chrome domes

[2000lux]

I was tring to set up a nice "hair light" for an interview with a rather bald man yesterday. I was using a Lowel Pro Light, at first with a little diffusion, then with none. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the glare off his head! I tried lowering the light, backing it up, and even just focusing it on his shoulders. I was working alone so I couldn't just shoot it tight. In the end, in the interest of time I just shut it off and went ahead with the interview. Any sugestions?

:confused:

-Brian

[<Grip>]

crop the chrome, go tight

[JumpCut]

Without spraying dulling spray all over the guys head, you will never get a light to look good on a bald head.

If you are trying for background seperation which is what I assume you are trying to do. You need to place the light above and behind him so that it only falls on the shoulders. Or, better yet, light from head height from the side and behind or just below head height and behind.

[stroke the hokie]

might seem a little uncomfortable(especially with a not so nice man) but loose powder and a blush brush would do the trick

[vdoguy]

Try a 1/2 or full frost and aim the light down more on his shoulders and back and just let a little spill fall onto his head. It wont eliminate the problem, but it'll help.

Personally, I prefer to light a guy like this with only a hard key light coming from the floor!

[Terry E. Toller]

I once had to shoot video of a self rightous preacher who was so full of himself. He thought he was the world's greatest singer and he wasn't. He also wanted to call the shots on the lighting and camera angles.

He was fat, bald and very obnoxious! Just before I began shooting, I sent my audio tech to the drug store to get some Arid Extra Dry spray.

I made a big production out of 'dulling' his head for the video. It was so much fun!!!

[adam]

rather than a back light you might try a skip light next time. set up a light just above the head level on the oppostite side of the axis from your key. (roughly 45 degress off the camera line). Make sure you've got a dimmer and or plenty of scrim. This isn't an effect you'll want to over blow.

[shootcam]

When I encounter a problem like this, I usually shoot a lower angle, this way, you never see the top of his head. Of course I was not there, and do not know the physcial constraints you were up against, but you have some very good suggestions you should try, in the posts, before mine.

[Nino]

This has become a routine working daily with pro athletes that regularly shave their heads and show up for interviews right from practice.

The problem is that the top of the head becomes a reflective mirror and because of the angle it will reflect the "hair light". If you tilt down the light to eliminate the top of the head from seeing the light, you will also totally eliminate the separation, might as well turn off the light. The problem was resolved by extending the size of the barn door by attaching with clips a piece of black foamcore to the upper barn door. This effectively hides (flags) the light from the reflection on the head but still allows it to hit the neck and the shoulders. Foamcore will also work well if you use Chimera for backlight. Of course a regular flag will also do the trick.

You can buy sheets of black foamcore at Walmart and cut it to the needed sizes. The barn door is usually far enough from the heat of the lamp and will stay cool enough to allow using the foamboard, however, with the heat generated by the pro-light I would do some testing first.

[<Wondering>]

Originally posted by 2000lux:
I was tring to set up a nice "hair light" for an interview with a rather bad man yesterday. What did he do to make you consider him a rather bad man????

[2000lux]

What did he do to make you consider him a rather bad man???? Well, for starters he's a lawyer... :D

Actually, that was a typo. I meant to type, "a rather bald man."

To the person who sugested the foam core, thanks! In turn I reccomend "black wrap." It's like aluminum foil (except for the melting on to your lights part). You can shape it any way you please and it's far lighter than foam core.

That was a wierd shoot. Our parent network had expressed an interest in the interview so I wanted to put a little more polish on it than I normally might for a one man band SOT, hence the separation "hair light."

We did it in a decent sized conference room which was by far the most atractive space in the office suite. However, ~85% of the floor space was consumed by an enormous unmoveable table. We ended up wedged in a corner between a book shelf (my backdrop) and the aforementioned gargantuan table. To add to the lighting fun, he also wore glasses. In the given space I was able to get him at enough of an angle that you couldn't see the reflection of the Chimera (much). I just couldn't get the glare of that back light off his shiney bulbous head! Oh well. Next time I'll just plant him facing the big picture window in his ugly cluttered office and let Mother Nature do the lighting. :P

-Brian

[<Old Wolf>]

First things first: For any type of hindering reflection, shoot the opposite side. In the case of bladness, think in terms of low angles, but not up the nose. A kicker w. barndoors on the shoulder futherst from the lense will provide good seperation. As for the b.g., it should be suttle, not alot of movement to distract the eye, the exp. ideally will be 1-1 1/2 stps. under the key. If you have an assistant ( a reporter :D ) he/she can gobo the light with a black card ,over the sbujects head. This type of lighting takes a little experimenting :cool: