Light, camera, action!

In order to at least keep my YouTube channel from falling into a coma, I have uploaded yet another vlog. It does, though, contain some footage from the little village I have now moved to, as well as some almost-fancy lighting.

“Almost-fancy lighting” means a single halogen floodlight, of the sort used when painting indoors on gloomy days. Which is indeed what we did use, and now it’s being pressed into service as studio lighting.

Ideally, I’d need two of these: one as the main “key” light, the other, slightly further away, as a “fill” light. Eventually, once I have my studio set up, I’ll need two more to light the greenscreen evenly.

The reason you can’t usually use only one light is that it throws very sharp shadows: half of your face is brightly lit, the other half almost completely black. But it is just about possible if you point the light at the ceiling, which then acts as a reflector, giving you a much more diffuse (but dimmer) light. It’s not perfect, but for now it will do.

It is, though, just enough to allow me to sit in front of a window. Without any light at all, one of two things would have happpened: either you would have seen out of the window in perfect clarity while I remained a silhouette, or you would have seen me against a way-too-bright background. Using bright artificial lighting, I can let you see my face and the scenery at the same time.