The Onset Of Lighting

And that’s on-set, you understand. When should you add to nature’s bounty of lumens?

In the good/bad old days of film, that was pretty early in the piece. Nothing we used was all that sensitive to light - the chiefest illumination in our photo world was still the sun. But we found several helpers along the way:

Arc lamps - they were tried in some studios very early on, and then carried forward to the first film studios. Frightening devices, noisy and hot, and they pumped out vast amounts of damaging UV rays. Google up Klieg Eye and look at some of the melting expressions old silent film stars used. That was they eyeballs melting…

Flash powder - whether this was lycopodium or powdered aluminium, it was capable of marvellous results for large banquet photos. The photographer uncovered a lens in front of a slow plate, triggered the flash powder, covered the lens and ran for the exit before the room filled with choking smoke.

Flash sheets - tissue paper sheets impregnated with nitrocellulose, this idea of the 1920’s meant that the open lens and ignition could take place in a more controlled
fashion. The sheets were clipped to reflector boards and set off with a match.

Magnesium ribbon - held in a mechanical device that fed the ribbon out to be burned - producing a pure light - this was able to produce more sustainable light…but just as smelly and dangerous as the previous ideas.

Flash bulbs - whether big ones with Edison screw bases or small ones with bayonet fittings - flash bulbs were the first practical answer to portable lighting. They provided enough light to shoot indoors and at night even with the emulsions of the 1930’s, and were a popular way to ruin festive meals when they exploded over the turkey at the table.

Wise shooters kept them in holders with clear protective covers and the later flash cubes did the same.

Electronic flash tubes. The early ones looked like something from Area 52, and if you were silly enough to power their capacitors and fabric-insulated wires right now you might be treated to Alamagordo all over. The gas-discharge tube is still the basis of most speed-lights and portable flashes now, but the new ones are safe.

LED lights. Well, we all have them somewhere in our house or car, and they are now appearing more and more in studios. Big single units or multiple panels, they are the real answer for video work and for a lot of the less-frantic still shoots.

Note: You can ask CE for studio strobes, for speed lights, for LED panels or heads, but our stocks of flash powder and magnesium ribbon have long been exhausted. We only do our retro safely…

Text  by Richard Stein