#Arsenal dslr assistant how to
#Arsenal dslr assistant professional

Get a reading for every color in the room or if you are outside the day fill, the ambient light and the sunlight. This is where your color meter comes into its own (for the basics I would recommend our Cinematography Starter Kit to get you confident with the kit so you can truly get on set and create!). Here’s something to do: Point your Color Meter at the setting sun and find out the color of it, recreating that color will be something that tells you if you were born to be a cinematographer. I love to look at different lights in different settings with different color temperatures and moods whether it’s street lights, fluorescents in a store, neon, moonlight, etc. I’ve talked about taking that snapshot in your mind with light, and I also do the same with color temps and how they mix. Here’s how I know I was born to be a cinematographer. As a DP you want two things: Natural and Consistent! Nothing else will do. This separates the men from the boys! When I started off we had tungsten, HMI and daylight and now we have tons more – florescents, LEDs of every size, color and style! So there are tons of color temperatures and things that impact on them on set. SEKONIC C-700R-u SPECTROMASTER COLOR METER

#Arsenal dslr assistant how to

For more info on how to use the Light Meter, check out this key article from our Cinematography Starter Kit.Ģ. WORD OF WARNING: Make sure that your light meter is accurate before you embark on any job. Sure, you’ll look at your monitor and see the scene again to try to match it, but if you have all of your lighting and color levels then it’s a SLAM DUNK! You never know which shots you may have to recreate when you go back to do pickups and at that point you are going to have to duplicate the lighting for that scene. You are able to read the incident light levels with the ball and the spot meter function gives you the ability to read points of light, the wall and buildings in the deep background to make sure there is enough fill level, grey cards, etc. The Sekonic L-758C is the ultimate meter because it is two meters in one.

If you want to match and to get your head around light ratios as a cinematographer then this is the piece of kit that will get you there. You take time building the lighting to recreate that mental picture and then, once you have looked at the monitor to see what you have painted, once you like the way it looks, then it’s time to get your Sekonic Light Meter out and read those levels.

Imagine you want to light a scene in a hallway and you recall a cool picture online where someone half way around the world had taken a picture of someone dancing in a corridor somewhere. Here’s where the light meter is absolutely essential. These are my “mood boards” for lighting scenes, these are what I use as motivation. Every day, when I see a photograph that I like or an Instagram post or anything, I take a mental snapshot and store it in my mind.

#Arsenal dslr assistant professional

Which is nice, because we're not all professional photographers.LIGHTING IS EVERYTHING! You’re a cinematographer – your whole job from morning to night, from first cup of coffee to last cup of camomile, from dawn to dusk, is LIGHT. Basically, it knows how to use your camera better than you do. With the companion app, you can see how the Arsenal analyzes the shot you've decided to take, and makes adjustments based on what it's seeing. How does it work? As seen in the photos, the Arsenal attaches to the top of your DSLR-compatible camera. It's probably safe to say they were surprised when the Arsenal ended up receiving $2.5 million from over 15,000 backers. Just how badly have people wanted something like this? Well, the creators of the Arsenal launched their idea on Kickstarter last year, with a goal of raising $50,000. Enter the Arsenal, the first ever DSLR accessory that will help you take the perfect shot, every time. However, you don't have the time to dedicate to improve your photography skills. You take decent photos, but you also realize there's probably a way to get more out of your expensive camera.

Here's your situation: you're not a professional photographer, but you own a DSLR camera.