I recently invested in a studio light to compliment my studio photography work. I thought it was for commercial work, but it immediately became clear I could use this for so much more.

I find pretty much all my commercial clients ask for video too, so I went on the hunt for a really good video light. I needed something that could sit alongside my studio flash light and allow me to effortlessly switch between stills and video. The majority of my models are fast moving babies and kids, I can’t ask them to hold a pose or idea for a long time while I get ready for video…

Find the lights
I found it really difficult researching which light to get. No one out there appears to be doing this, all the video light reviews are for purely video, no one is mixing the photography in there.
I found it really difficult to judge if a light would be powerful enough for my mission. I needed something powerful enough to light a family, not just one person in a fixed position.
I saw the Hobolite Pro at the photography show at the NEC and while they were far more expensive than I wanted them to, they were also the most powerful ones with a lovely large softbox.


Working with the lights
I can now record video at all my studio sessions. I was already doing newborn keep sake films, but now I can do better lighting! I can add video to sessions for older babies, siblings, families and of course to my commercial work.
I either have the video light on and accept/use it as a bit of a fill light on the other side of my flash, or I keep the stand a bit loose on one of the “joins” and simply swivel it toward/away as I switch between the stills and video – it’s super fast to do and I find it works really well.
Yes, some people would maybe suggest just using the video lights for everything, but for those fast moving babies I do enjoy all the befits of the flash lights and I have no plans of changing that!

You can see a bit of behind the scenes here, a bit of a review. Basically what I wanted to find when I was first looking, but all I got was pretty unboxing stuff…

On location
I have taken them on location once too. They come in very neat travel cases and it takes me 4 minutes to set them up. They are heavy though!!!

Conclusion

I really enjoy working with these lights, they have opened up tons of opportunists for me! However, I should remind everyone that I haven’t tested out lots of options to compare with, so there could be other cheaper options out there. But my advice would be to ensure you get something with enough power, most of the lights I have tried or come across simply didn’t have enough oomph for the kind of work I do. I had some of the panel lights and honestly they add absolutely nothing in a studio situation. Most smaller video lights are based on adults sitting still and controlled really near to the light…

How about you?
Do you do any video in the studio? Have you got video lights? Any questions at all?

Other bits
Don’t forget to check out my FREE video training resources and the options for learning video with me.