working with color temperature variation

<p>I'm new to studio lighting - I was wondering how people in the know handle variations in temperature when adjusting studio strobes.</p>

<p>There seems to be all these new systems where one can adjust all the lights independently (really cool), but when the lights are adjusted independently , the individual lights can be off by a few hundred degrees.</p>

<p>Doesn't that make it a mess in post to get all the colors accurate?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>If you mean that some of the light hitting the subject is a different temperature than other light hitting the same subject in the same shot ... yes, that's annoying. If the differences are profound enough, you can correct that by gelling one or more lights. <br /><br />But if you're more worried about overall color temp changes from one shot (well, one lighting configuration) to the next, just make a point of shooting raw and including a WB target shot under each lighting configuration. Then you're just a couple of mouse clicks to correct WB for batches of shots under the same light.</p>

<p>Depends what you're using. The professional-grade gear—Profoto, Elinchrom, Broncolor, Hensel—maintains a great deal of consistency across the full power range. Under normal circumstances with functional equipment, it's a problem you won't have to deal with.</p>

<p>If you're using Alien Bees or (may heaven have mercy on your tortured soul) something even lower-end, yes, there can be a pronounced, obnoxious temperature variation between lights. How much of an issue it is depends on your lighting style, the quality of your equipment, the subject matter, and your standards. In such cases, you may be better off using ND gels for power management than adjusting the lights themselves. Barring that it's either a mess in post (as you pondered) or going hog wild with a color meter and a selection of CC gels.</p>

<p>As above, although I wouldn't put Elinchrom in the same quality category as Profoto, Bron or Hensel.<br>

There are two different problems. Colour shift at different power settings (largely a product of economising on the capacitors fitted to the heads) causes a sometimes dramatic colour shift at different power settings which, as Colin identified, can be overcome by use of a colour temperature meter (although it would be cheaper as well as easier not to buy junk lights in the first place) but there is also a problem with inconsistent colour temperature (and inconsistent flash energy) pop to pop, and that problem can't be overcome by using gels because it can't be forecast.<br>

The irony here is that the people with the least experience of studio lighting are usually the most vociferous in their praise of their chosen brand, and the people with the least experience also happen to be the people who are usually least able to overcome the problems.<br>

The only real answer is to buy decent lights. Personally I've never quite understood why many people are prepared to pay several times as much for their cameras and lenses as they are for their lighting. I do the reverse.</p>

<p>Matt, Colin, and Garry - </p>

<p>I'm worried about the inconsistency in multi-light setups. I shoot RAW with a color card as it is, so I can clean up uniform color casts in Lightroom. </p>

<p>The last thing I want to do is to have to cleanup sections of a photo that are messed up. It is beyond my capability, and I'm not up for spending that amount of time in front of the computer.</p>

<p>How much of a variation in temperature can be detected by an average person? An average photographer?</p>

<p>Mike</p>

 

<p>Good question Mike, but I'm not sure that there's an answer.<br>

It depends on the subject to a large extent - a still life subject with known colours (e.g. white, grey) will be more obvious than the average portrait.<br>

And judging from the rave comments made by some people about lights that are all over the place in terms of colour, I suspect that many of them must be colour blind...<br>

<a href="http://www.lencarta.com/2009032470/setting-up-your-camera-for-studio-flash/index.php">This article</a> on the Lencarta website (or more specifically the computer-altered graphic) showing different colour temperatures may help.<br>

I agree with you about trying to correct the different colours produced by different lights on computer. Life's too short, even if it's possible to do a good job.</p>

<p>Some Broncolors allow you to adjust the output temp. Otherwise you may have to fiddle with gels. I rent Broncolor for pro shoots, but seldom use the color settings. If I do any temp adjustment, it is very minor, and always achievable in PS.</p>

<p>I'd like to introduce the possibility that in some instances "accurate" color is not really necessary.</p>

<p>Unless you have a product, or subject that requires empirically accurate RGB values, the mismatched color temp of various lights can actually enhance an image.</p>

<p>While it is best in a studio setting to do this on purpose, budget often dictates some alternative thinking. Are you making strictly objective images? Or are you making interpretive ones? Color gel-ing different heads to match at every conceivable power output setting combination can lead to an artistic gridlock, with every resetting of the lights demanding interruption of creative thinking.</p>

<p>If you absolutely must have precise color matching, you must own a lighting system designed to deliver color consistency throughout it's power range, from head to head, and all your light modifiers must be made by manufacturers who also assure such standards. Budget cannot be an issue when this is the case.</p>

<p>The only other alternative is to get really good with one light :^) ... t</p><div></div>

"If you absolutely must have precise color matching, you must own a lighting system designed to deliver color consistency throughout it's power range, from head to head, and all your light modifiers must be made by manufacturers who also assure such standards. Budget cannot be an issue when this is the case"

 

 

Try Photogenics, they have budget systems that are designed to produce consistent color control throughout the stop ranges (+/-200 Kelvin degrees), They do however have their limitations.

<p>If Paul Buff ever releases The Einstein heads, they are created with exactly this purpose in mind and to his high standards and low prices. I counsel patience... t</p>

<p>Harry & Tom - </p>

<p>Thanks for the advice - I do have leeway with color, but I'd definitely like it to be something where my involvement was more involved than a random shift in color that I didn't expect.</p>

<p>The thought of doing one light with reflectors has definitely crossed my mind. I might even do that to get me through the summer (shoot outdoors with a single WL1600 and a vagabond), and when the Einsteins come out, switch over to those.</p>

<p>I'm on the wait list for Einsteins at this point - let's see when I get an e-mail :)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Mike</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Different modifiers will affect colour temperature. This is especially the case with diffusion and reflection (soft) modifiers. My Wafer softbox is warmer than direct flash even although the standard mylar screen has a bluish tint to correct this. And I should point out that when it comes to the quality of different systems (those mentioned) and their colour temperature consistency, Bron and Profoto are high-end and both Hensel and Elinchrom midrange in price, however, Elinchrom (I can't speak for Hensel) lights have excellent colour consistency across their power range.</p>