Continuous light is a wonderful but expensive medium to use. You have the freedom to see what you're getting as you place your lights. If you have a lot of experience with flash you will appreciate this. The down side is that, unlike our friends the film makers, if we want to freeze movement we need more output from our lights and this gets more expensive as we increase the size and power. This is why flash has become so popular.
If you have the budget and the muscles these are beautiful lights to work with. They can also be mixed nicely with flash. Although if you are working with a moving subject you will have to bare in mind that you will get shutter blur if your shutter speed is not adequate and your continuous light source is brighter than your flash.
HMIs put out four times as much light as a tungsten light of the same wattage. The price you pay for this advantage is considerable and they come with ballast.
HMIs are daylight balanced and can be mixed freely with flash without concern for colour balance. Although, by this I don't mean you shouldn't think about it. The colour of light is always a concern in terms of what you are trying to create. Even with black and white the colour of light needs to be considered, as the tones in an image will change with the colour of the light.
The colour of the light from these can be a little blue when they are brand new and they warm up with age.
For this image I used daylight and filled with a tungsten head. For a fill light to be successful it should be barely noticeable. Unless this is an intentional effect to give your image a surreal feel. It isn't always necessary to have a fill light when shooting film if you are happy for areas to got to total black. As with film noir sometimes what makes the image interesting is what you don't see rather than what you do.
With digital I think this could be a little trickier. So far, many digital operators have told me the way forward is to add some light to the shadows and then remove this in retouching and increase the contrast post shooting. I find this a little dull and for me takes away some of the magic of seeing what you're getting in front off you. Which for me is the pleasure of shooting with continuous light.
If you want to master continuous light I would recommend studying the work of the masters. Cinematographers like; Lance Acord, Darius Khonji, John Alonzo and Michael Chapman. These guys are magicians who understand light and how it affects an image and how we perceive it.
HMI FRESNELS
These are the standard HMIs you will come across. They are very versatile and make good fill light when bounced or put through diffusion. The higher output ones make very nice key lights. These have a lens with circular ridges that reflect and refract the rays of light to give a cleaner shadow.
HMI PARs
Standard HMIs have a soft light quality that softens with size. If I were trying to recreate full summer sun I would use HMI PARs. These are a much punchier light source and have a longer throw. They come with lenses that slot into the front.
The lenses usually available are; super wide flood, wide flood, medium flood, narrow spot, and very narrow spot. Be careful when ordering HMI PARs as I have had lighting companies and production teams give me standard HMI's not being aware that there are different types. This is rare but I now make a habit of checking that people understand and are aware of exactly what I'm asking for.
They come as 200W, 400W, 800W, 575W, 1200W, and 2.5K without special power needs. Then 4K, 6K, 12K and 18K which will require a generator unless you have access to 3 phase power.
HMI PARs get incredibly hot. I recommend the use of heat proof gloves when handling these lights.
Gels
Most HMIs produce a daylight matching light of between 5,600°K-6,000°K. I find this colour temperature a little blue most of the time and tend to warm up the light with some straw colour gel or CTO (Colour Temperature Orange). Gels are the best way to control the mood of your light. The colour of the light ultimately tells our brains what time of day it is and this is one of the best tools at our disposal.
The standard gels used for correcting colour are the CTOs (Colour Temperature Orange) and CTBs (Colour Temperature Blue). These usually come in 1/4, 1/2, and full stops. Depending on how much correction you want.
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Some of the most beautiful images I have seen where taken in available light. Personaly I find the use of available light most stunning when taken in low light conditions. Tripods and monopods can be incredibly useful when working in low light conditions although I've taken some great shots hand holding the camera. Steading yourself by resting on something or holding your breath briefly while taking the shot are both very effective when working on long shutter speeds. Often it is worthwhile and necessary to take several shots in order to get one that gives you a satisfactory result. With practice you will perfect this technique. Shutter release cables can come in very useful and most cameras have a mirror lock-up facility that is also useful for low light photography.
If you find it difficult holding a camera steady at long exposures and you're not a fan of tripods. Try using faster film speeds or set your camera to a higher ISO when using a digital camera. I find film gives me better results as some digital cameras have noise issues at higher ISO's at present.
The above image was shot hand held on 400 ISO film on a long shutter with available light. I shot several frames to get one that I was happy with. Of course it is important that your subject doesn't move to much either unless it is movement that you are after in your final image.
