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Shooting a welder on DSLR
A client I am shooting for new week just informed me that they will be doing welding during our shoot (heavy industrial exterior stuff, ships, barges, cranes etc.).
I’ve directed many shoots where welding was involved, but never as a shooter and never with a DSLR (Nikon D800).Anything I need to watch out for? Is it possible to damage the sensor? Any filters I’ll need other than for lens protection?
BTW I know all the human safety precautions, like not looking directly at the weld, etc.
Jeff Beaumont
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5 Replies
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Just don’t be shooting Lasers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0TgaGePhJA
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IF it will hurt your eye…. It will hurt a sensor. Do NOT shoot a weld without a serious ND on the lens.
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But just like your eye it does matter how long you are looking at the weld. A quick shot, probably no harm done.
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Interesting video clip.
Try a fader ND when shooting the actual weld CU, treat the flame as a solar image shooting an eclipse. I’ve shot an eclipse with the filter and the sensor survived on the D800.
You could go the astro photography forum at Nikonian’s and ask Neil or some of the other pros there who shoot all things stellar.
A laser (technically) is not the same as an arc welder so a filter should be enough. If it is a acetylene torch, that should not be an issue. (To be cautious, call the ND manufacturer or a place like Abel-Cine)
The shots otherwise, track to an SSD (Ninja 2 etc.) for the sub sampling ability on the D800 (4.2.2) also consider using a profile for better contrast. https://www.similaar.com/foto/flaat-picture-controls/index.html
Long shots, should be fine.
Use the custom settings to turn off sharpening, or turn off sharpening for video then back on for photography (viewing on camera JPEG)
HTHs
Rob Manning
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thanks for the suggestions. I am not sure what it means to shoot it like an eclipse other than making sure to stop all the way down and add ND as needed… and don’t look directly at it myself.
Which is what I plan to do.
The shoot is this Friday and now the client says there will be no welding. For this Producer and this job that means there definitely WILL be welding. So far everything they told me in the original e-mail has turned out to be the opposite of what the client really wants 🙂Jeff Beaumont
Words, Images, Sound
jeff-beaumont.com
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