Aputure MC — a tiny RGBWW panel
Battery-powered, magnetic, with adjustable brightness, colour temperature and full RGB. Ways to use it:
- Portable key: ~45° to the face, CCT mode matched to ambient (5600K daylight / 3200K tungsten), diffused.
- Creative colour: warm one side, cool the other for depth; bold RGB washes; hidden behind props for coloured halos and gradients.
- Rim / separation: behind the subject in a contrasting tone to lift them off the background.
- Macro detail: place it very close for precise highlights on plants, textures and food; use two for rim + fill.
- Practical in-frame: small enough to appear in shot as a "lamp" glow for cinematic portraits.
- FX mode: candle, TV flicker, lightning, etc. for atmosphere.
Because output is low, keep it close and shoot a wide aperture (f/1.4 with the 24mm GM) to make the light glow softly.
Three quick setups
- Cinematic portrait, warm/cool split: MC warm (3200K) 45° key + MC cool (6500K) opposite/behind as rim; 0.5–1 m; keep one side brighter.
- Product halo: MC behind the object at the background (10–15 cm); white card in front for fill; low camera angle.
- Colour wash: MC red 45° left + MC blue 45° right; shoot at f/1.4 for bokeh and colour blending.
Gobos — shaping and blocking
A gobo ("goes before optics") sits between the light and the subject to control light rather than add it: block spill, cut flare off the lens, shape beams, or cast patterns.
- Block: keep a hair/rim light from flaring into the lens; keep light off backgrounds — a "light shield".
- Pattern: cut-outs (leaves, blinds, windows) with hard light for crisp, narrative shadows.
- Sculpt: define edges and add contrast by selectively removing light.
DIY gobos: black foam core, cardboard, cinefoil/black wrap, flags, or found objects (even leaves or hands). Related tools: a flag blocks broadly, a cutter is a straight-edged flag, a cookie/cucoloris makes irregular dapple, a snoot narrows the beam. Example: a leaf-cutout gobo in front of a hard key throws dappled, organic shadows across a face.
Consolidated from notes: Aperture MC LED panel; Gobo for lighting