Lighting an Interview with 2x Rosco Litepads

I recently needed to interview Rev. Dr. Gerald Monro, the Chaplain at The Brighthelm Centre where we will base the 2011 Fotothon Quest. Brighthelm do really great work with the needy and homeless in Brighton so need as much support as they can get.

 Short video clip showing the effect of two Rosco Litepads.

Here is a short clip from the video I shot with my Canon 5D MkII and lit with two Rosco Litepads. I chose the Litepads as I knew that I needed to be self-contained with no trailing cables. Each 12" x 6" Litepad was powered by an independent 12v battery pack containing 8 x AA alkaline batteries. I could have used one battery pack with a 2-way splitter and extension cable but then that meant a trailing lead and the possibility of pulling over one light should I move the other. Also, it has the advantage of not splitting the power output from the battery pack between to lights reducing the output.

 

Behind the scenes, the interview setup with 2 x Rosco Litepads
Click on image to view larger

Key to Lighting Design:

1. Rosco Litepad HO LED 12" x 6" LED light. Daylight WB/colour temperature of 6000K.
2. Rosco 8 x AA 12v battery pack. Approximately 2 amp output.
3. Manfrotto MN026 Lite Tite Swivel and Umbrella Adaptor - into this goes the supplied mini pin adaptor which is industry standard 16mm or 5/8" to 1/4" 20 TPS thread, which is attached to the Litepad T bracket. All supported on Manfrotto 5001B Nano lighting stands which fold up to about 18"overall.

Now to some of you this may appear to be a load of gear, especially when you include the camera. lenses, tripod, fluid head and sound recording kit (more on that another time, this blog is about light) but the whole shebang fitted into a Lowepro Vertex 200 AW backpack with room to spare, no kidding.

If you are one of the merry band of convergent photographers whole shoot stills and video, then these Rosco Litepads are the way forward - light in weight, about 3/8" thin, native 12vdc so will run from AA batteries, car battery or mains electricity with the supplied step-down transformer.

And, because they are low power to start with they emit very little heat so will not cook the talent - the way they are designed means that no direct LEDs show meaning you do not blind the talent.

Litpads are soft by design so do not need frost or spun to diffuse them. They are soft and flattering out of the box. DoPs and lighting camera people may find them on the soft side, but fear not, Rosco have introduced a fresnel type lens for the new Litepad Axiom range. More on this soon.

Here are the links to find out more:

US
Litepad kits http://www.rosco.com/us/litepad/litepad_kits.cfm
New Axiom range http://www.rosco.com/us/litepad/litepad_axiom.cfm

UK
Litepad kits http://www.rosco.com/uk/litepad/litepad_kits.cfm
New Axiom range http://www.rosco.com/uk/litepad/litepad_axiom.cfm

Stills photographers don't be scared of continuous light, after all you work with daylight. Look at the Litepad range as another tool in your lighting tool box. These are a flattering soft in-close light. Take a look at what you can do on location with a 24" x 24" Litepad here.