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Lighting - tips, tricks, links, etc.

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I'm sure it's explained somewhere, or I can not be lazy and google it.... but honestly, I'd prefer a cam girl explanation....what's a CFL bulb?

My apologies, I haven't had my coffee yet.:bag:
CFL=Compact Florescent
 
PART ONE: This old post caught my attention and now I'm curious....
I use a Logitech 9000 still

What do you use now since it's been 2 years since you posted this? Also, have you changed your lighting set up or are you still using the same lights. Your lighting and cam look extra perfect since MFC did the HD upgrade. I personally think you have the most clear, HD looking room on all of MFC. :inlove:

PART TWO: Why does my face have a really obnoxious shine to it when I am sitting at my computer desk. Is it my lights? My cam settings? My make-up? Any clues/suggestions?

I can make it less noticeable by lower the gain on my c920, but then my room becomes too dark.

I keep my computer screen on very low brightness and warm colors. Here is my lighting setup, I have one on each side of the room. I use pillow cases to soften the light a little because the lamp shades alone make me look really washed out. Also, I use soft white bulbs:

1.jpg 2.jpg

I believe the answer to my own question is I need to get a better tall light that has a more natural tint to it. But I was hoping for a second opinion and/or suggestions as to a more suitable light I can use?
 
What do you use now since it's been 2 years since you posted this? Also, have you changed your lighting set up or are you still using the same lights. Your lighting and cam look extra perfect since MFC did the HD upgrade. I personally think you have the most clear, HD looking room on all of MFC. :inlove:
Still the 9000 and still similar lighting. I may finally upgrade to the c920 soon as I tried it for my video game streaming and it looks really nice on the higher res vid in MFC.
 
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believe the answer to my own question is I need to get a better tall light that has a more natural tint to it. But I was hoping for a second opinion and/or suggestions as to a more suitable light I can use?
It looks like your bulbs are cool tone. Maybe look for soft white instead and lower watt. I love these lights from Lowes:
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selecti...ed-Indoor-Floor-Lamp-with-Paper-Shade/3394394

And
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-Erskin-17-7-in-White-Desk-Lamp-with-Paper-Shade/50016042

Sorry if they're mobile links I'm on phone.
 
I'm getting ready to pick up some smart lights soon, I want ones I can link up and control with my phone, any brand recommendations?
They're pricey, but I HIGHLY recommend these! I bought this starter and an extra bulb that I use as my camroom lights. I've added a few other lights and a light strip in other rooms of my house. I love them so much. There's apps that will let them strobe or "lava lamp" to music.
I'm working on a way to get them to flash when I get tipped on cam too!

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-4562...id=1473392129&sr=8-2&keywords=hue+starter+kit

You can see them being all fancy in this trailer.
https://www.manyvids.com/Video/114409/Hula-Hoop-Striptease/
 
Okay so this is slightly off my own topic I guess, but I think it's helpful for others to see. So I actually pulled out the light bulb boxes here to give y'all a better understanding of the difference in the light bulbs that I've tried using. Both pictures were taken with the same c920 settings but obviously look very very different.

Soft White - 550 Lumens
soft-white.jpg

Daylight - 800 Lumens
daylight.jpg

I am trying to look as realistic as possible on cam, and neither of these photos accurately reflect my skin tone. Either my skin looks super orange, but my room has a warm cozy feel... or I look washed out, and the room has a blueish tint to it.

I felt like the second photo was closer to reality, and that's why I am currently using the 'daylight' lights. Plus, I am able to adjust the color hue in the logitech settings to make the color look a little more real. But I'm still not happy enough with the outcome. I want to provide my fans with the most realistic me I can possibly be, both inside and out. :)

Back on topic both light bulbs had have the shine issue, which is why I'm perplexed by what's causing it. It could be as simple as being too close to the light source, but unfortunately that's not something I can change.

@AmberCutie thanks for the links, those lights are awesome. They are much nicer than the ones I have now!

@BraisleeAdams I actually have those lights on my wishlist, but I never consider them being a solution to my problem, you definitely are on to something there. Also awesome teaser! I've always wanted to learn some hula skills.:wasntme:
 
Delayed thought/question... am I the only girl who has to use a light on the floor (major photography no no) so that my pussy is actually visible when I bend over? Is there a way I can avoid this because the shadows drive me nuts! I have spent so many hours trying to think of a better way.... :meh:
 
I work in theatre (and am going to school for technical production with a specialization in electrics and lighting) so lighting is kind of my thing!! Though I recently moved, and I'm still putting off lighting my room the way I want to. Have to wait for landlord permission to install fixtures.

