This is Jay P. Morgan. Today on The Slanted Lens I’m coming from my fridge. Why? Because I want to talk about the seven reasons I carry two LED lights in my camera bag at all times. I’ve got one compartment, it’s a lens compartment, that I use as my lighting department. In that lighting department I carry a LitraPro, I carry a LitraStudio, and I carry a Platypod which gives me the ability to put them on something. And last of all, a handle to attach to my LitraStudio light. So that’s my lighting department. It’s in my camera bag at all times. And the reason I carry it is because I get into situations all the time where I just need a simple small light to be able to keep shooting. So let’s look at the seven reasons why I have those things in my bag and exactly how I use them.
Keep an LED in your bag in case you want to light something at nighttime if I’m shooting stars. If I want to light an arch or some architecture, I keep an LED in my bag so I can light stuff at nighttime. It set it at really low power so it lights things up when I’m doing long exposures for stars. Or if I want to light up the side of a building. It’s a great thing to have in your bag all the times.
I carry one in my bag all the time because I may want to light a portrait. I’m just shooting a natural light portrait and I just need a little bit of light on their face or I bring it out to open up their faces. It just looks so much better. So it’s great to have in your bag in case you’re going to do a portrait.
I carry an LED in my bag all of the time because I may want to do b-roll when I am doing video. It gives me a nice highlight from behind to open up the shadows. I work with a handheld run and gun light every time I do b-roll.
A great time to carry that light in your bag is when you’re doing motion b-roll. Bring that light up and walk with your subject matter. So as they walk through the scene, they’re always lit. It’s a great reason to have an LED in your bag.
Sometimes I simply use that led as a work light in my bag or work light to clean up at the end of the day. It’s a perfect reason to have an LED in your bag.
If I’m working late, I’m going to need an LED. Sometimes I need to open up the image. Here are some skateboarders. I want to open up the image of our still shots and video. I just need a little bit of light on my subject matter. I see people holding their phone up there. Why not carry an LED. That’s a great reason to open up cameras and get a great shot when the sun’s gone down.
What if you want to shoot in tight spaces? You may want to get your camera in the oven or a mailbox or a Christmas tree. You can put your light in there to throw light out onto your subject matter from the camera point of view. It’s a great way to use an LED. I keep one in my bag all the time, especially with that Platypod so I can light when I’m in tight spaces. I can shoot and light in tight spaces. That’s a great reason to have an LED in your bag.
So there you have it, the seven reasons why I carry two LEDs in my camera bag at all times. There’s a lot more reasons I’m sure, but those are seven of them. So leave a comment below. Tell me what you think of those seven reasons or which one of these lights you’d like to carry in your bag. Leave us a comment. Subscribe to our YouTube channel on The Slanted Lens. And keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’.
