VAN NUYS, CALIF.— Aerial camera operator and musician Douglas Spotted Eagle recently participated in an aerial shoot for a global cell phone manufacturer using Litepanels Sola ENG and MicroPro LED lights during a free fall.
“We had to transmit the photograph to social media before any of the skydivers had landed their parachutes. The first challenge in lighting was choice of instrument. Power is restricted by battery weight, as is the instrument size,” said Spotted Eagle. “A major challenge of aerial lighting is that there is nothing from which a bounce can be utilized. Additionally, the wind and speed conspire, making direct lighting difficult, and so the lighting must be diffused to not to create harsh contrasts.”
Spotted Eagle’s director wanted a specific lighting style of light, and to accomplish this he fit the Sola ENG in the housing of his MicroPros to provide enough coverage.
“I could not have done this project without the dimmable feature found on both lights, and the focus-ability of the Solas. I needed to spread the light out as much as possible within the housing I had to work with,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of the “The lights are head-worn, with batteries either head-worn or chest mounted. Weight was critical, because if the weight on the top of the head is too high; deployment of the parachute can become a safety issue if the wearer’s neck snaps back.”
He also cited the ease of mounting as other advantages of these lights.