Fixtures/Lamps:

Table lamps go a long way! I currently even use just a tiny ikea USB reading light. Small, strong, long life, and easily adjustable during a show. Even lying down I can just kick it down or nudge it to highlight or adjust for the tiniest movement, which is very handy. The downside is that it's a very harsh light, and sunspots are inevitable even out of the corner of your eye, haha. If you use something like that, toss a tissue or 1 ply of toilet paper over it, and stick an elastic band to hold it in place as a poor woman's diffuser/frost!

A tip I have that I need to use myself once I unpack is lighting temperature. Home lights, especially in bedrooms, are often very warm (yellow-ish) and it isn't very flattering! It's what makes you look shiny and orange. On the flip side, adjusting by adding blues can make you look washed out.

I really recommend LED lights for this purpose. They're the closest you get to white, really, and have a lot longer life than normal bulbs. Again, they can be harsh, but diffusers are great. (plus, you can get LED strips/lamps/bulbs with remotes to change colours and sometimes intensity as you wish. Check amazon, try a few things out for cheap until you see what you like best!)

As a theatre person.... Gels! Gels and string lights. They're a cheap fun way to add some fun to your show or video. Google Rosco or stagelightingstore. You can get rolls of coloured plastic made for going over lamps and lights to filter colours, or rolls of frosts that spread and soften existing light for about $7 per 20x24 foot rolls. You'll basically never run out - those suckers take a while to burn out on source 4s emitting ~1090 celcius per hour. Use gels to adjust the colour temperature of the room lighting, or for cool effects. (One lamp to the left with pink, the other to the right with blue, suddenly you've got kickass 'club lighting' for a video)

And string lights are so cheap and so damn pretty (I'm VERY mad that I lost my box of them in the move.)

Light Positioning:

I could say so much about the angles of light and how they look on people but tbh most o my knowledge is lighting a person on stage, so I'll just leave this gif of how angles change your look:

nGJaYvT.gif


Sigh. I have all these ideas and all this advice, when will I use it for myself?
 
First, thank you very much. Your reply was so helpful.

I'll just leave this gif of how angles change your look

I've seen this before, but it's still mesmerizing... and rather trippy. I'd love to see each frame, and where the light was.

I have all these ideas and all this advice, when will I use it for myself?

When you do, let us know! I'd love to see you work your magic! I followed you on twitter. :)
 
I made shadow boxes out of lampshades, DYI project. Cut out the back of the shade, insert the silver construction light (home depot $14.00, soft white 60 watt) covered outside of shade with a thin white polyester fabric, duct tape around the side of shade to keep fabric in place. You can find directions on line everywhere. I place two on both sides of my camera, a series of lights on tracks overhead, 40 watt 6 of them, but the money maker is the one on the floor looking up, DUH, right ($24.00 target) . I put my cam about 24 inches off the ground (perfect for the feet guys and there are thousands of them) My 42 inch TV is my screen, I put it on rollers so my room is different every day just a little. The lights are on the TV Rolling stand so I don't have to ever touch them. Keep in mind, your screen needs to be above or below your camera. You need to be looking right at them girls. I see so many looking off to the side to read their thread, look into their eyes. Camera and screen together.

There is one major secret, airbrush tanning. The light can make you look pasty. I spray about every 7 days, looks amazing on cam, not so much in real life. You can see my profile pic, my legs are tan, my feet are white. I am a long distance runner, the spray never stays on my feet because they sweat so much every day. Yes you will spend $200 a month on tanning, but it will make you so much more on line. It takes money to make money on line. Hope that helps.
 
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Girls,I'm still pretty new to camming but just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. A couple people told me my room was dark so I bought an 8$ floor lamp put it to the side of the camera like some of the girls here advised and it worked miracles! so thank you for all your advice girls!
 
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I'm a new model and my current lighting situation is two of these (got them on sale for around 20$ for both) http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60301043/ and an overhead light angled down towards me in between them. The lamps came with led bulbs but I'm excited to play around with different bulbs to try and get a cozier feel (right now my room is bright, diffused and shadowless but does not look natural at all). Next step: a better webcam!
 
I heard that this lamp is pretty good but for make-up artists, has someone tried it for camming?
Did you ever purchase the ring light ? I saw Walmart has one for only $100. I feel like I need more flattering light in my living room.
 
Still trying to figure out how to prevent my ring lights from reflecting in my glasses while filming. I've purchased a diffuser and I have anti-reflective coating on my glasses, but I can still see the outline of the light in my glasses on camera. :mad:
Abbeyrain on CB has huge glasses. I noticed that she uses two strip lights, one above the camera and one below it. This lets her raise and lower head without the lights reflecting in them and they also give her good diffused frontal light without a lot of space.
 
