I just received my Reception Light today. Those who know me know I don't get overly excited about new toys and in fact, I don't buy many new toys period. Needless to say, I'm still smiling strong with that feeling you get when you know you got a great piece of gear; and, something that will not only get used regularly, but truly enhance the quality of your footage.
Out of the box, so to speak, is a black light stand that is adjustable up to 11ft. The stand has a very solid feel, yet, is not cumbersome in appearance, nor heavy in weight. This stand will allow you to keep your light source well above the heads of guests and provide you with a wide range of different positions.
Next, the light. A Bescor light with two bulbs (a 35w and 50w) are provided. Nice that two are included to cover a variety of your lighting needs, as well as one serving as an emergency back-up. Upon testing with the 50w, it provides a nice brightness level yielding a natural and pleasing look. I also ordered a 75 watt bulb from Darrell "just in case" I run into some extremely dark reception venue. The bulbs can be swapped out in less than a minute; simply loosen two screws slightly (no need to completely remove them), the grid pops off and the bulbs simply pull-out and push-in. The light itself has a nice adjustable pivoting head, in addition to four barn doors to further provide you with unlimited lighting control. Hats off to Darrell for selecting a great light, not only in construction, but in terms of its’ flexibility and use.
The Reception Light comes with two remotes. The remotes resemble those you would use for your car and they are programmed and ready to go. They have an on and off button and work from a great distance. I first tested mine by setting the light up in my living room. My daughter went upstairs in her bedroom, then downstairs in our lower level; both times, successfully turning the light on and off. Pleasantly surprised to find that these remotes work so well and from such distances with no “line of sight” issues to worry about.
The bag that holds your light, battery supply, additional bulb and remotes is just perfect. What I like about the bag, is it looks like it was made specifically for Darrell's kit; small and compact, yet, holds everything neatly in place. All you need to bring to any venue is this small bag and the light stand; that's it. He also includes an operating instruction sheet with some good points and reminders about proper bulb handling and the charging of your battery. The only thing you won't take with you on shoots is the charger, that you'll keep at home and charge the battery upon returning from your event.
Setting up the light is a snap. Simply take your light out of the carry case and attach it to the top of the light stand. Then, adjust the light's barn doors to whatever position you desire. Next, extend the stand to the height you want. Finally, take the 4 pin plug from the side compartment of the bag and connect it to the light's cord and you’re done (other then hanging the bag on one of the stand's locking knobs). I would venture to say, perhaps 2 minutes to completely set-up; more, if you end up impressing the photographer who stops by to chat in that time frame to say, "Wow, looks cool."
Now, where to use this light and when. For my style of shooting, my purpose of getting this light was based on a number of reasons. One, for receptions that feature live bands. So often, my experiences with live bands is that their music is great, but their lighting is poor. Primarily because they just shine lights on themselves with little to no light hitting the dance floor. Now, with the Reception Light, I can position it off to the side or close to the stage (appearing as if it were the band's small light) and I can capture clean footage. Secondly, for cases where the venue features a large dance floor and/or where the hired DJ simply has poor lighting. I've actually worked with DJs in the past who provided no lighting whatsoever. I now will have the flexibility to position this light where I see fit and again, capture great footage in a very discrete manner. In addition to the reception dance floor, I could see using this in some cases where lighting lacked around the head table for speeches, as well as perhaps for bridal introductions. This light kit is unobtrusive and compact. It provides you with additional control and flexibility to suit your needs in any kind of environment. The Reception Light is simple to pick-up and relocate to another position in the room. The remote system is great because no one will ever see you turning this thing on and off; this light (if noticed by any guest to begin with) will be looked at as it belonging to the DJ, band, or photographer - I can't image anyone having a clue that the videographer is controlling this little light via remote control. Also, for those with Glidecams (and without), this light may provide you (or if you had two such kits), with enough light for you to skip using any kind of on-camera lighting all together.
The only suggestion I would probably make to Darrell, is for him to include a back-up fuse. Nice that he incorporated a fuse, but I doubt many getting this kit will remember to go out and purchase a packet of these. Fuses are dirt cheap of course, thus, I think a nice touch would be to have one back-up fuse already in the bag; that is all I can think of with regards to anything I would change with The Reception Light. Sure, very minor and a bit picky on my part, but there is nothing else I can find fault with.
Anyway, my over-view; I hope some may find it useful. And, no I'm not saying all these nice things just because Darrell is a passionate videographer who is sincere in helping others, but because the product and combination of these parts work so well and make such a solid system. A must have for any event videographer in my opinion.
Note from Darrell: Backup fuse now included. :)
