Lighting is very important for recording a good quality video.  When I look at the videos I’ve recorded and uploaded, it is very easy to tell the difference between when I’ve used my own lighting and when I’ve relied on the ambient temple lighting.

If you shoot mostly during the day and the temple has lots of windows then you may not need to add lighting.  This was the case when I did my recording at the Laguna Beach temple.  The dallas temple is just the opposite.  There is mostly just mood lighting and all the temple pillars and other features are dark. 

On-Camera Video Light

  The easiest lighting option is a video light.  This is a light that connects to the hot-shoe on your camcorder and lights up whatever subject is directly in front of the camera.  These are generally cheap.  Find one that uses LEDs for lighting to extend the life of your batteries.  I’ve used the Sima SL-10L in the past.  These sell on ebay for around $20 to $30. 

But watch out.  The light is quite intense (due to it’s small size) and is directly in line with the camcorder.  This can be quite annoying.  Also, the light is only so bright and so both it and the camcorder must be close to the subject.  I found this fairly useless for recording a lecture since the speaker would be disturbed by the bright light directly in their line of sight to the people sitting in the temple room.

Traditional Video Lighting

Traditional video lighting is bulky, power consuming and very very hot.  Recognize these lights by their use of a halogen, tugsten or quartz bulb.  The quality of the lighting is incredible — there is a reason they are used in professional settings.  Your subject probably won’t be too happy being lit by these for a 40minute class though due to their heat. 

Fluorescent Lighting

With the right bulbs, fluorescent lighting is a good compromise between light quality, heat, and cost.  I use the SP2700 Professional Photo Umbrella by Square Perfect ($140).  This kit comes with two sets of lights, light stands, and umbrellas.  I’ve been very happy with this light kit.  The bulbs are large/powerful fluorescent bulbs that operate at 5500K (nice clear white).  I’ve had very little issues with color balance.   Using the light stands, I can position the lights above the line of sight of the speaker.  I generally just use one light which is plenty.  I only have two reservations with the kit.  If I get real close, I can hear a quiet buzz from the lights.  This hasn’t been an issue for me but may be an issue for other users.   My other complaint is that the bag is completely soft.   So, I keep each piece of equipment in it’s original cardboard container which provides the necessary structure to keep the bag stiff. 

LED Lighting

If you have money to burn, check out LitePanels.  These are flat panels with many LED lights and are meant to be used in studio lighting.  A single 1 square foot light runs about $2000.  Quite a bit outside of my budget — that is for sure.

Conclusion

Get the right lighting for your budget.  Play around with it and see how the lighting improves the video captured by your camcorder.  If your subject is already well lit then skip the lights. 

A decent resource for reading up on lighting is at mediacollege.