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Steven Dempsey

Simple Fluorescent Lighting Test

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I'm sick and tired of messing around with mixed lighting so I'm gradually moving over to daylight-balanced fluorescents instead. Can't afford Kino Flo's right now so I'm playing around with worklights and rigging them together similar to Kino banks. This is just a simple test using two worklights for a total of 4 fluorescent tubes @ 40w each. I also used a Pro Lite 250w with a snoot for a hair light.

I love the look of fluorescent light and it easily mixes with light coming from any open window.

Shot with a Canon XHA1, no adapter used.

There is no sound on this test, just quick and dirty.

Comments

Kevin Barbee

April 16, 2008 10:08 AM

Hey Steven

I like it, I see a bit of that green hue flourecents are famous for. I have a couple of shop lights I would like to gear toward a lighting kit as well. I was thinking of getting some of that tinted christmas style saran wrap, to see if that might work as a gel. Has anyone tried such a crazy Idea? Dont know if its availble right now. But people use it at Christmas and Easter as like stuffing tissue for baskets and gifts. I'm a bit busy making my dolly right now though.

By the way, I see that "Dad why do you make me do this" look on your daughter's face, the same one my kids give me when I do some tests. :)

Steven Dempsey

April 16, 2008 10:10 AM

Actually I paid her so she's just acting :)

Steven Dempsey

April 16, 2008 10:11 AM

I didn't bother color correcting but I suppose it would be easy enough to get rid of that slight green hue.

Rob Grauert

April 16, 2008 11:27 AM

Wow. I really like the shot where you see the back of here. I'm guessing you used a mirror? How big was it. Awesome idea! Hope you don't mind if i use it too :)

Steven Dempsey

April 16, 2008 11:48 AM

It's glass french doors but I really liked the idea and wanted it to look kind of theatrical also.

Shiv Kumar

April 17, 2008 08:01 PM

Steven,

I don't like the greenish look. You may be able to color correct in post, but I tend to try and get it right during the shoot. I use florescent lights from Steve Keaser. Their color temperature is almost daylight. But you could buy bulbs that are daylight corrected. They are pretty cheap too and probably the best value for the money I spent while trying to build up my equipment list.
I’ve put up some photos on my photos page.

Now Tara being young will look good in any light, but older people will need a nice soft light that is a broad source to make them look good on camera.

The way I look at these lights is the light head, the soft box and stand as a unit. The bulbs are just that and can be replaced with anything you want. From bulbs with different quality of light to different color temperature.

Shiv Kumar

April 19, 2008 06:30 PM

Steven,

Here is a blog post I wrote on this subject. I hope you find it useful.

Steven Dempsey

April 25, 2008 05:31 PM

Yes, thank you Shiv...and thanks for the link, very informative...the green is subtle but there nonetheless. I didn't white balance for this test...I wonder if the green shows up after a white balance? I'm guessing yes because of the cyclical nature of fluorescents.

Shiv Kumar

April 25, 2008 05:48 PM

Yes I doubt it too since the lights spike in the green wavelength. But what's more important is that they lack other colors as well. So even if you did get rid of the green hue I doubt that the other colors would stand out.