white lighting

Matt asks:

iend
has an avid photographer for a long as I can remember and is doing a
photography degree etc. She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and
general close-up photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely
yellow tint of household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just
wondering if anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some
bulbs for household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,
preferably something I could source online here in the UK? That would be
great if anyone knows the sort of thing I'm after?

I mean, if nothing like this is available in the kind of price range I'm
after, could I possibly ask to draw on your collective wisdom for any
hack-ups that offer any improvements at all to normal household bulbs? I've
seen a few white-light bulbs in hardware shops but these haven't been
specifically for photography, does anyone have any experience with using
them for lighting as a termporary measure?


If she's shooting film, she should be using tungsten film for indoor work with
incandescent lights. Failing that, she should check the various filter makers
for their recommendations for filters for incandescent and fluorescent
lighting.

If she's using digital, she needs to adjust the white balance on her camera.

Charlie Self
"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and
hurry off as if nothing happened." Sir Winston Churchill

Matt asks:

iend
has an avid photographer for a long as I can remember and is doing a
photography degree etc. She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and
general close-up photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely
yellow tint of household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just
wondering if anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some
bulbs for household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,
preferably something I could source online here in the UK? That would be
great if anyone knows the sort of thing I'm after?

I mean, if nothing like this is available in the kind of price range I'm
after, could I possibly ask to draw on your collective wisdom for any
hack-ups that offer any improvements at all to normal household bulbs? I've
seen a few white-light bulbs in hardware shops but these haven't been
specifically for photography, does anyone have any experience with using
them for lighting as a termporary measure?


If she's shooting film, she should be using tungsten film for indoor work with
incandescent lights. Failing that, she should check the various filter makers
for their recommendations for filters for incandescent and fluorescent
lighting.

If she's using digital, she needs to adjust the white balance on her camera.

Charlie Self
"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and
hurry off as if nothing happened." Sir Winston Churchill

Matt wrote:

She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and general close-up
photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely yellow tint of
household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just wondering if
anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some bulbs for
household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,

You can adjust the white balance of digital cameras to compensate for the
yellowness of tungsten lighting.

For lights, a good choice would be 5100K full-spectrum compact fluorescent
bulbs. They match daylight well, and they also use a lot less electricity
and last longer than normal bulbs.

--
Jeremy |

Matt wrote:

She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and general close-up
photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely yellow tint of
household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just wondering if
anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some bulbs for
household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,

You can adjust the white balance of digital cameras to compensate for the
yellowness of tungsten lighting.

For lights, a good choice would be 5100K full-spectrum compact fluorescent
bulbs. They match daylight well, and they also use a lot less electricity
and last longer than normal bulbs.

--
Jeremy |

"Matt" writes:

Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone could advise me on some lamps/bulbs. My girlfriend
has an avid photographer for a long as I can remember and is doing a
photography degree etc. She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and
general close-up photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely
yellow tint of household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just
wondering if anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some
bulbs for household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,
preferably something I could source online here in the UK? That would be
great if anyone knows the sort of thing I'm after?

Custom white balance. One of the big wins of digital is that the
lighting becomes considerably less of an issue (read "expense").
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

"Matt" writes:

Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone could advise me on some lamps/bulbs. My girlfriend
has an avid photographer for a long as I can remember and is doing a
photography degree etc. She's been doing an increasing amount of macro and
general close-up photography indoors recently, and of course the lovely
yellow tint of household lighting is getting frustrating, so I was just
wondering if anyone could take the time to recommend a lamp or maybe some
bulbs for household lamps that give off more natural/white illumination,
preferably something I could source online here in the UK? That would be
great if anyone knows the sort of thing I'm after?

Custom white balance. One of the big wins of digital is that the
lighting becomes considerably less of an issue (read "expense").
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

(Hunt) writes:

The manipulations listed in responses for white-balance, or cc filters is all
very good, and may handle her problems well. For her copy work, good photo-
floods and the proper color balance of digital, or choice of film will work,
for all subjects that will not be affected by the heat. For moving objects, or
those with life, that might well "wilt" under the heat, a strobe setup would
be better.

