What ARE those lights I keep putting in my portraits? Mole Richardson 412, 407, 2591- fresnel movie
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- One of the most popular questions I am asked is: what are those hollywood lights in the background of your studio portraits? Aside from the one time that I used a Profoto Monolight unsuccessfully, every other occurrence I can recall featured a vintage fresnel movie lights designed by Mole-Richardson.
All of which you can buy used on eBay for between $71 and $175. Of course shipping is a bit high and will cost you another $30-$50 per light.
In addition, to the lights, Mole made light stands too! The baby stands (above) are normally the standard Mole red, sell for around $150 used, are extremely solid and made of steel or brass. The junior counterparts (below), while rare, can be had for around $200.
Music: Creative Minds by Bensound bensound.com/
I just picked up 2 Mole Richardson Type 407 at my local Antique Mall for $250
This is awesome John! Thank you!
Thank you!!
Thank you so much for helping us John
No problem at all. Thank you for your support.
Loved your video. I worked in Hollywood from 1981 to 1990, and I owned two 5 ton trucks full of lights like this that we used on Cheech and Chong, and MTV and Taco Bell and Seventh Guest video game. They were hot and melted and smelly. We used to go to the Mole Richardson factory and the good old boys would let us have parts and pieces for free, or cheap, and Mr. Parker was there sometimes, (grandson of Mr Mole) Love your knowledge of the numbered nomenclature and amazing photos and warmth of your studio. Your understanding of the lights got my Mole Richardson brain fired up like a 100K arc light. (moths in there) Thank you for the awesome video and continuing work.
Ha. Thanks Tom. I’m glad I got things right. How old do you think my 412 could be? Recently I started using it with a small battery powered stone inside so can avoid tripping a breaker and scalding my models!
@@JohnGress You have nice light coming from those. Some of Mole Richardson was almost like PTSD for me. Some of the lights have bad memories for me. (Hard to explain) Your lights all have good dharma-feel to me. The 412 is gorgeous, it has that perfect patina, and is not worn out like some of ours. My business partner and I had a gutted 5K with a crummy HMI part inside to mimic a 6000 or so kelvin HMI, it buzzed and hummed and had a cracked porcelain receptacle that I had tried to fix with hi-temp silicone (Worked but scary) Used on many crummy B movies of the '80s. I agree with your warm tungsten (I think 32 Kelvin) light coming out of your beautiful set. We used too much crispy CTB and CTO gels to get from 5600 to 3200 all the time. I have a wild guess on the 412, but I am not an expert anymore. Just memories and partial fiction. Also watch out for asbestos on some cords. I have tried to research, but I cannot find age. I was born in 1961, I bet that light is 1967.......
Thanks and thanks for the tip about the Asbestos. Maybe one day I will find a 10k to gut for a prop.
You read my mind, I WAS wondering. Great video John!
Thanks Joshua! Glad I could help!
A little late, but I just thought I will tell everyone who may be looking into getting one, they may contain asbestos in the wiring and the fresnel glass holder. Just be careful and maybe reach out to a asbestos specialist to check.
Oh interesting point. I have seen some old looking insulation in one of them before.
I've snuck speedlights in some gutted moles with a CTO gel on them to emulate tungsten lights. The model can interact a lot more with them without risking safety. ;)
True. I’ve just never gotten the whole lens to light up with a flash. When I did it though I noticed two CTO gels make it look right too.
I have the Baby spot 407, in my television studio of Charlesbourg, Quebec since 1980 and I have always to work with this spot with pleasure.
Tres bien! How often have you needed to change the bulb?
This is the best channel.
Thank you so much!
Great I found this information as just tomorrow getting two of 412
Congratulations! You might want to get 1,000 watt bulbs for them if you intend to use them as props because the 1Ks put off a lot less heat.
love this! also, you can purchase a remote controlled dimmer on amazon to reduce the lights output.
Oh thank you so much! Can you share a link?
I got mine at Adorama for $45.oo @@JohnGress
How do you plug it into your outlet at home? At 2K. I just picked up four of the type 2001s, and after asking around, it looks like once you have it lamped for2K, you will need a 20A circuit
Yes that is correct. A 2k bulb will draw about 20 Amps. You might be able to get 1k bulbs and that will draw half the amperage.
Hi John! I'm new to your channel and am consuming your tutorial videos at a crazy rate - getting educated and INSPIRED! I have a question that maybe you would address sometime (maybe I'm overthinking this): what is your thought process when setting up a scene for a portrait? Are you wanting to frame the subject or achieve some sort of balance in the frame when choosing and placing props, old movie lights, etc.?
Fantastic! Thanks Jim! A lot of the time I am trying to create prop variety in my feed, like using a different thing for them to sit on. Secondarily, I am thinking about filling the frame with interesting things, but still having the subject pop. A big factor is the color pallet and I did recently produce a video about that: czcams.com/video/uCrgc4SggbQ/video.html
Great information, John. Having the proper name for them - Mole Richardson - really helps. I'd actually like to find one that's been gutted so I can mount a strobe inside. Seen it done for a yt video a long time ago.
Thanks! I haven't seen the best results from a gutted one because its hard to get a strobe back far enough to fill the face of the lens.
How do you store all of your lights?
Maybe this will snwer your question? czcams.com/video/DUu6nOsD47g/video.html
😂😂😂
I just can't act right!