shooting in direct sunlight

[Ian Sharar]

I was DPing this short film with our red last week, and I really didn't have anything but bounce cards. My problem was, in direct sunlight, i had to turn the iso almost all the way down and the aperture almost all the way down to get the exposure under control. I mean I would have liked to have something to dampen down the sunlight, but I didn't have it.

So my question is, is there a way to get shallow depth of field in direct sunlight? I'm guess I'll have to use ND filters or something, but honestly, I'm not that experienced with all this. I'm pretty good with lighting and what not, but not with cameras like this. I went from shooting films on a handicam to pro in like 2 years, and I'm still a beginner in my eyes. So what do the "pros" do in a situation like this? haha.
I know when i had my ghetto rig with a 35mm lens adapter and all, I could shoot in direct sunlight and have great depth of field.

Thanks,
Ian Sharar.

[A. Clint Litton]

ND filters...don't forget an IR cut filter if you're using heavier NDs (1.2 and up, usually).

[Gunleik Groven]

The 35mm adapter eats away a lot of light - like an ND does.

You need a mattebox with filters, or screw-on filters if your glass allow.

The IR issue is sorta unpredictable. Most days you won't need it. Then all of a sudden you cannot do without it.

A polarizer is higher on the list IMHO.

So.

Get yourself a kit of ND's with some sort of mattebox:

Polarizer


0.6
0.9
1.2
0.3

IR cut

(in a not so random order)

If you start to stack NDs, you'll need an IR cut sooner.

Then - you could get grads to add to your arsenal...

[Rob Ruffo]

Yeah. The more ND you have, the more you need an IR cut filter. We have the new Tiffen one, and we love it.

I wouldn't exactly call a 35mm adapter and an HD cam "ghetto". A 7D maybe, but not that.

[Ian Sharar]

I wouldn't exactly call a 35mm adapter and an HD cam "ghetto". A 7D maybe, but not that.

haha mine was, but i did good with it.
file:///G:/largegirl.jpglike this image:
http://www.mdboysproductions.com/images/tr.jpg
this was just with a canon hv20 and a twoneil adapter, 50mm nikkor.
pretty ghetto i thought lol. but now im with a red and ive been learning how to get good quality with it.

Like here are some shots with the red
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs292.ash1/21979_260807182098_150642502098_3477808_6215845_n. jpg
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs171.snc3/19879_285043967098_150642502098_3569631_7662416_n. jpg

which they aren't bad i guess. I just know theres stuff I'm missing. Tips?

[Philip Allister Anderson]

Turning the iso down can bite you if you aren't watching your raw clip meter. even if your lut is set to 100asa the chip is still capturing at 320. At 320 you can typically get down to around a T4-5.6 with a ND1.2 and a pola.

[Ian Sharar]

Yeah i got an ND filter on it now and it worked out better. I need to buy a lot more stuff before i can start shooting correctly. we have so much going on here thats not film related though its hard to get stuff handled.