Shooting with natural light

Hi guyz

Has anyone has any tips on how to use existing light in a room to achieve good results when shooting?

The lights which I have access to now are just desk lamps.

Thanks

just a few things that come to mind: shooting during the day, use windows to your advantage - using curtains and blinds to dim and shape the light and move around actors and action so that the light works off them. buy some cheap cfl bulbs, cold / daylight balanced for your lamps, to integrate.

at night, if you have dslrs which are quite good in lowlight i'd say turn off the ceiling fixtures (unless they're in the shot or somewhat interesting) and use the rest of the lamps wisely. that tends to create a more contrasty look on actors which looks more like 'night', at least to me.

but even if you haven't got pro lights, buy some cheap cheap stuff, such as clamplights, ikea stuff, whatever. normal fixtures have also the advantage that can be worked into the frame and they may even end up looking cool.

restating what he said ^^

yea if you can get a good enough exposure, try only using lamps and lights around the room, and not the ceiling ones.

but something you need, go buy one or two large foamboards and use them as bounce.
its disgusting how many people just turn on the lights they have and go with it.
use bounce! your going to darken the image in post anyways by adding contrast (almost always) and you dont wanna make the face totally black (almost always) so bounce in some light.

also if the ceiling lights (if you have any, you said only desk lamps?) are on a dimmer, experiment using them at different brightnesses to get a good exposure that doesnt look like the ceiling lights are dim, as a fill light almost.

take some pics of the room/lights you got and post them if you want more specific advice.

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Something that I would add is to use the hardware store scoops offscreen and from a direction that mimics the motivation of your practicals, then use bulbs that are dimmer in your practicals to reduce blow-out. Obviously, if you're shooting ultra wide, this won't work.

If you have the space to manipulate the set and cheat things a bit, you will have greater control over your setup. I demonstrated this in my living room a few days ago to a filmmaker, and I'll use it as an example.

I moved my couch about a foot from the wall that it previously was against. I have two Ikea soft lights that are practicals, one on each side of the couch, and behind it. I then used a balanced scoop light (hardware store clamp light) outside the frame on each side to increase the intensity on the back of the head, lighting the hair, and creating separation. I then used another balanced clamp light with a flo to use as a key. This light was set up approximately 180 degrees opposite the talent from the hair light. It could have been done with a tungsten bulb in the scoop, but I liked the softness of the light. Total expense for the scoops and flos was about $60.

This ended up being a simple and very effective setup.

Thanks guyz

I'll try to put a photo of the living room for you to see. The ceiling lights in the room creates an orange harsh color that's why I don't like it.

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This is the living room I'll be shooting on.

And what about using one small china ball light, it is cheap also, combining with desk lamps?

I would light to reduce the range between the lightest and darkest areas. For example, your photo above, as it is, is blown out in the window, but not where it is covered by the curtains.

Because of the way desk laps are shaded, you will have a really bright pool of light wherever they are placed, and everything else will be dark.

Is this what the actual shot would be? It'd be helpful to know where your subject and camera would be.

To answer your question, a single, brightly illuminated, china ball might be enough for this scene if it were close to the action, but you won't have any control over your light. It would be completely soft and without any contrast.

Do you have any kind of budget to work with? Knowing how much you have to spend would be helpful.