Photo lighting versus video lighting?

[gcdivingadventures]

I do a lot of underwater video and photos and am replacing my lighting system. Looking for advice on video lights and strobes. Any suggestions for near professional work?

 

[RonFrank]

That is really a broad question covering not one but two rather distinct formats and lighting requirements. Maybe break this down into two or more topics and go from there. Recognize video and stills are very different. With today's cameras you can do both but you would need to decide on which is primary. If you have any experience doing either video or photo lighting you should know that strobes and video lighting don't work perfectly together. More so as you get into professional equipment.

You can always call UW equipment suppliers. They often have more experience in both styles and are up on current equipment. However don't waste their time, they will help but not babysit unless you are welling to spend serious cash. Most photographers know what they want.....

 

[gcdivingadventures]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping for a range of feedback so kept the question broad. Currently, I am using a Sea & Sea YS-110 as a strobe for stills but found when I use my video lights, the stills usually come out better. For video lights, I am alternating between a Halcyon 21W HID and two mounted UK Light Cannons with 10% diffusers.

In both cases, they are mounted by 20" arms and find the particulate is quite obvious in the water. I usually dive in the Pacific Northwest (near Vancouver Canada) and visibility is poor at best. Not sure if there is a lighting solve to this but figured I would ask. Here are two different examples of the video and still lighting. In the first one (from Iceland) you can see I am swapping between lighting systems and found it looked best with the two light cannons. In the second video (Barbados) I didnt use any lights and most of the colour was obviously washed out, except for a few closeups.

Would certainly appreciate a critique and advise.

Iceland: A Land of Extremes - Part 1 - SCUBA Diving in Iceland - Silfra & Strytan - YouTube
Barbados Diving - Sharks, Wrecks, Seahorse & More - GC Vacation Diving - YouTube

 

[mjh]

Did you mention what camera/s you are using?

There are so many options it can be overwhelming. So to start my theory is "it is better to have and not need rather than need and not have", lol. For photography 2 strobes are always better than one. Your 110 is a good strobe and if you added another you should get good results with most lenses, especially if doing CFWA. But if it is in the budget the Ike 160s or S&S 250s make for excellent WA work. For good video again 2 lights are preferred. For wide angle a light/s in the 2000 lumens, or more, work well. Recently shot a Nikon D7000/Aquatica/Tokina 10-17mm/2x Light&Motion Solo 4000s and found while excellent they did not light the tropical reef up at mid-day like I thought they would, get close, get closer, get even closer still applies. (That said in overcast/overhangs/darker situations WOW!)

So the other part of this is strobe/lighting position. Big advocate of at least two strobe arms per side to give you flexibility in positioning strobes/lights. The fact is a big part of the art of this is learning the "angles" on your lights to reduce backscatter. Harder to do in some way with video than stills as your subjects and you are often moving. Hope that helps.

 

[gcdivingadventures]

The camera I am using is an Olympus EPL2 (micro 4 thirds). Quite compact but very good video quality. Stills are so so...

I am taking the new setup out to Race Rocks in Victoria Canada this weekend and will see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice, I am running a total of 3200 lumens between the lights now and think it will make a difference. Hopefully the sea lions like it.