Film Jams!
What's up Film Jammers?
Today, we're checking out what has become an essential accessory in my mobile lighting kit.
We're going to turn this painters pole into a monopod for your lights and
we're gonna shoot some photos with it down at the beach. You ready to paint it whack?
So in the past I've struggled sometimes with how to bring my lights onto location for photography and video and how to move around quickly .
The wind or lack of a big crew and sandbags and giant stands has prevented me sometimes from bringing additional lighting out.
Then one day, I came across another photographer friend who said you got to get this painters pole and this little baby pin adapter that goes on the end.
So this makes a simple way you can add lighting on set outside. This 5/8 inch baby pin is just like the end of a c-stand.
So you can put on the lights. You can put on strobes.
Anything that would fit on a c-stand or a regular light stand you can use with this.
So one of the really cool things about this painters pole is you can extend it up to nine feet and you can hold it above your head.
It's super light and you can get your lights up really high with this
and if it gets too heavy you can just set it on the ground right in the dirt. Boom!
Take a little rest and most importantly you can move around really quickly.
You're not setting a tripod or a stand where you have to set it, put sandbags down.
This you can just hold it and you're running around. Whoa. Hey, you need some light over there!
Hey put some light on. That guy's ass. Okay, he put some light on a little raccoon over there.
Alright, so let's get out there and *off screen scream*
Alright, so let's get out and shoot some photos with it and show you how the setup works. Cue the tropical music!
Alright so we're out here on the beach getting set up. We're gonna put this softbox in. Super windy, as you can see. Whoa!
It's blowing away. We're gonna put it on to the painters pole with a little adapter and see how it holds up.
So what we're using out here is the Profoto B1X's they're battery operated strobes. So no cords, no hassle.
Christian: How familiar are you with the painters pole?
Lucas: Never used the painters pole before, more of a gaffers pole in this situation.
Christian: Yeah, you got it. Well, yep, that's wind, that's wind folks.
Lucas: Two hander. Two hander.
Christian: Alright, so we have our beautiful model Tetiana here and she is gonna be
out there on the beach getting some photos snapped on the Canon EOS R.
Alan: How do you feel it's helping you?
Lucas: It''s definitely much better than if I didn't have it.
So we're moving all over the beach. We're moving super quick with this lighting setup. It's really nice to be able to just go,
Hey, let's go over here. I see a cool angle. Hey, let's check out this tree
I see you can go over here or some trout.
I see a cool angle over here. Hey Lucas how quick can you get over there?
Lucas: Uh.. this quick!
Christian: That boy is fast. You can't do that with a light stand. You need a Lucas and you need a painter's pole!
We are about at sunset. We're gonna get the old painter's pole in the water, see how it holds up.
Adam: It's my big chance!
So here is the beauty dish. it's flying in. This gives you a little harsher light. A little more defined shadows. It's beautiful.
It's also a little smaller. So when it's really windy out the beauty dish is a good option instead of having a big soft box.
Okay!
Full extension, 9 feet.
Okay, so the wind is really blowing right now and we're still good we got the beauty dish on here.
We're shooting. Can't do that with a big old frame!
Hell no!
We had a lot of fun playing with the 9 foot
painters pole and some of our strobes and I think you can do a lot with it.
It's a very minimal crew and you can get a lot of setups really fast.
So, there's a lot of different options out there for monopods and light stands.
But none of them ever really worked that great for me and I ended up spending hundreds of dollars on these different options that weren't really that great.
So this set up is about fifty dollars way cheaper, probably half the price, of any monopod even in the same category.
So it's really inexpensive.
It's a painter's pole. The painters don't charge a lot for the gear.
You know who charges a lot? Lighting and film companies. Not painters! Painters got the hook up.
We've got links below so you can check all that out and buy if you want.
I won't say anything, it will help the channel and it's much more sturdy than the other monopods I have. This thing is like a rock.
Yeah, it's like Valyrian steel. This thing's not breaking.
Now, remember the secret to this setup is the 5/8 inch baby pin two extension adaptor.
This adapter is what enables you to attach your lights and without it you just got a regular old painter's pole.
and we've got links below so you can check them out if you want to pick one up.
Can you see anything?