Portable Lighting Tips
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Photo by Gabriela Palai from Pexels
The GoPro Hero 8 action cameras are amazing tools for regular still imaging and video in addition to their obvious usage for action endeavors. Add some of the new ultra compact portable lighting equipment and you have a complete A/V photo rig that could quite literally fit in your pocket.
Well, if the pockets are a little oversized and heavy duty...like the ones on my favorite pair of cargo shorts that I’ve been wearing so often lately. Yes, besides being a world class photographer and videographer, I am also a fashion maven.
Portable Lighting For Photography and Videography
As you start using your GoPro Hero 8 action camera for projects other than surfing, bull riding, and hang gliding, you will quickly run into a need for portable lighting to enable you to get the best quality videos and images. Or you may want to employ some advanced lighting techniques you’ve already learned to do with your regular photography lighting gear.
An issue with much of my regular photography lighting gear being used with my GoPro Hero 8 is the size of the lights and stands. Plus, the fact several of them must be plugged into a power outlet.
That simply won’t do with the reason I’m using the GoPro for some things in the first place. I take out my GoPro for those photo or video shoots where I don’t want to lug around a lot of extra gear due to their size and weight. So, truly portable photography lighting gear is in order.
Recommended Portrait Lighting Reading:
LitraPro Ultra Portable Lighting
LitraPro battery powered LED light from Litra is an ultra portable solution for your portable photography lighting needs.
The light is controllable via bluetooth on Apple or Android, so you can adjust as you need remotely, just like you already can control the GoPro Hero 8 with the GoPro smartphone app. This makes for a highly portable and versatile camera and lighting rig.
LitraPro is an LED light, very cool operating and extremely power efficient. Battery charge lasts for up to an hour on full power, and an incredible 10 hours on the lowest power setting. Recharges quickly with the supplied micro-USB power charger/adapter that can also be used as a power cord.
photo by subman via iStock
It is rugged, too, just like you want in order to pair it as portable lighting for photography with the GoPro Hero 8 action cam. Shockproof and waterproof to 27 meters or 90 feet. It meets the military specs 810G MIL SPECS for extreme use. So you can use it in conditions that you may put your GoPro Hero 8 in for photography or video.
The color temperature is adjustable from warm to cool, 3000K to 6000K. That’s a function you can control remotely, so you can balance it to the ambient lighting of the scene. It is pretty bright, too, 1200 lumen. A lot brighter than its small size would lead you to believe at first.
There are multiple mounting options to attach the LitraPro to a variety of cameras, mounts, or stands.
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OctoPad Camera and Accessory Mounting System
Ever since I found the OctoPad camera and accessory mount, I can’t stop talking about it. Yeah, I’m that guy in the camera club. But it really is one of the neatest small and inexpensive items in my camera gear bag.
What is OctoPad? It is a weighted semi soft pad that sticks to most surfaces via friction alone. No clamps, no suction cups. It won’t slide on an angle of up to 45 degrees. A ¼-20 thread on top allows for adding a photographic gear item directly to it or you can add a ball and socket head or adjustable arm to it for more versatility.
The OctoPad is small enough and cheap enough to keep two or three on hand anywhere. I have a couple in my car as well as some in with my other GoPro gear and portable lighting.
The Ultimate Portable Video and Photography Rig
There you have it. A combined weight less than my latest DSLR camera and lens upgrade. Extremely rugged and also waterproof. Controllable remotely from smartphone apps. This is an amazingly versatile compact set up for portable lighting to accompany your GoPro Hero 8 to use for still imaging and videography.
photo by marekuliasz via iStock
Once you try out this rig, you’ll be that person in the camera club, too. As an alternative to carrying around your regular photography gear for some projects, it’s hard to beat.
Show us what you have captured with your GoPro Hero 8 and the LitraPro plus OctoPad portable lighting gear.
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