 Betsy Labuschagne |
Studio lighting Studio lighting I have been doing studio photography for almost a year now, and have noticed a change in the softness and the colour of my pictures lately. It actually looks as if I’m using my pop-up camera flash for lighting, and not studio strobes. My lights are entry level (Falconeyes 150SS) and as I’ve been using them for almost a year, I was wondering if studio lights could lose quality as they age. I have copied previous lighting set-ups as close as I can and used same camera settings, but cannot get a good quality of light. I took my lights in today to check if the bulbs may need replacing, and they advised me that I may as well replace the entire unit then. I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this. I would really appreciate any help. I thought it was my white balance initially and posted some example pictures on the following thread last night: http://www.betterphoto.com/forms/qnaDetail.php?threadID=23556. If anyone could offer any advice it will be much appreciated.
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Debby A. Tabb |
Hey Betsy, Yes it does sound as if you may have out grown these units? or they may be finished. I do try to help anyone who needs, with thier lighting selection, because some companies make theri lights to be disposible. When the lights burn out the light unit is no longer useful for anything. I useally recommend Photogenic and My book Proves them to be the BEST BUY in the comparision charts . Britek came in 2nd. I deal Britek Lights because, most here on BP, want to use them to start, due to thier cost / availablity and dependability. you can change the blubs on them as well. If you need any help from me with your next choise Betsy, I am always willing to help you out. Always wishing you the very best, Debby
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Hi Debby, Thanks for your response. I'm just wondering if it normal that a flash can still be firing and not working properly? I bought my one backlight after the initial softbox and umbrella, and also tried that light alone, and didn't get a better result, which makes me think it may be a camera problem. If I just knew what the problem was, I could start fixing it!! This is so frustrating!
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Debby A. Tabb |
Ok, lets see if a check list will help: *What have you done differntly?
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Justin G. |
Are you getting burnt out (why does everything in photography have a pun?) anyways, if you feel your lights are fine, maybe take a week or two and not touch your camera. Get back in and see if it's your lights or complacency. No offense but everyone gets burnt out. Also I've heard that lights will tend to turn colors on your softbox. People say your diffusers start to turn yellow or greenish. Just some ideas.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Justin, you are too funny!! I wish I could take two weeks, but unfortunately I have about eight shoots lined up over the next two weeks, so that's not an option. I actually feel like crying when I look at the pictures that I got of my son a month or two ago and what I'm getting now. I keep thinking that I'm gonna see something I did differently and say Aaahh!!!, but nothing. Debby, I have cleared my camera settings, twice now. I have been fiddeling with white balance over the weekend, when I noticed the problem first I thought it may be that, but I use my white balance set to flash, so that can't have an effect, right?
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Betsy Labuschagne |
I've just thought of something; Maybe I should try my film camera just to see if I get better lighting, that way I'll at least be able to see if it's the lights or my camera. Maybe I'll decide to just stick to film rather!!! :-)
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Justin G. |
yes try that. Get some Kodak Portra 160NC or Fuji Pro 160S and shoot it at ISO 100 or ISO 125. Process and print on matte paper and ask them to turn off the color correction. Try and find a pro lab to process/print for you. It'll be pricey. Now if something happens with these, then there's probably slightly more serious of a problem because of how forgiving print film is. You could drop him on the floor and throw away his house (the box) and he'll still forgive you! lol. Anyways yeah that's probably a decent idea. If you have the time, try that. HEY!! Idea. Post a pic from a few months ago that you really like and that you're comparing too. Now post one that you really don't like. Tell us what you hate about it and maybe the fine people here can help you dissect.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Thanks Justin. I've posted pics last night in thread #23556. I used different apperture and shutter speeds, but have tested different settings, and find the same. I even let him wear the same t-shirt, for comparison. The pictures that I posted aren't perfect, but you can see the problem. Example 1 has a sunny day glow to it and his hair colour looks different and softer, Example 2 his skin tone is paler, hair lighter and it just has no glow. I get the same whether I over-expose or under-expose, shooting with just the softbox, ect.
