Light Source: Using a Camera-Mounted Light (page 2)
What to Do
Reporters and videographers have experimented with many ways to enhance their on-camera lights so that they are not the straight shot, hard lights we all know and hate. The primary concern is how to make a small, hard light bigger and softer. One technique used is called diapering. Yes, this is just like what you do to babies only you use a material called tough spun and you loosely attach it to the front of the light so that it softens and spreads light. You can either use gaffer's tape, or on lights with small barn doors, clothespins or paper clips to attach the tough spun to the light. Because the tough spun material diffuses the light, the result is a softer, bigger light source that looks a lot better than the original.
If you do a lot of shooting with an on-camera light, you might want to look into a special light. You can attach soft diffusion banks on your camera lights. These light banks not only create a much larger light than you originally started with, their offset mounting apparatus may also move the light so that it is not in the center of the camera. This offset position enables the light to fall at a more flattering angle for your talent or subject.
Offsetting your on-camera light is an important way to minimize the deer-in-the-headlights look of a centered mounted light. To offset your light, you will have to create a rig that clamps to the handle of your camera or fits in the camera's accessory shoe and moves the light off to the side and above the level of the lens (see the Build it Yourself sidebar).
Lights On
As you have seen from the tips in this column, using on-camera lights does not necessarily have to mean stark, harsh-looking video. You can diffuse the light, offset it from center and use it sparingly. There is one important thing to remember with on-camera lights, however - most of them have a color temperature of 3200 degrees, which is the equivalent of indoor light. If you are using the on-camera light to supplement the outdoor lighting, place a small piece of blue color-correction gel in front of the light to match it to daylight.
