JAY HOLBEN

It used to irritate the hell out of me that Chris would always start lighting from the smallest detail in the room.

When I first made the move to Los Angeles to pursue my career in film, my two roommates were huge fans of “The X-Files.”

Recently on Instagram I posed a question to my followers: What would you like to learn?

I was reminded of this particular project recently while posting some tips on Instagram.

There are some great apps that can help the cinematographer and/or gaffer in their daily efforts.

In the world of luminaries the carbon arc used to be the king, but his time has faded and left room for the HMI to be king of the power and utility.

This month, let’s take a deeper look at one of the most ubiquitous forms of illumination in our world: tungsten or incandescent bulbs.

Recently I was asked to lecture at a college for a course in advanced cinematography.

I received an email question the other day about lighting a green screen and thought it might be of use for me to share my response and thoughts here.

The next in line on our examination of lighting fixtures is the PAR, which is an acronym for Parabolic Aluminum Reflector.

The world of lighting hardware can be confusing waters to navigate.

Last month I discussed the aesthetic side of how cinematographers and lighting directors go about choosing specific fixtures for the job.

In a recent lecture on lighting, I had a student ask me about mireds and I saw the blank and quizzical faces of his fellow students at the mere mention of the word.

We all know inverse square law as the rule of physics regarding point sources where the intensity of the source will diminish by the square of the distance traveled.

A few months ago, Shots magazine did a special issue on the technical trades behind-the-scenes in the industry and they chose me to represent expertise in the world of lighting.

I was asked to give a short talk at this year’s NAB Show on new technology for studio lighting.

I was recently invited to give a guest lecture on narrative lighting for the Bay Area Professional Videographer’s Association in San Jose, Calif.

Last month I tried to answer a young cinematographer’s question about how cinematographers improvise lighting.

During the holiday season you may find me scouring the aisles at my local hardware, home improvement and home superstores—not for holiday gifts, but for holiday lights!