light tent problems
Jan 4, 2012 13:42:06 #
GoofyNewfie:
Ah, yes. England and America are two countries separated by a common language. ( George Bernard Shaw ) :-)
Ah, yes. England and America are two countries separated by a common language. ( George Bernard Shaw ) :-)
Jan 4, 2012 13:49:08 #
Steve40
That sounds good. You need to make sure that they are 'photographic' daylight and not just those ones that simulate daylight for office use but have some rather nasty dips and peaks in the colour spectrum. I got caught like that a while back which is why I prefer incandescent lamps, even though the heat can be a problem. For some reason the genuine daylight florescent bulbs are quite expensive on this side of the pond.
That sounds good. You need to make sure that they are 'photographic' daylight and not just those ones that simulate daylight for office use but have some rather nasty dips and peaks in the colour spectrum. I got caught like that a while back which is why I prefer incandescent lamps, even though the heat can be a problem. For some reason the genuine daylight florescent bulbs are quite expensive on this side of the pond.
Jan 4, 2012 14:56:52 #
Quote:
That sounds good. You need to make sure that they are 'photographic' daylight and not just those ones that simulate daylight for office use but have some rather nasty dips and peaks in the colour spectrum. I got caught like that a while back which is why I prefer incandescent lamps, even though the heat can be a problem. For some reason the genuine daylight florescent bulbs are quite expensive on this side of the pond.
That sounds good. You need to make sure that they are 'photographic' daylight and not just those ones that simulate daylight for office use but have some rather nasty dips and peaks in the colour spectrum. I got caught like that a while back which is why I prefer incandescent lamps, even though the heat can be a problem. For some reason the genuine daylight florescent bulbs are quite expensive on this side of the pond.
They are close enough to use either AWB, or daylight settings with no color tint to deal with. So far they have worked perfectly, for all used occasions. They have to be cheaper on this side of the pond; last check I think our dollar is actually worth minus 25 cents. :lol:
Jan 4, 2012 15:41:58 #
Steve40:
Do you happen to know what make/model they were? Could be they are available here if you know where to look. Last ones I bought were £20 (about $30) each for 5500K 40Watt bulbs.
Do you happen to know what make/model they were? Could be they are available here if you know where to look. Last ones I bought were £20 (about $30) each for 5500K 40Watt bulbs.
Jan 4, 2012 15:52:23 #
Oh, and by the way, further to my post about using a gel on the lights, if you have a theatre nearby you could try buttering up one of the techies for some gel off-cuts. Most theatres go through huge quantities of gels which they use on the lighting rigs and as they usually buy them in large sheets they may have left over bits, or indeed even sheet they don't want. I got about 300 gels of all different colours from my local theatre. Mind they had me help them set out about 50 seats for a jazz performance that evening but it was a sweet deal. :-D
Jan 4, 2012 16:42:25 #
kintekobo wrote:
Steve40:
Do you happen to know what make/model they were? Could be they are available here if you know where to look. Last ones I bought were £20 (about $30) each for 5500K 40Watt bulbs.
Do you happen to know what make/model they were? Could be they are available here if you know where to look. Last ones I bought were £20 (about $30) each for 5500K 40Watt bulbs.
What's on the box?. Make: Utilitech, (Natural Daylight), #0345548, 800 series.
These come in 75w equivalents, but the store here does not carry them. The output is rated at 830 lumens, for the 60w equals. Two of which is 1660 lumens.
This may seem a little low by the costly photo equivalents, but I have absolutely no problem, since there is already a tripod in use. Used with my light tent, the exposures have all been A+.
Jan 4, 2012 16:56:57 #
Steve40
Thanks for the info. I will have a look to see if they are available over here. A damn site cheaper at $6 for four if I can track them down.
Thanks for the info. I will have a look to see if they are available over here. A damn site cheaper at $6 for four if I can track them down.
Jan 4, 2012 17:17:25 #
Chuck wrote:
I built a light tent for some of my macro subjects. My question is , how can I get enough light to avoid using a ring flash? I have the sides , front and top open but diffused with white cloth and I am using lamps with 40 watt bulbs to light the sides and black cloth as my back drop.
Jewelry can be hard to get correct. Without seeing the items you want to photograph my suggestions are limited. For rings with stones I use a light box for the bottom of the my enclosure and secure them with museum wax. Of course you will need to use spot metering, +2ev and some photoshop work to clean things up. Here are two examples of rings photographed using a light box bottom.
Some reflections are necessary to give depth to the image.
Jan 4, 2012 18:57:45 #
Chuck
Loc: North Carolina
Steve what position do you set ur lights in? I use the clamp lights as well with 40 watt lamps. maybe I need to increase the wattage is it ok to mix incandescent and flourescent? Ihave the white cardboard suggested by Ed. Im just getting set up now for some summer macro shots. Thanks to all for the advice
Jan 4, 2012 19:03:23 #
Chuck wrote:
Steve what position do you set ur lights in? I use the clamp lights as well with 40 watt lamps. maybe I need to increase the wattage is it ok to mix incandescent and flourescent? Ihave the white cardboard suggested by Ed. Im just getting set up now for some summer macro shots. Thanks to all for the advice
I would suspect that mixing incandescent and fluorescent will give you big-time color balance problems. Best to stick to a single type of lighting.
Jan 4, 2012 19:11:19 #
I usually position a light to center of each side of the tent, sometimes using a third overhead. With these low wattage lamps, you need them close to the fabric to get as much light as possible. That is a plus, for using the cooler running fluorescents.
I also have used my speedlight with the output set very low, with a diffuser in some cases in addition to the clamp lamps. It just depends, on what kind of subject it is.
I would not mix incandescent with fluorescent, you would have a hard time white balancing for the mixed lighting.
I also have used my speedlight with the output set very low, with a diffuser in some cases in addition to the clamp lamps. It just depends, on what kind of subject it is.
I would not mix incandescent with fluorescent, you would have a hard time white balancing for the mixed lighting.
Jan 4, 2012 19:15:37 #
Chuck wrote:
I built a light tent for some of my macro subjects. My question is , how can I get enough light to avoid using a ring flash? I have the sides , front and top open but diffused with white cloth and I am using lamps with 40 watt bulbs to light the sides and black cloth as my back drop.
When shooting small subjects like rings, I avoid using light tents as I find them quite confining. I prefer to shoot in the open on black plexiglass with diffused incandescent lighting (100w bulb) coming from above and behind the subject. The diffuser is a simple sheet of tracing paper. You will need a small aperture (f16) and long exposure (2 sec), but must shoot at low ISO (100) to avoid noise.
Here are three examples of using this technique.
Jan 4, 2012 19:27:45 #
Jan 4, 2012 19:29:43 #
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