Soft boxes and light shaping tools for flash
Soft boxes essentially do the same thing for flash light as the clouds for the sun. They diffuse the light to make it less hard.
If used with flash they can be very useful for freezing movement. Although this only holds true for the lower powered flash heads and packs. The problem with the more powerful lights is the flash duration. This can give you shutter blur, and this is sometimes used as an effect. Usually you will want to work at high shutter speeds to try and avoid this. Ultimately the Sun and a high ISO will be your best tools if you want to freeze movement.
Soft boxes have a certain feel and this seems to come across a little different with digital cameras than it does with film cameras. The problem with digital cameras is that they don’t have the same amount of latitude as film cameras unless you are using a high-end digital camera. These tend to be very expensive. Even then the transition of tones is not as smooth under high contrast conditions with digital cameras unless you use extreme high end cameras. On big jobs it would be better to hire these from a digital hire company with a digital operator. Personally I find these get a little too sharp which is an element of digital cameras that is not so appealing.
Soft boxes come in many shapes and sizes, and this will affect the softness of the light. The distance from the subject will also affect the softness and spread of the light. I have often used a small soft box at a distance to soften the light. This will give a similar light to a larger soft box at closer range.
Another thing to bear in mind is that different shapes will give you different catch lights in the eyes.
There are many different manufacturers of soft boxes. Find a brand that suits you and your style.
There are also different finishes for the insides of the soft box. Some are white, silver and white, some smooth silver and others rough. They can be shallow or deep. All these details will have an effect on the quality of the light produced by the soft box.
Most, but not all, will come with an inner baffle (a smaller diffuser inside). I some times remove this to increase the intensity. This can be a little hard if used at close proximity.
In this image I used one small soft box at close range with the inner baffle attached. I had no other light source and I used black velvet to make the background as black as possible. This image was shot on film. If I had shot this on digital I probably would have needed to use a phase one digital back in order to get the latitude required to have a smooth transition in tones. In this case film was far more cost effective. Soft boxes aren't always the best choice, but they are by far the most used light-shaping tools.
The diffuser on most light boxes is of a standard thickness. It is worth carrying extra diffusion in case you want to vary the light intensity and spread, depending on the situation. There are many types of diffusion, each of which have their own specific feel.
You can also get grids for the front of certain soft boxes that will focus the light, and control the spread in various degrees. The most common ones are the 40°. If you have the budget it is worth having a wider range.
With experience you will know which will suit each individual situation.
Soft boxes can also be used on HMIs and continuous lighting but these have to be heatproof versions.
Umbrellas
Another way to shape the light is through the use of umbrellas. Some lighting hire companies used to throw these in as part of the package when you hired lights.
I prefer the harder rough texture baking foil variety for re-creating a full sun feel or for a sun flair situation. They also come in white, satin and soft silver. These also come in different sizes. I find the medium sizes are the most useful. You can adjust how far away they are from the light source, which will affect the spread of the light. They can be a pain when working outside on location, as they are perfect for catching the wind. I've broken a few heads in my time because of these. Sandbags are very useful if you are working with these on location.
Honeycombs
Honeycomb grids come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different light sources. They are unbelievably expensive and very fragile. They are used to focus your light source and control its spread. They are truly a wonderful invention, and probably one of the most useful tools in our trade. They even make fabric versions that you can use on continuous lighting with a heatproof soft box attached. I like to use these as they stop the uncontrolled spread of light.
Nets/Cutters
Nets come as singles or doubles in different sizes. They will cut the light without changing the quality. These are extremely useful when you want to reduce the light on a part of your subject without changing the overall exposure.
Flags
Flags can be used to shape your light, control your spread and sometimes to cast shadows. These are also very useful and come in a variety of sizes.
Reflectors
These are used to bounce light. Personally I like to be subtle with these, as I find the effect can look a little fake when the bounced light is to strong. Of course this depends on how you want your image to look.
They come as double sided, and there are many combinations. I find Silver/White to be the most useful, and the medium size 40" versions are probably the most useful and manageable. The large ones can be a pain when used on location as they catch the wind very easily. Of course they do have their uses. An extra pair of hands are a wonderful thing if you are using these on location.
You can also use polystyrene boards also known as foam core boards in the United states. They are usualy painted black on one side in case you want to use them as negative fill. These are mostly used in studios and on set.
Also great for catch lights. I've used these just for catch lights in the eyes without actually having any noticeable fill.
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Watch this space for future developments. 