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Justin G. |
If I were home I could test my idea out on photoshop and upload but I'm at work so I'll try to explain. Before I get into it, do you have a photo of before, something you're trying to emmulate so we know what you're looking for?? ok for #1 Looks a little warm, yes. Hoping you have Photoshop. Add a Photo Filter Adjustment Layer and add one of the cooling filters. Pick on that has too much effect. Apply it and then go to the adjustment layer and lower the opacity until you get the result you want. This will "cool" the image down a tad, making it not so... "golden sunny". For #2 I really am not sure. Try adding just a EENSY WEENSY bit of saturation. I mean just a little, you don't want to give him a weird tan. Hopefully this will hit some of his hair and shirt for a little burst. Also if you want to add a little warmth to #2 then do exactly what you did for #1 but this time just use the warming filter instead of the cooling filter. Also adjust the opacity as you like it. Hope this helps a tad. If you have elements, it should be pretty close to what I just wrote.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Thanks Justin. I do have Photoshop, an older version...The thing is just that I would like to understand why I'm getting such a different look in my pictures if I hadn't changed anything. I don't want to spend hours correcting shoots in Photoshop if I can just take the picture better in the first place. If I look back at my shoots from the start of this year my pictures looked warmer and softer, my lights seemed more diffused, and I'm just wondering why I'm not getting that now. The lab where I do my printing does my corrections too, and I've been happy with what I've been getting. It just feels like I've stepped back and am getting more of what I got when I just started with studio lighting.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
I have changed parameters on my camera, saturation, contrast, ect, till I was happy with it. Now when I change that it doesn't have much effect, it's the light itself that doesn't look right.
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Justin G. |
Have you changed any distances? The "softness" of light is size of the source relative to subject. So if you take your light and move it back, it ultimately becomes a smaller source giving harsher light. So if you maybe have slowly moved your lights farter and farther this might add into the softness of the lights. Try scooting them a tad closer anyways to soften it up a tad, if you have room. I'm really not sure how to help you, but i'm just rambling the things that come to mind! lol.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Justin, I really do appreciate your help. I have tried everything I can think of, that's why I've started to suspect it could be a problem with my lights or camera. I'm driving my whole family crazy, my poor kids are sitting in the studio for hours like guinnea pigs and my husband is trying his best to come up with new things I should try only to get sneered at. Apart from buying a new camera and studio lights, I really don't know what else to try!
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Justin G. |
Do you have a flash meter? If you're getting the same readings then your flashhead should be fine. And it looked like your exposures were on so I'd eliminate the head/bulb. Do you have the money to order a new softbox? Maybe try and getting a new softbox and seeign if that helps. Like I said above I've heard and read from good sources about softboxes slowly "deteriorating" and changing colors and things of the such. I know you've got your shoots lined up but maybe try and grab another softbox? I'd doubt it's your camera, unless you've beaten it to heck (but then again I don't shoot digital yet so I don't know if the sensor will detiorate). Doubt its the actual lights. As longs as they are putting out the right intensity, all should be well. I'm taking a stab at what's in between your light and your subject, the box. Just an idea.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
I think you’ve hit the nail. I’ve hated my lights from day one, maybe because I had to buy the cheapest I could find, and then you always feel that your work must be sub-standard. The funny thing is that lately I’ve been thinking more and more that I need to upgrade. I think subconsciously I’ve picked up a change in my work, but only realised the extremity of it when I compared pics. I don’t get my little one in the studio much, but usually test my lights on my older boy. He has a darker skin tone, so I find it easier. It wasn’t until I did some pictures of them together that I really picked up on the change. I’m looking at Visatec lights and figure if I could just buy a medium size softbox for now, I could use a reflector for fill, and upgrade from there.
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Justin G. |
do you have room in the budget for an upgrade? maybe you've outgrown them and now you need better quality, more options, etc. Yeah you should be fine in grabbing a medium softbox and use a relfector, that should be great. or you could buy 4 of the white foamboards from wally's world for like $1 a piece and tape them together for a larger fill reflector. but if you do have room for an upgrade Debby has a great wish list and I personally recommend the AlienBee's. Granted it's the only ones I've used but they are very powerful and have stepless power which is very very good for digital photography. they have a good amount of accessories and they are made by Paul C. Buff which has some of the best customer service you could ask for, in any industry.
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Betsy Labuschagne |
Justin, I just wanted to say thank you so much for helping me to figure out what was wrong. I took the inner diffuser out of my softbox this morning, just leaving the outside cover, took a few shots, and my pictures instantly got more colour. I thought that if it is the softbox, then I'm not going to spend more money on just replacing the cover, I've actually lost faith in them. I would love to buy Debby's reccommended lights, or AlienBee's, but I'm going to settle for something that's locally available, because I can't wait weeks for shipping, and import duties can be expensive. I settled on a medium Visatec softbox for now. I should have it by Saturday, I can't wait. It's double the size of my current softbox and double the power, hopefully the quality of my pictures will double!:-) I thought I had tried everyting to try and correct my problem, so once again, I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to help me. Betsy
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