Comments on: Where Umbrellas Dare Not Go :: Flying Silks

By: Alan Matthews

Alan Matthews — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:02:20 +0000

I want one of those contraptions. Silk? How can I buy one?

By: Jannie Anderson

Jannie Anderson — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:19:06 +0000

When I was a young camera assistant I worked mostly on television commercials that we shot on 35mm film.

We were called to shoot a spot with Will Rogers Jr. sitting under an apple tree talking about apples. The director/ cameraman that I worked for, sent me to a local sailboat sail making shop and I had them make a 30′x40′ diffusion out of spinnaker material with grommets all around the outside. Then he got hold of some weather ballons and we raised it up in the air over the tree and anchored the corners to the ground by driving in old Ford axles. There was no wind, it gave the most beautiful light and in the end looked easy. Later when I became a director of photography I often used that same diffuser, once covering the gas pumps of a station in Californina and we tied it and another off to semi trailors set to block the wind behind the camera. It was pretty neat.

By: Jass Foley

Jass Foley — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:35:20 +0000

Can’t say enough about using silks. They do have a time and a place, but I’d take them over an octa when I want an ultra soft light. Found a great material supplier here (Ireland) that gives huge seamless synthetic at great price, so not gonna pass up the opportunity!

Used a silk hanging from a lastolite backdrop frame last week, and worked a treat! http://jassfoley.com/mill/

By: Asert

Asert — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:48:03 +0000

Amazing photo

By: anna

anna — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:14:39 +0000

the silk just adds so much density and at the same time grandiosely graciousness

By: Drew Lawrence

Drew Lawrence — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:13:40 +0000

Nice ! Very ‘Dean Collins’….

By: zack

zack — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:00:59 +0000

CD- The frame put us over our rental budget and I knew I really didn’t need it for this job. Had I been flying it outdoors then I would have really needed the frame. I also wanted the ability to throw it up quickly and bring it down quickly. Tying it to two stands does the job and saves a bit of cash for this particular job.

Cheers,
Zack

By: c.d.embrey

c.d.embrey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:39:40 +0000

Why didn’t you rent a frame for the silk ? Makes it much more versatile. The ability to raise and tilt the silk gives you more options for getting the look you want. And it makes it easy to move.

For bouncing, putting a 12×12 griff behind a 12×12 silk gives a nice soft light.

By: Mike Kang

Mike Kang — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:40:33 +0000

Zack, you’re the man. I rent gear all the time, I didn’t even think to rent silks! Duh!

By: Steve B.

Steve B. — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:06:45 +0000

It is a cheaper more versatile option to the giant octabank – but the light from the octabank is so gorgeous. Would love to see a side by side comparison of light quality.