 Celeste McWilliams |
Studio Lighting Question
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Continuous studio lights?
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Celeste, As to sharpness: What appears to you to be sharpness is actually contrast. Allow me to explain. A flash on the camera produces on axis (frontal) lighting. The flash being so close to the lens produces a thin shadow around and about facial features. The shadows cast from the camera flash are harsh. This is very contrasty lighting and high contrast translates to an illusion of sharpness. This sharpness illusion carries through to prints. When an image is printed on high contrast glossy paper the image will look much sharper than the same image on a matte finish. In modern times studio lighting has become quite soft and diffused by the use of umbrellas and soft boxes and the like. Not that diffusion doesn’t have a place; it’s just that in my opinion diffusion has it place. This type of lighting yields a soft low contrast imaging. You might consider practicing this: Fill is mounted close to the lens. You are attempting to fill shadows from the camera’s viewpoint. Fill intensity at the subject is carefully adjusted subordinate to the main. Try one f/stop reduced which yields a 3:1 lighting ratio (normal contrast and normal illusion of sharpness). Two f/stops reduced yields a 5:1 ratio with moderate contrast (appears quite sharp). Three stops subordinate is high contrast -- considered to be theatrical. As to color balance: Electronic flash duplicates daylight conditions. Their color quality varies model –to- model from about 5500°K to 6400°K. It is likely that the on-camera flash has a bluer output than studio electronic flash. The higher the number the more blue. Studio tungsten lamps are warm 3200°K to 3400°K. (orange-yellow). As tungsten lamps age the filament becomes thinner due to tungsten evaporation. This blackens the inside of the glass envelope. Output slowly alters as the lamp ages becoming brighter and bluer till burnout. Tungsten halogen has the best output curve. This is because as tungsten evaporates it combines with the halogen. When off and cooling some evaporated tungsten will condense and re-plate onto the filament thus to some extent the filament is restored. Your camera has a “white balance” adjustment. It can cope with off-color illuminates but it can’t deal too well with mixed light sources. Hope this helps. Alan Marcus (marginal technical advice)
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John H. Siskin |
Hi Celeste, I am wondering if you are using fluorescent tubes in your studio lights. Although digital cameras do a better job of balancing fluorescent light you can never do a perfect job with fluorescent lights as they do not have a continuous spectrum. You might try switching to tungsten bulbs, and doing a manual color balance to get the color more accurate. A higher ISO might help with the movement problem. Strobes would solve your color and your movement problem. Thanks, John Siskin
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Celeste McWilliams |
I'm using continuous lights with umbrellas, packaged as the PhotoFlex First Studio kit [and whatever bulbs came with the kit].
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John H. Siskin |
Hi Celeste, This kit uses tungsten bulbs. You will be able to do a good color balance with them. You can use a neutral grey target with the camera and either balance in the camera, or, if you use raw balance in the computer after the shot. The preset tungsten balance on your camera should also work pretty well. Good luck, and have fun! Thanks, John Siskin
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Gray or white to use custom white balance. Flash will freeze movement. That's where your lack of sharpness is coming from.
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