Church lighting
Jun 12, 2013 13:36:31 #
I have tried multiple times to take pictures in our church, and the pictures seem to have a "yellow" appearance. Do I need a more powerful flash? I am just using the pop-up flash on my Sony DSCH50. I do not have any external flashes. Sorry for my ignorance--I mainly take outdoor pictures--landscape/animals. I much prefer natural lighting over any flash pictures, therefore, I have a huge lack of experience with indoor photography.
Jun 12, 2013 13:46:43 #
Have you tried playing around with the white balance? Might be worth a try.
Jun 12, 2013 13:50:24 #
It sounds like the white balance as already been stated. What types of lights are in the church? Tungsten lights give a yellow coloring. The auto white balance in the camera may be confused by the flash. Your camera manual should tell you how to change the white balance and even how to set up a custom white balance.
Jun 12, 2013 13:51:42 #
Jun 12, 2013 13:59:01 #
jdubu
Loc: San Jose, CA
Use a tripod, don't use the pop up flash and set your white balance to the type of lighting you have in the church. Or, as stated, a custom white balance.
You may have daylight coming in through windows, which will look bluer if you are set to tungsten/incandescent for the church lights. This can be warmed up in post, depending on your pp program.
Otherwise, set your exposure for the light conditions in the church. That will probably mean a slower shutter speed, hence the need for a tripod (or set the camera on a stationary platform like a bench back)
You may have daylight coming in through windows, which will look bluer if you are set to tungsten/incandescent for the church lights. This can be warmed up in post, depending on your pp program.
Otherwise, set your exposure for the light conditions in the church. That will probably mean a slower shutter speed, hence the need for a tripod (or set the camera on a stationary platform like a bench back)
Jun 12, 2013 14:08:32 #
I have not tried the white balance, but I certainly will give that a shot. Thanks to all who replied. I really appreciate your help. This forum is tremendous for learning--you are all great!
Jun 12, 2013 14:10:30 #
tnt4nu wrote:
I have not tried the white balance, but I certainly will give that a shot. Thanks to all who replied. I really appreciate your help. This forum is tremendous for learning--you are all great!
Good luck with it. If it helps maybe you can show us some before and after shots.
Jun 12, 2013 17:24:50 #
tnt4nu wrote:
I have tried multiple times to take pictures in our church, and the pictures seem to have a "yellow" appearance. Do I need a more powerful flash? I am just using the pop-up flash on my Sony DSCH50. I do not have any external flashes. Sorry for my ignorance--I mainly take outdoor pictures--landscape/animals. I much prefer natural lighting over any flash pictures, therefore, I have a huge lack of experience with indoor photography.
You need to gel your flash to change its color from 5500 -6000 deg K to 2750 -3200 deg K.
What is happening is that the bakground ambient lighting shows up as yellow and your subject is relatively the correct color (usually too blue or too cool) because your camera's white balance is set for 5500-6000 deg K or "flash".
Easy fix, gel or color correct your flash:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-using-gels-to-correct.html
About $8/sheet at B & H for CTS or CTO. Enough to last a lifetime. :thumbup:
Jun 12, 2013 23:50:33 #
I shoot Canon and find that Canon has a red bias so I use CTS gels which are less red than CTO.
For an example of flash (580EX II) with GTS gel and tungsten halogen incandescent church lighting (~2900 deg K) see:
http://robert-photos.smugmug.com/St-John-the-Evangelist-Church/2013/2013-04-27-First-Communion/
Photos 3,4,5 & 73 thru 125 had fill flash as I remember.
All photos taken during Mass were ambient lighted.
My WB was set at 2900 Deg K, shot in Av, Exposure Comp -1 to -1.33, flash Exposure Comp probably ~-.33.
Gelling the flash balances the color temperature of flash and ambient lighting.
B & H has a 20" x 24" full CTS sheet for $6.49:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/44225-REG/Rosco_RS344111_3441_Filter_Full.html
For an example of flash (580EX II) with GTS gel and tungsten halogen incandescent church lighting (~2900 deg K) see:
http://robert-photos.smugmug.com/St-John-the-Evangelist-Church/2013/2013-04-27-First-Communion/
Photos 3,4,5 & 73 thru 125 had fill flash as I remember.
All photos taken during Mass were ambient lighted.
My WB was set at 2900 Deg K, shot in Av, Exposure Comp -1 to -1.33, flash Exposure Comp probably ~-.33.
Gelling the flash balances the color temperature of flash and ambient lighting.
B & H has a 20" x 24" full CTS sheet for $6.49:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/44225-REG/Rosco_RS344111_3441_Filter_Full.html
Jun 12, 2013 23:51:16 #
tnt4nu wrote:
I have tried multiple times to take pictures in our church, and the pictures seem to have a "yellow" appearance. Do I need a more powerful flash? I am just using the pop-up flash on my Sony DSCH50. I do not have any external flashes. Sorry for my ignorance--I mainly take outdoor pictures--landscape/animals. I much prefer natural lighting over any flash pictures, therefore, I have a huge lack of experience with indoor photography.
If you can set color temperature on your camera, try about 2700°K. Otherwise set your color balance to Tungsten.
Jun 13, 2013 08:01:24 #
I'm unsure what type of images you are shooting in the church but when I shoot a wedding I set my camera in the manual mode, set the ISO somewhere between 800-1600 depending on the brightness of the interior and end up shooting at about 1/20@5.6. That would be a starting point for you. As stated the use of a flash will alter the white balance but any color shift can easily be corrected in Photoshop. If you're seated the slow shutter speed should not be an issue in terms of sharpness.
Jun 13, 2013 10:45:33 #
peterg
Loc: Santa Rosa, CA
Depending on your camera's features and whether you save your pictures in raw or jpeg, you can fix white balance when you take your picture or during post processing. But, if you do too good a job, your photos may look like they were taken outside in daylight. You may prefer an imperfect white balance setting that make the photos look like they were taken in a church.
Jun 13, 2013 10:50:15 #
Hi tnt4nu,
I take quite a few photos of church interiors and just like you i don't like using flash. The answer is HRD. I'm fascinated by the interiors of disused churches and though some of them have some form of electric lighting I ignore that and just rely on natural light through the windows. Using HDR you will be amazed at the results that you can get. If you are not sure about taking photos for an HDR image there is a fund of knowledge on the internet. I've attached an HDR image to give you some OIdea.
I take quite a few photos of church interiors and just like you i don't like using flash. The answer is HRD. I'm fascinated by the interiors of disused churches and though some of them have some form of electric lighting I ignore that and just rely on natural light through the windows. Using HDR you will be amazed at the results that you can get. If you are not sure about taking photos for an HDR image there is a fund of knowledge on the internet. I've attached an HDR image to give you some OIdea.
Altar and Chancel, Holy Trinity Church, Privet, Hampshire
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