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I've been using two different floor lamps that have smaller angle adjustable lightbulbs attached that I can move for the angle. I like more forward facing light but I usually sit with my window behind me so I have backlight when I cam in the mornings as well.
 
I always look washed out now that I've moved to a different room, seems like nothing helps. The only fixed light in the room is a bare bulb behind me, which I tried covering before I just said heck with it and left it off. I had 2 lamps and even setting them behind something or using shades or drapes I get this... Ps, wasn't actively camming, just trying to adjust lights so I could.

IMG_0435.JPG

I either look like I'm sitting in the dark or im entirely washed out. I was thinking about trying to use some kind of color over one of the lights to see if it helps but no idea what to use.
 
That background is doing nothing for you.

Also, please take a screenshot and post that. Photographing your screen doesn't show what your webcam would look like on stream. It also looks like you are using a filter.
 
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That background is doing nothing for you.

Also, please take a screenshot and post that. Photographing your screen doesn't show what your webcam would look like on stream. It also looks like you are using a filter.
No filter, I wasn't on cam when I sent these today, they were junk ones I was showing my husband lol. I took actual photos today and emailed to myself this time, with a new background, and no makeup or anything so please be gentle lol. I'm taking this week off because I I'm not practiced at those tips of faking stuff
IMG_1114.JPG

And this one is with the better quality Logitech and adjusting the settings to bump up the color saturation just slightly... but my internet here in podunk is way too slow to use it. The Logitech has a 3-2-1 countdown so photos are taken at exactly same moment side by side but I have the Logitech mirrored just to make life easier on me.
IMG_1115.JPG
 
I have always read about how good lighting is important, but never really thought much of it. I am glad that I found this thread and I now understand that it is indeed important. Usually I figure if they can see me and my parts without my flaws, then it will be good. I am kind of self conscious of my stretch marks and stuff. I am going to indeed experiment and work more with my lighting and see if this makes a difference for me. Thanks everyone!!
 
As a brand new model, I've had a lot of success with one floor lamp (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20110903/#) with a white t-shirt draped over it, and a Logitech 920. Don't even know what light bulb I have in it. I position it behind my camera, pointing pretty straight at me, maybe 3-4 feet from my face, with no other lights on in the room. I'm a little washed out, but at this point I don't mind. Also I don't do cumshows, so mostly I'm just trying to illuminate my face and tits, and my setup works enough for that.
I'm *definitely* intrigued by changing my angle however. That gif above was super cool. When I'm broadcasting I feel like I'm constantly catching my face in a weird (unflattering) angle, and turning my head/pulling my chin down to compensate. Definitely need to experiment with what lighting angle looks best for my face.
Thanks for all the info guys!
 
I have such a mixture of every kind of lighting in my cam space and I use it ALLLLL! Being a redhead (I'm hard to light) who moves all over my camspace and needs to be well lit everywhere, I've definitely adopted the kitchen sink lighting strategy.

When it comes to overall room lighting, everyone is different and will benefit from different setups.
My two best tips that really apply to everyone are
1. Defuse your light. Paper lamps, shades, shoot through umbrellas... any form of lighting will be best diffused to create a more even and soft light source.

2. Have a low placed light, such as a desk lamp on the floor to avoid that dark hole affect, especially if you often stand.


It's such an art to light correctly our room ... i cam since little more than 2 months and i didnt find the perfect position and amount of light. I figure it out that i should put light higher for maybe have shadow under my pec :) .. will see .. its always adjustement, maybe i didnt have enought light but i only put on in front of me and it is so bright, im almost white, i have to back 1-2 step back and its ok ... anyway
 
As a brand new model, I've had a lot of success with one floor lamp (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20110903/#) with a white t-shirt draped over it, and a Logitech 920. Don't even know what light bulb I have in it. I position it behind my camera, pointing pretty straight at me, maybe 3-4 feet from my face, with no other lights on in the room. I'm a little washed out, but at this point I don't mind. Also I don't do cumshows, so mostly I'm just trying to illuminate my face and tits, and my setup works enough for that.
I'm *definitely* intrigued by changing my angle however. That gif above was super cool. When I'm broadcasting I feel like I'm constantly catching my face in a weird (unflattering) angle, and turning my head/pulling my chin down to compensate. Definitely need to experiment with what lighting angle looks best for my face.
Thanks for all the info guys!
Please please get a paper lamp instead of draping the shirt over it. That is just a fire waiting to happen.