lighting for marco
Jan 23, 2017 10:17:02 #
qrpnut wrote:
I bought an inexpensive ringlight from Adorama and it's perfect for "marco."
I did too, but it didn't meet my needs, not bright enough. I use my speed light off camera with a soft box defuser
Jan 23, 2017 13:31:41 #
picture snapper wrote:
I'm starting to get into Marco photography. Recently I bought a Tamron 90mm f2.8 Marco lens, and this week I bought a table top tent from Cowboy Studio. The table top tent didn't come with any lights. The lights in Cowboy Studios catalog are quit expensive for the quality (they look like cheap s$%t). Does any Hogers have any ideas on how I could have decent lighting, for a decent price, and how many lights do you think is sufficient?
Since you have a tent, it works as a softbox with any light source on the outside. Get an LED work light from Home Depot, Lowes or any place like that. Cheap and easy.
Jan 23, 2017 14:18:56 #
doc8404
Loc: Apple Valley Calif
Salt water aquarium store's sell daylight bulbs in the correct kelvin range. ( Also known as temperature range of the sun.) these light are a lot less expensive then most photography stores. I hope this helps anyone looking for an alternative light source.
Jan 23, 2017 14:21:16 #
Mercer wrote:
I have been using 5500K flourescent bulbs, which provide light in the lower daylight range, which I have been led to believe is 5000 to 7500k. I like the results.
There are several makers of 5000 to 5500K flicker-free CFLs with CRI 91 to 93. Two of the better sources are Alzo Digital and F.J. Westcott. Both sell the lamps, along with complete lighting systems for photography and videography. Warning: They aren't cheap!
The cheap CFL lamps you buy at big box stores flicker (change color and brightness in a cyclical manner), and have gaping holes in their output spectra. They also "spike" at certain frequencies (usually yellow or green).
There are many companies now selling LED panels for photography and videography. They are great because they use little power. Some can produce a range of color temperature output. Some are very color accurate (Accuracy tends to be expensive, again.)
The cheap LED lamps you buy at the home store are not color accurate, either. Try this:
Get a 60-watt incandescent, a cheap 60W equivalent CFL rated for 2700K, and a cheap 60W equivalent LED lamp rated for 2700K. Set your camera for a white balance of 2700K. Photograph an X-Rite ColorChecker Chart under nothing but the illumination of one of these lamps at a time. Compare the results. The incandescent will produce the most accurate rendition, because it puts out a continuous spectrum (heavy on the red-orange). The other two will show more differences from the original chart. If you take a sequence of the chart at 6 frames a second or faster, and use a high shutter speed (1/125 or faster), you probably will see flicker and color shifts when you view a series from the cheap CFL... Even if you do a CUSTOM white balance, you will see differences.
Buy lamps made for photography if your work needs to reproduce colors accurately.
Jan 23, 2017 14:24:19 #
picture snapper wrote:
I'm starting to get into Marco photography. Recently I bought a Tamron 90mm f2.8 Marco lens, and this week I bought a table top tent from Cowboy Studio. The table top tent didn't come with any lights. The lights in Cowboy Studios catalog are quit expensive for the quality (they look like cheap s$%t). Does any Hogers have any ideas on how I could have decent lighting, for a decent price, and how many lights do you think is sufficient?
I just put up a 16x20 of an Italian gentleman named Stefano. But I've never shot a Marco. Guess I'll have to get find someone. LOL Sorry couldn't resist. The Devil made me.
Jan 23, 2017 14:35:50 #
Reinaldokool wrote:
I just put up a 16x20 of an Italian gentleman named Stefano. But I've never shot a Marco. Guess I'll have to get find someone. LOL Sorry couldn't resist. The Devil made me.
Just don't get your camera wet...
Jan 23, 2017 14:52:46 #
Jan 23, 2017 15:03:09 #
qrpnut wrote:
Fellow photographers would like to see your 1:1 macro-photography using your ringlight. I bought an inexpensive ringlight from Adorama and it's perfect for "marco."
Please consider posting in the UHH Section entitled True Macro-Photography Forum at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-102-1.html .
Jan 23, 2017 15:06:17 #
pego99 wrote:
What is marco photography?
A pro lab in Mansfield, Ohio, that does wholesale photo finishing.
Jan 23, 2017 15:10:39 #
I see this typo all the time. Don't know if it's dyslexia or carelessxia
Jan 23, 2017 15:12:54 #
Jan 23, 2017 15:20:01 #
Well we all know what the OP meant. The real lesson here is to never make a mistake here on UHH--and if you do, quickly reply: 
:
That's what I do....
:That's what I do....
Jan 23, 2017 15:24:48 #
LoneRangeFinder wrote:
Well we all know what the OP meant. The real lesson here is to never make a mistake here on UHH--and if you do, quickly reply: :
That's what I do....
:That's what I do....
I wind up editing my posts a lot.
You should see my first drafts.
Sometimes even I can't read them!
Jan 23, 2017 15:30:15 #
GoofyNewfie wrote:
I wind up editing my posts a lot.
You should see my first drafts.
Sometimes I can't even read them!
You should see my first drafts.
Sometimes I can't even read them!
Yeah I think you've caught a few of my red faces....
Mar 11, 2017 05:18:57 #
Ring lights are the best thing to use especially for real closeups using macro lenses. They give an evenly distributed color corrected light designed for macro photography.
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