Now for the real lighting challenge: recreating the light that supposedly is coming from the practical. For this, you have to consider a few lighting choices. Ask yourself if the lighting created by the practical is soft or hard. If the practical is a lamp with a shade, then it is a soft diffused light, and you would want to use a large soft light to duplicate it. If the light is coming from a bare bulb or candle flame, you would then want to use a small hard light to recreate the illumination. If the practical you are dealing with is a window, look at the quality of the light coming through it and use a hard or soft light as indicated.

Once you have determined the type of light needed, you need to set up your supplemental lighting to duplicate the effect of the practical. Always make sure you set the supplemental light at the same vertical angle as the practical. Also be careful that the light from your lighting instruments does not illuminate the exterior of the practical or throw a shadow of the practical into the scene. To avoid illuminating the outside of your practical, carefully flag your light so that a shadow falls on the practical and nowhere else. There is nothing worse than seeing a lamp shade with light shining on it from the outside! You can avoid the shadow of the practical by placing your lighting so that it is angled a bit forward of the practical. This will cause any shadow from the practical to be cast off-camera in a distance beyond your talent.

Now that you have the basics, let's take a look at our opening …