How to light up huge, dark spaces like theaters, caves, or tunnels the right way??

[mcnair55]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume you're doing this for Urbex purposes, in which case mass and volume are likely to be at a premium. While I've only read about the exploits of others in this area, I gather that long-exposure multi-flash photographs work fairly well so long as the camera is on a tripod and one is deliberate in the staging of the shot. Some flavor of light-painting the scene might also work, although I have no idea what that would do should one not illuminate areas relatively evenly.

For Urbex purposes carrying lots of kit is a real no no,remember when you are in empty buildings generally you are somewhere where you should not be and you need to be light on your feet.

 

[waxycap]

For Urbex purposes carrying lots of kit is a real no no,remember when you are in empty buildings generally you are somewhere where you should not be and you need to be light on your feet.

Uhhh... That's great, man. What does any of that have to do with my questions? These are serious questions, man.

 

[idleprocess]

I dig your input, man... very informative. I am wondering more and more about HID lighting, though... not LED or incan.
Is there even such thing as high-CRI HDI lighting? Or high lumen Incan flood lighting without plugging in to wall outlet (rechargeable)?
I am under the impression that this kind of equipment is "Top of the Line" stuff and therefore only reserved for Hollywood movie sets.

Eh, I recall reading that the metal halide (What HID is referred to outside of automotive/handheld spotlight applications) bulbs they use for pro sports stadiums are higher CRI (a requirement for their TV contracts), but those bulbs are likely hard to source and may not be amenable to reasonably portable battery sources. As for the actual CRI, I'm seeing 100W bulbs as high as 85, with 65 being more typical in the ~200W range.

Everyone keeps harping on LED because it's so much more amenable to portable use. System efficiency is easily double that of metal halide with the resulting lighter power supplies. The components are solid-state DC so they're compact, lightweight, and pretty rugged. CRI can meet that of metal halide. Variable output is trivial. It's not terribly difficult nor overly expensive to homebrew a lighting setup with LED that will do what you want.

Are you going to be lugging your gear around, or can you unload from a vehicle? If the former, then you'll likely appreciate how compact/lightweight/rugged/efficient that LED will be. If the latter, then the greater bulk of HID may be worth it to you.

 

[waxycap]

Eh, I recall reading that the metal halide (What HID is referred to outside of automotive/handheld spotlight applications) bulbs they use for pro sports stadiums are higher CRI (a requirement for their TV contracts), but those bulbs are likely hard to source and may not be amenable to reasonably portable battery sources. As for the actual CRI, I'm seeing 100W bulbs as high as 85, with 65 being more typical in the ~200W range.

Everyone keeps harping on LED because it's so much more amenable to portable use. System efficiency is easily double that of metal halide with the resulting lighter power supplies. The components are solid-state DC so they're compact, lightweight, and pretty rugged. CRI can meet that of metal halide. Variable output is trivial. It's not terribly difficult nor overly expensive to homebrew a lighting setup with LED that will do what you want.

Are you going to be lugging your gear around, or can you unload from a vehicle? If the former, then you'll likely appreciate how compact/lightweight/rugged/efficient that LED will be. If the latter, then the greater bulk of HID may be worth it to you.

99% of the time I would not be able to connect any equipment being used in real time to a vehicle battery.
I might be able to return to a vehicle to recharge something for a while, off that battery, but that's as far as I will ever get.

Knee jerk reacting to what is your (obviously) educated reply, I say "Thank you" and........

I only understood about 70% of your answer, but I agree that LED light is kinda overrated.

I have no clue what you meant by 'variable output', (as it may or may not apply to my non-LED situation) but I'll look into it.

Anyhow, I have a couple of hundred bucks to spend and this is my chief reason for considering interior lighting options for both carry-around and stationary lighting, so that I may bring in light to a safe location without fear of long exposure noise problems.

I'd like to invest in both or all three options simultaneously, whether that be High CRI LED, HID, or incan.

Summary is that I need to have ENOUGH light to make a decent photograph, but I also want to get to PLAY with these multiple light sources when I shoot!

 

[ChinoLED]

Harbour Freight sell dual 1000 watt halogen lights for $35

 

[Norm]

ahhh, nevermind. i don't think the question will ever get seen here, but whatever.

You were saying?

Norm

 

[Ken_McE]

Is there even such thing as high-CRI HDI lighting?

Look into Metal Halide or Ceramic Metal Halide for the best CRI.

