Anybody know how to make fluorescent colours look like they do in real life?

[duncan_ferguson]

<p>Hi</p>

<p>I shoot for a clothing website and the one thing i struggle with is getting fluorescent colours to look like they do to the eye.<br>

The flash always seem to bleach out the colours. I see other sites where the colours look great. Just wondered if anyone knew a trick i was missing?<br>

Thanks</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>What type of camera are you using ?</p>

[duncan_ferguson]

<p>canon 5d mk2</p>

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>You may be experiencing something similar to a weird effect that happened when double knits came out back in the late seventies. There was a period where lots of wedding photographers were having nightmares with some of the tuxes due to the fabric structure and the dyes in vogue at the time. Blues would turn to browns on film and other colors would also go nuts based on how the dyes would reflect a different wave length of light with the use of electronic flash. As I recall, there were a good many lawsuits over this phenomenon.</p>

<p>It didn't happen with daylight, just electronic flash, so you might experiment with light sources.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>Back in film days we use to use an FLD(fluoerecent) filter over the lens, then to give the image a little more snap we would use a green filter(30G) over the flash. Not sure how that would work with digital though.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Harry, I think the OP is referring to UV reactive coloured objects, not to fluorescent lighting!</p>

<p>Gary, this is something you'll probably have to experiment with quite a bit to get right, and if you're not currently shooting RAW, then do so. Things to try:<br>

(1) Shoot RAW, underexpose slightly and drag down the overall saturation in PP - this should make the fluorescent colours "pop" in contrast to the rest of the picture. You might also want to set your colourspace to AdobeRGB.<br>

(2) Use photo-fluorescent continuous lighting rather than flash (higher UV component).<br>

(3) Use tungsten lighting supplemented with a "blacklight" tube aimed at the fluorescent object(s) and with a UV filter on the camera lens. White Balance adjusted for tungsten of course.<br>

(4) As a last resort; double expose or use layers, giving one exposure for the main scene, and a second exposure just lit with a blacklight tube.</p>

[duncan_ferguson]

<p>Thanks Rodeo Joe, and everybody else. Very helpful info</p>

<p>Unfortunately everything else is flash so can't get away fro that</p>

[colin_mattson1]

<p>What are you using for flash? If it's professional equipment, you generally have the option to run it in either a UV-Cut or UV-Pass configuration. If you're losing the pop because the garments are actually UV reactive, the solution could be as simple as swapping out a dome or flash tube.</p>

<p>If you're using something like an Alien Bee, you might want to rent a Profoto or Broncolor setup and specifically tell the rental house you need it in a configuration without UV filtration.</p>

<p>Please do realize if you go this route, "raw" flash produces a significant amount of ultraviolet light. Make sure you, your crew, and any models are appropriately protected (sunblock), and don't keep anything in your working space that shouldn't be repeatedly exposed to UV. </p>

[marc_david]

<p>Is it possible the images are simply overexposed? Without seeing an image, we're all guessing here, so it might help if you post a non-colour corrected image.</p>

[paul_k1664875007]

<p>Try correcting the light of your flash towards that of UV light.</p>

<p>I've seen it done often when shooting catwalk, where filters are put on 'normal' stagelights to mimic the effect of so-called blacklight.</p>

<p>http://glowinc.com/glow-in-the-dark/black-light.aspx</p>

[marlon]

<p>I do a lot of catalogue and web work for a big shoe retail in chain in Canada. This week I was shooting some of the Spring lineup and there were a few pairs of neon coloured boots. Neon yellow, neon red, neon green etc... think hi-liter colours. The reds and yellows always got clipped... I need to keep to the lighting consistent so I just did two exposures, one for the background and one underexposed on the boot and combined in Photoshop. Luckily it was just a on a plain, grey background so was easy to isolate.</p>

<p>Rodeo Joe has the right idea. I've never tried with black lights, but it's not the kind of contract that merits it.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>What exactly are flourecent colors can you show us a sample ?</p>

[marlon]

<p>Here, Harry: http://bit.ly/xplqY3</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>Amazing what you can do with computers Marlon thanks.</p>

[marlon]

<p>:D</p>