For the incandescent lights in an interior, there are many mfgrs of "blue"
bulbs in various sizes and wattages. Most good photo-supply shops will have
these. They are daylight balance, and will screw into a regular socket. While
not as cheap as a discount brand 60w incandescent, they are not that
expensive. Their light output (due to built-in filtration and choice of
element) is ~5000K. For flourescent fixtures, true daylight balanced bulbs are
also made in most sizes, but tend to be special order items.

I don't know how well they work but I see 5600K fluorescent bulbs that fit in
the normal 48" long sockets in the various home improvement stores (Home Depot
in the US). At times I've thought about buying a couple and trying them out
(my current camera was made before custom white balance became standard).

Of course if that's not powerful enough, there are the 3 and 9 light units from
Bowens:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=231953&is=REG
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=254361&is=REG

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

(Hunt) writes:

The manipulations listed in responses for white-balance, or cc filters is all
very good, and may handle her problems well. For her copy work, good photo-
floods and the proper color balance of digital, or choice of film will work,
for all subjects that will not be affected by the heat. For moving objects, or
those with life, that might well "wilt" under the heat, a strobe setup would
be better.

For the incandescent lights in an interior, there are many mfgrs of "blue"
bulbs in various sizes and wattages. Most good photo-supply shops will have
these. They are daylight balance, and will screw into a regular socket. While
not as cheap as a discount brand 60w incandescent, they are not that
expensive. Their light output (due to built-in filtration and choice of
element) is ~5000K. For flourescent fixtures, true daylight balanced bulbs are
also made in most sizes, but tend to be special order items.

I don't know how well they work but I see 5600K fluorescent bulbs that fit in
the normal 48" long sockets in the various home improvement stores (Home Depot
in the US). At times I've thought about buying a couple and trying them out
(my current camera was made before custom white balance became standard).

Of course if that's not powerful enough, there are the 3 and 9 light units from
Bowens:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=231953&is=REG
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=254361&is=REG

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

Matt Ion writes:

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned halogen lighting yet - one of its biggest
marketing points has always been the "whiteness" of the light. Depending on
the format, it's only maringally more expensive than tungsten, and tends to
be significantly brighter for a given wattage.

The reason is Halogens don't reproduce full color.

Here in Canada, at least, almost any hardware store will carry the full range
of halogen fixtures, from 20W and 50W table lamps to track-lighting fixtures
to standard-base replacement bulbs to 500W and 1000W work/flood lights; the
local Home Depot has a pair of 500W halogen work lights on a stand for the
$30-$40 range.

The one catch is, in addition to being very bright and very white, they also
tend to run very hot, so you may not want to used them to close-light a macro
subject...

Another catch if you look at a graph of the light output of typical halogens is
it is not evenly spread out, but certain regions of the spectrum get more light
than others. The eveness of the light is called CRI (Color Rendering Index).
The closer you can get to 100, the better.

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

Matt Ion writes:

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned halogen lighting yet - one of its biggest
marketing points has always been the "whiteness" of the light. Depending on
the format, it's only maringally more expensive than tungsten, and tends to
be significantly brighter for a given wattage.

The reason is Halogens don't reproduce full color.

Here in Canada, at least, almost any hardware store will carry the full range
of halogen fixtures, from 20W and 50W table lamps to track-lighting fixtures
to standard-base replacement bulbs to 500W and 1000W work/flood lights; the
local Home Depot has a pair of 500W halogen work lights on a stand for the
$30-$40 range.

The one catch is, in addition to being very bright and very white, they also
tend to run very hot, so you may not want to used them to close-light a macro
subject...

Another catch if you look at a graph of the light output of typical halogens is
it is not evenly spread out, but certain regions of the spectrum get more light
than others. The eveness of the light is called CRI (Color Rendering Index).
The closer you can get to 100, the better.

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org