Studio Lighting Tools
I've always had a problem with color mixes whenever I've attempted studio portraits. For instance, my flashes are color balanced to "daylight"... and when we are indoors in a makeshift studio, most of the lights lighting the room are either incandescent or fluorescent. The problem is that incandescent lighting is much warmer than daylight creating a yellow or orange color cast... and flourescent lighting is much colder than daylight creating green to blue color casts. Needless to say, this is a problem and it has always drove me nuts whenever I've attempted studio photography.
Turning off all ambient lighting makes seeing anything in the room impossible. It also makes focusing the camera impossible since nothing can be seen in darkness. I knew that I needed some sort of light to light the room.
Using dim ambient lighting at a fraction of the brightness of your studio strobes can work but can also cause mild color casts in your portrait studio photography which you often won't see until you are back at the computer viewing the images on your big monitor. At this point, it is too late to avoid the problem.
I've decided that the best option is to simply bring your own ambient lighting in the correct color temperature which can be dimmed as necessary.
I did a lot of research on this subject but I had difficulty finding any useful information. I decided that the best way to accomplish this task of ambient studio lighting was by using high quality cool video lights ("cool" as in cool to the touch so as not to bake your subjects).
Now I had a new problem... affordability. High quality video lighting costs more than I can afford on my meager fixed disability pension. Photography is only a hobby for me as well as a therapy to help me feel 'active' and productive and not a profession so funds are extremely limited.
I decided to buy some cheap import continuous light fixtures that I could mount on my light stands... add some dimmable LED daylight bulbs at the correct color temperature... add an in-line dimmer to each light... so now I can use these light fixtures as modeling lamps as well as ambient lighting.
I decided to set up this new lighting idea the other day in our living room while Sheila was at work. I set my camera to "daylight" white balance (same as the sun) and I snapped a few photos of the illuminated umbrellas... the color temperature looked good! Then I entered a specific color temperature in degrees Kelvin for my camera's white balance... this allowed me to fine tune the color balance captured by my camera... "wow... this looks good... this could work!"
Shortly afterward, Sheila walked in from work. As she was passing in between the umbrellas, I told her "stop"... I fired off a few quick shots... I looked down at my little LCD display on the back of the camera... "wow... this really could work!"
I know I can use my strobes at this color temperature so this is promising. My strobes are "daylight" balanced just like these new LED bulbs. I'm looking forward to setting everything up for a test studio session to see how well everything works together...
Who will be my model?
Using dim ambient lighting at a fraction of the brightness of your studio strobes can work but can also cause mild color casts in your portrait studio photography which you often won't see until you are back at the computer viewing the images on your big monitor. At this point, it is too late to avoid the problem.
I've decided that the best option is to simply bring your own ambient lighting in the correct color temperature which can be dimmed as necessary.
I did a lot of research on this subject but I had difficulty finding any useful information. I decided that the best way to accomplish this task of ambient studio lighting was by using high quality cool video lights ("cool" as in cool to the touch so as not to bake your subjects).
Now I had a new problem... affordability. High quality video lighting costs more than I can afford on my meager fixed disability pension. Photography is only a hobby for me as well as a therapy to help me feel 'active' and productive and not a profession so funds are extremely limited.
I decided to buy some cheap import continuous light fixtures that I could mount on my light stands... add some dimmable LED daylight bulbs at the correct color temperature... add an in-line dimmer to each light... so now I can use these light fixtures as modeling lamps as well as ambient lighting.
I decided to set up this new lighting idea the other day in our living room while Sheila was at work. I set my camera to "daylight" white balance (same as the sun) and I snapped a few photos of the illuminated umbrellas... the color temperature looked good! Then I entered a specific color temperature in degrees Kelvin for my camera's white balance... this allowed me to fine tune the color balance captured by my camera... "wow... this looks good... this could work!"
Shortly afterward, Sheila walked in from work. As she was passing in between the umbrellas, I told her "stop"... I fired off a few quick shots... I looked down at my little LCD display on the back of the camera... "wow... this really could work!"
I know I can use my strobes at this color temperature so this is promising. My strobes are "daylight" balanced just like these new LED bulbs. I'm looking forward to setting everything up for a test studio session to see how well everything works together...
Who will be my model?
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