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Simple lighting tips to prepare your home for a video shoot 

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With the holiday season is around the corner and your homes looking greater than ever with all that Christmas decorations, this year you could try to make some awesome videos to remember the good times you had with your family and friends. But, just before you begin to point and shoot the videos, let us help you in setting the right ambience for the shoot—always remember, getting the lighting right is eminent while you shoot as only one-eighth of the light you see is eventually captured.

Simple settings you need to know in your camera before shooting.

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  1. Aperture— The hole through which the light passes in your camera is called the aperture of the camera. As you increase the aperture, the hole fastens and lets lesser light to pass into the camera.
  2. ISO— The camera’s sensitivity towards light is measured by ISO functions. Lower the ISO number, lesser the sensitivity on the image sensor. As you increase the ISO, the picture becomes grainier. For shooting the Christmas lights and decorations indoor, an ISO of 800 is ideal.
  3. Shutter speed— The shutter acts like a curtain in front of the lens and controls the light coming to the lens. If you intend to shoot activities in motion, remember to set the ISO as well as the shutter speed in high mode. When you shoot under tube lights and other similar sources of white light, increase the shutter speed.
  4. White balancing— It is a camera control that helps in adjusting the color sensitivity of the camera with the surrounding and helps to eliminate any unwanted light cast. It can be done easily by holding a thick white paper in front of the camera and clicking on the white balance option on your camera.

Tips that will help you capture awesome videos.

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  1. Eliminate external light— Once you have all your indoor and decoration lights installed, make sure you cut out all the extra light sources entering your house through doors and windows. This can be done easily by pulling down the thick curtains and sticking black paper or placing thick black cloth from outside these light sources. Putting them inside would disrupt the aesthetics of your decorated surroundings!
  2. Diffuser— If you intend to shoot a specific object that has too much light falling on it, then use a diffuser (butter paper, any easy diffuser to procure) to neutralize the harsh light falling on the object. Hold the diffuser in front of the light source for this purpose.
  3. Bulb mode— Rice bulbs are common decoration lights used these days for every occasion from birthdays to festivals. Bulb mode on your camera will be a great option to shoot with these lights in the backdrop. Outdoor lighting decorations can also be shot using this mode.
  4. Mirrors— Lights from candles and lamps are a highlight of many festivals and if we try shooting it, it takes away the attention of the whole frame. To aesthetically capture light from flames use mirrors.
  5. Extra lights and materials— Have a tungsten light, big LED light sources, mini flood light, reflectors and mirrors handy for your shoot, All these sources of lights and reflective materials can be used to enhance your video shooting.
  6. Plan your shoot— Make all the necessary arrangements for the video shoot well in advance. After completing with the decorations and installing the lights required, have a test shoot. Check all the equipments and extra materials required for the shoot at least two days prior to shoot. If you intend to do an outdoor shoot, then test the natural lighting conditions at different times and make notes of appropriate time to shoot outside.
  7. Edit— Make a note of every shot you take and describe them in brief if possible on the notes, this will help you when you are putting your holiday video together. Familiarize yourself with an appropriate video editing tool, such as FlexClip to join all the pieces of videos you shot to come up with one awesome holiday movie!

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