Had the pleasure of working with @jamie.sullivan.mahon toward the end of last year. He brought me on to gaff a handful of sitdown interviews and this is how we pulled it off. Jamie came in with a clear vision for the look. We started with a cross key using two 2x2 matts. I don't like the keys doubling as backlights, so I made sure to flag each one and slip a 4ft tube behind each subject for greater control. Boomed a 300x with a lantern off a 12ft menace arm, skirted to keep the spill off the background. Brought on Mark Jameson as Key Grip and he was more than game. We had a bunch of second-level windows kicking reflections onto the fireplace mantel that needed to get knocked down. Jamie also had a nice idea to sneak in some MC4 brick lights to uplight the fireplace, which added a lot. Check out the finished product on @afternow.studio page. Jamie was a true professional and I look forward to when he and his company are back in town.

"The Quiet Work" Chapter 1 - Starting at Zero Aired last night on NBC. Lit all three interviews in this episode. #gaffer #interview #documentary #leelightingllc

The DP and I walked into this conference room. He gave me some direction then headed to another room to shoot b-roll where beautiful early morning sun was filling the space. We joked that was my best work of the day. In my room: 4x frame with thin diffusion, lite grid slip on, and an LCD rigged on top of a table that was too heavy to move. Keyed with a 2x2 mat through the 4x. Three 60xs in the background, all traveling the same direction to sell the idea of hard sun coming through those windows. In reality the sun was moving up and away from them. One armed out to hit the plant, one spotted in on the table, one as the kicker. Sometimes the sun does the heavy lifting. Sometimes you build it yourself. #gaffer #owneroperator #lightingbreakdown #interviewlighting #cinematography

West-facing windows and a hat. Solo out of my van. Blocked the direct sun coming through the windows, replaced with two 600xs with fresnels and a Joker 800 with a super wide lens through a lite 4x diffusion. Keyed with a 2x2 mat through 8x lite grid. Added a 60x with Opal to act as sunlight across their shoulder and torso making sure to keep it off their face. Bounced some fill up from their feet to get under the brim of their hat. In hindsight I should have used two 4x Floppies on the windows outside. I would have set them differently, but the sun was setting so fast behind an adjacent building which did the work for me in the end. Thank you Victoria for sitting in. #gaffer #lightingsetup #owneroperator #cinematography #behindthescenes

Four windows. One generator. This meeting house had no power, so everything came off my Honda 7000. Two 600xs with fresnels, a joker 800 with a super wide lens, and a joleko with a 50° lens through a double net, all simulating late afternoon sun coming through the windows. When camera moved inside, I relocated a 300x upstairs with a litedome to lift the ambience as they roamed the space on an Easy Rig. #gaffer #lightingsetup #owneroperator #videoproduction #cinematography

When the location is already interesting visually, the job is to enhance, not overpower. Soft key through the window, warm backlight through another, a little fireplace fill for the wides, and a little grip finesse. #gaffer #gripandelectric #lightingbreakdown #owneroperator

Not the original location. Thirty minutes to block and light which included a short company move. 30mph winds, temps below 30, and a minor cold. #gripandelectric #lightingsetup #owneroperator