Combining LEDs and Tungsten Lights - Photography Tutorial by The Slanted Lens

Today on The Slanted Lens:

We are shooting a commercial for a client called Mini Bini. They make an air freshener for your trash can that really works. To show how well it works, we are shooting a woman lying on a bed of garbage – literally lying on a bed that is covered in garbage. We will combine NorthStar LED lights on daylight balance with tungsten lights to create a dreamy look. Joel Ackerman of Ackermania Creative is the genius behind the concept today.

Since we wanted an aerial view of the woman and her garbage, I put the camera on a boom above the bed and tethered it back to the computer with a USB cable. I used Canon's camera utilities program to make adjustments to the camera settings directly from the laptop. I set my color balance to tungsten so that the LEDs would appear blue while her face remained neutral. I was shooting at 1/50 of a second at ISO 320 and a 5.6 aperture. Focus is the biggest problem with this set up. I had my assistant magnify the image on the computer and I focused the camera while he looked at the enlarged image and directed my movements. It was a bit scary but it worked. I also rubbed Vaseline on the edges of the lens. This will blur out the edges of the frame to make our scene look even more dreamy.

I love working with LEDs and tungsten lights on set. It shows you can get some very interesting looks when you combine those two light sources. It's just important that you know what each of them will do and that you work with them accordingly. So I hope this was as educational for you as it was for me. Don't be afraid to mix two light sources!

Keep those cameras rollin' and keep on clickin'!
Text and video via The Slanted Lens