The reality of today's working environment is that you are very likely to be presented with opportunities even if you seek them. From interviews to drama, interior and exterior setups, and interestingly night shots are all candidates for using available light in dramatic and original ways.

While it may be fast to film with natural light, it is not always easy when you can't just dim your lights, or move them relative to your subject. When done well, natural light can add incredible realism to a scene, it can make your scenes dramatic and natural. But it can also present real problems to overcome, extreme contrast ratios, shift source directions, glare, unwanted reflections, and a lack of the sort of modeling control we have with area lights. If you have seen any of Ben Allan's courses with Mike Seymour, you will know that the way we address these issues is by having Mike torture Ben. Mike will set complex and perhaps seemingly impossible lighting tasks - which in the past Ben has seemingly solved with easy, but this term he may just be stumped!