How to get rid of glare?

[acuriousman]

I have a lamp that I use to light my video shoots. It has 4 bulbs on it that are able to move/flex in any direction. The trouble is, I have to bring these bulbs REALLY close to my camera to get decent exposure. This creates a lot of nasty glare from the bulbs on the item I'm shooting. It might look fine one second, but if I tilt or turn the item, tons of glare pops in.
Which is HORRIBLE for video.

Example of the glare.



My lamp:



Any idea how I can fix this?

Thank you for reading.

[kbp]

Try the lights at a 90 degree angle.
For "sun" shots I use a circular polorizer, but thats outside.

[corkyg]

Change the angle so that the light is indirect.

[acuriousman]

Originally Posted by corkyg

Change the angle so that the light is indirect.

I tried aiming it at the wall but now the light is too dim.

[harobikes333]

Buy better lights :?

[acuriousman]

Originally Posted by harobikes333

Buy better lights :?

Somebody mentioned a softbox. Would that help with the massive glare orb?

[randomrogue]

It will diffuse the light. Put a sheet over your light fixture and try it out.

[twistedlogic]

Try using just one bigger bulb. By the size of the bulbs, it looks like your using the lower wattage CFLs. With only one light source, there is less chance of reflection.

Also diffuse the light, but this will eat some of the light. As you mentioned, a light tent.

[ElFenix]

a sheet of white copy paper in front of a bright enough bulb will work just fine. i've had good results with a 150 watt equivalent CF.

[acuriousman]

Originally Posted by twistedlogic

Try using just one bigger bulb. By the size of the bulbs, it looks like your using the lower wattage CFLs. With only one light source, there is less chance of reflection.

Also diffuse the light, but this will eat some of the light. As you mentioned, a light tent.

Originally Posted by ElFenix

a sheet of white copy paper in front of a bright enough bulb will work just fine. i've had good results with a 150 watt equivalent CF.

I tried that with my bulbs but the light was too dim.
So I should get a 150 watt bulb? Should I also get a softbox lighting kit?

Does anybody here have recommendations for either?

Thank you for all your help so far by the way.

[bigi]

Diffuse the light, there are endless ways of doing so - piece of paper, softbox, piece of white plastics, etc.

[JohnnyRebel]

Here is a $60 solution w/ free shipping from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Cowboystudio-P...pd_sim_sbs_p_2

A bit better for $93 shipped

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-P...47673&sr=1-186

[acuriousman]

Originally Posted by bigi

Diffuse the light, there are endless ways of doing so - piece of paper, softbox, piece of white plastics, etc.

Tell me more about the softbox. How big would it have to be to eliminate all glare?
Do you have any recommendations for models?

Originally Posted by JohnnyRebel

Here is a $60 solution w/ free shipping from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Cowboystudio-P...=cowboy+studio

A bit better for $93 shipped

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-P...47673&sr=1-186

Your links seem to be broken.

[slashbinslashbash]

All that a softbox is, is a piece of white nylon fabric held in front of the bulb, with a reflective-lined box surrounding the bulb and attaching to the fabric. You could easily make one out of a cardboard box, some white nylon, and aluminum foil. You could probably even make it fit over your existing light fixture. White foamboard is also a good material for softboxes: http://thehowzone.com/how/Photo-Softbox/2

As for how big it needs to be, it depends on your subject. Ideally it needs to be as big as, or bigger than, your subject. So if you are lighting a human torso and face then it needs to be like 2'x3'. If you are just doing tabletop reviews of consumer products then probably 1'x2' would cover most things. Getting it as close as possible to the subject (to increase its relative size) is also important. You want it just outside of the camera's view.

Basically the idea is to create a large, diffuse light source, instead of a small, direct light source. This is the same principle behind lampshades. A large, diffuse source creates nice, even, "soft" light that is less likely to glare (although with a reflective surface like that Sony box, it would be hard to eliminate completely when held at the wrong angle).

I wouldn't shell out a bunch of money on a softbox; definitely play with a few home-made solutions first, because IMO you probably won't be able to get rid of the glare completely, but you can make it less likely to happen and less visually jarring when it does happen.

[JohnnyRebel]

Originally Posted by acuriousman

Your links seem to be broken.

Fixed. Also check out the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed..." section for a ton of other similar priced options.

[twistedlogic]

Originally Posted by acuriousman

I tried that with my bulbs but the light was too dim.
So I should get a 150 watt bulb?

They are 150watt equivalent, which would be 42W CFL. The ones you are using appear to be only 13 watt, judging from their size. They also have (200W equivalent) 55W CFL's at my local Walmart, a huge bulb.

Originally Posted by acuriousman

Should I also get a softbox lighting kit?

It wouldn't hurt to try. It also allows for a seamless background. By default CFL's are diffused but are still a small light sources. A softbox is simple to make, just use a cardboard box and some white paper.

But no matter what you try, you will get reflections from a shiny object at certain angles. With a bigger light source, they are less distracting.

[radhak]

You have got good advice till now.

The two ingredients of a soft-box is (a) seamless background (b) diffused lighting.

You could create the first at home with a bed-sheet or a long sheet of paper (depending on how big your subject of photography is).

For the latter (diffused light source), most lamps are not 'big enough' in size, so you will need to put a barrier between the light and the subject to diffuse the light emitted, creating the effect of a large light source.

This barrier could be anything from a pane of glass to a sheet of paper, in gradation of increasing opacity. The pane of glass may not diffuse enough, while the paper might diffuse too much (giving you 'insufficient light'). In between these extremes you could use other stuff as suggested above, like a plastic panel from HomeDepot (I've done that with good results), or even a sheet of cloth (silk / cotton/ etc) from the fabric center at Walmart. You could experiment with stuff at home before buying much.