Yet again, it's been a while since my last post, the last few months have been incredibly busy in both my work and personal life and I let the blog slip (again). There's so much I've wanted to write about: the video production of Moonlight and Magnolias I directed for CCCT, another music video for J U N O, things I've learned about virtual production throughout the pandemic, and some stuff that's just cool that I want to share (such as the drone footage I grabbed of the snow in Seabrook last week). But in today's post I want to take a quick detour from the normal video content and take a look at some photography (seen above) I shot recently and the new "toys" I used on that shoot: Between Christmas and my own purchases, I recently acquired 4 new battery powered LEDs (3 Lume Cube brand, and one other): First, lets go through these lights. (Feel free to scroll down if you just want to see the pictures and have less interest in the kit.) I've now got two Lume Cube 2.0's (and modifiers), a Lume Cube Panel Go, and a Sutefoto "RGB Video Light T12" - all of these are very small lights which can easily fit in my camera bag, making my "backpack kit" that much more space efficient, but also that much more capable and flexible compared to my older lights (which are still very useful in their own ways). The two "2.0's" are daylight balanced, and Bluetooth controllable, when using them as part of a bigger setup, the Bluetooth is great because I can put it up on a stand and adjust the brightness without pulling it back down to arm height. Using Lume Cube's app, they can also be used as flashes for the iPhone, or in conjunction with a GoPro (I haven't tried that feature yet). They can also be triggered as strobes by a camera flash, but they have to positioned in a way that the sensor will "see" the flash, which limits them slightly - I've just been using them as continuous lighting.
But enough about the equipment. Now that I've had them for a little while and gotten comfortable with each light's capabilities, I'm really starting to see what I can accomplish with this new bit of kit. Lets take a look at some of what I've shot recently.
Of course I know it takes more than some good kit to shoot good pictures, and I'll be the first to say that (generally) the camera and kit you shoot on doesn't matter if you know what you're doing. That said, I personally have never been happy with what I shoot in this style before, and its nice to have the tools in the bag to pull it off comfortably. (Especially when the whole package fits in one section of my camera bag - now I just need to find some small and lightweight stands for them. If any of my fellow filmmakers/photographers have any suggestions, let me know!) If you're in the Houston area and want to check out Clue, you can find more info and tickets at CCCT's website. The theatre is taking social distancing into account with seating and as such seating is limited, so grab those tickets fast if you want to check it out. Anyway, that's it for this post, I hope to be getting back into blogging more regularly. (We'll see how that goes.) As always thank you for reading, and feel free to drop a comment below if you'd like to know more about anything I write about in this blog. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, : @tomameek (I'm also on TikTok now if you want to follow me as I decide how I'm going to use that platform!) Until next time. Stay safe and healthy everyone! -Thomas PS: Here's some shots I grabbed with the A7s during one of the dress rehearsals |
AuthorThomas Meek is an independent filmmaker living and working in Houston, TX Archives
March 2021
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