly stuck with the Aputure Light Dome and Phottix Raja Deep 60. Because the mounting system is a standard S mount, you're not limited to Aputure branded modifiers, and can really use whatever you want.
Both the light dome and Phottix provide excellent light however, with little spill via the grid or a deep box. We really wanted emphasize shadows during the shoot, so we set the LS C300d's lights up to the side and slightly back to create heavy contrast on Lauren. We lit the background with a LS C120d and another Phottix Raja Deep 60. This setup gave us a slight rim light and separated us subtly from the background.
The footage was shot at either 4K, 24FPS or 120 FPS @ 1080 on a Sony A7 III. Both files are excellent, but the color depth on the 4K always impresses me.
Check out the video below:
[embed]https://youtu.be/Vkkk125li3g[/embed]