Contrast control in wide-angle lenses

[caiyichenweg]

Hello, Roger, David Müller, and everyone on the forum! Please excuse my poor English. In recent days, I’ve listened to a great many interviews with Roger and David Müller, and I’ve noticed that they both put forward an idea. Generally speaking, they have a strong desire to use fewer lights. I remember that in Roger’s podcast a few months ago, David Müller seemed to mention that when he is shooting, he often prefers the first version of the lighting setup, because at that time there were no various messy additional lights added. I truly empathize with this point! Sometimes when I’m shooting, I think it’s really wonderful to use just one light to simulate the effect of a table lamp shining on a person’s face, and there’s no need to add any other light sources. With the combination of the actual light source, I’m already quite satisfied with the entire picture. I’ve found that as I gradually add more lights, I’m actually ruining the contrast of the picture bit by bit, resulting in a very flat image in the full view. I’d like to ask Roger and Müller if you could share some insights on illuminating with a wide-angle lens (especially using reflective lighting) while still maintaining the overall contrast of the picture? (I’ve asked this question in one of the previous questions.)

 

There’s one more thing. I’m extremely looking forward to Roger’s book! I dream of getting my hands on it. This will be my biggest anticipation in 2025!

 

Topic

[Roger Deakins]

I’m unsure what you are asking in regard to the use of wide lenses. Lighting for a wide shot with a soft bounce source can be more problematic than a close shot but that has little to do with the lens choice. Sure, you might need to control the bounce source if it is further from your subject but that kind of challenge happens regardless of the width of a shot.

[caiyichenweg]

Oh, I think I had an issue with my English expression. I actually meant to ask about shots with a larger scene size, not wide-angle lenses. To help you understand better, let me give an example: suppose a character is in a living room. When shooting a close-up, I use a bounce light source to give the character soft lighting. When switching to a full-shot (panoramic view), how should I handle the bounce light source to maintain the light texture and contrast (both wrapping the subject and preserving overall contrast)? For full-shots, would you switch to using a Lighting through diffusion for the character’s lighting, or move the bounce light source farther away and control it with more black cloth, or change the reflective material to a harder, directional silver reflector (which might require adjusting the color temperature)?Overall, what are your insights and suggestions for lighting wide shots to maintain consistent contrast and light quality across all shot sizes (wides, mids, and close-ups)?

[dmullenasc]

You generally don’t switch to lighting a wide shot after you’ve lit the close-up — you light the wide shot first, which determines the feeling of the lighting, the direction & softness. Once you go in closer, you can decide how much you can alter what was established in the wide shot.

[Author]

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