Or high lumen Incan flood lighting without plugging in to wall outlet (rechargeable)?

Use Xenon or Halogen car headlights and a 12 volt deep cycle battery.

I am under the impression that this kind of equipment is "Top of the Line" stuff and therefore only reserved for Hollywood movie sets.

You don't need the most expensive equipment in the world. You just need equipment that meets your needs and does the job. Can you carry/wheel in a car battery?

 

[idleprocess]

Appears I never responded to this - here's hoping the OP is still around 9+ months later.

Not mentioned was the potential for florescent, but that's likely going to be a bulky option with limited ability to control the light.

99% of the time I would not be able to connect any equipment being used in real time to a vehicle battery.
I might be able to return to a vehicle to recharge something for a while, off that battery, but that's as far as I will ever get.

As Ken_McE else has also inquired - can you lug around a car battery? This is important because if you can, then there are many options for you depending on how much you can feasibly carry. If not, then your options are more limited since incan and arc lamps (HID, metal halide) require a lot of watts that smaller devices will have difficulty delivering for any length of time; a battery also allows for more flexibility since most small-ish, portable, self-powered devices that put out a lot of light will for your purpose effectively be tightly-focused spotlights.

Note that the term "car battery" is generic; a large gel-cell or deep-cycle battery might better suit your purposes if it's going to be regularly depleted to near-0% charge.

I only understood about 70% of your answer, but I agree that LED light is kinda overrated.

LED buys you options when it comes to runtime and/or light output for a given volume/weight that the other options do not. It's roughly double the efficiency of arc lamps and perhaps 4 times as efficient as halogen. It also scales in output far more gracefully since it can generate light from near-zero input power to its rated limit, while the other options simply do not dim anywhere near as well. Lastly, if you simply can't lug a car battery, it can still offer you thousands of room-filling lumens of light from small independent sources for a few tens of minutes.

I have no clue what you meant by 'variable output', (as it may or may not apply to my non-LED situation) but I'll look into it.

Say you have a 50W fixture, but that's either too much light for your situation or you need it to run for longer than it would drawing 50W and can live with the reduced output. With variable output you could run it for ~2x as long supplying 25W or ~5 times as long supplying 10W. LED is very capable of doing this with still relatively simple driving electronics; the other options not so much so without compromises in terms of performance or cost.

Summary is that I need to have ENOUGH light to make a decent photograph, but I also want to get to PLAY with these multiple light sources when I shoot!

I'm not sure your couple of hundred bucks budget will grant you a great deal of leeway. Almost anything you buy ready-built putting out the kind of lumens you need to light large spaces will tend to be either ferociously expensive (ala anything "photographic") or require mains power and hell of a lot of watts (ala anything "jobsite"). LED lends itself to homebrew fixtures since it's DC-powered, generally low voltage, does not have the special handling requirements of HID, nor does it radiate so much heat as the other options. You might be able to hack some of the super-cheap architectural LED fixtures out there to take DC input so long as ">80 CRI", "super tight optical control", and "meets something close to its rated lifespan" aren't must-haves.

 

[Anders Hoveland]

For temporary use that just requires huge amounts of light, typically halogen is used, because it is the cheapest.

But if you know where to look, there are some really cheap (comparatively) high power LED bay lighting lamps that can be found.

 

[Ken_McE]

OK, my custom home made light fixture just for Waxycap:

Start off with an aluminum sheet. A cookie tray will do. Do a search for "clamp light aluminum reflector". They are a cheap light sold in hardware stores. You just want the reflectors. Buy four, six, however many will fit neatly on your cookie tray. For discussion, let's assume four. Come up with a mounting so they can fasten (narrow end down) on the tray. Mark the centers of the spots they will occupy. Buy four headlight bulb holders. Mount them so they will hold a bulb inside each of the reflectors. Add light angle aluminum to serve as handles and mechanical support.

You now have a flat metal sheet with four car headlight bulbs, each with a big reflector, mounted on it. arrange it so it can mate with a music stand or something so you can choose how you position it. Aim that bad boy at your target and fire away. You will get a hemisphere of light. Sylvania Silverstar bulbs are short life but extra bright. The short life won't matter for your work. You now have the equivalent of one automobiles worth of lighting ready to carry in your hand. Remember what idleprocess says about choosing batteries. You might design all your components so the lead cords just plug in and out, RCA jacks or something. No fiddling with %$#!! wires in the dark.

Go take some pictures. If you like the quality of the light, go buy some more cookie sheets....