What light color should I use for photographing and filming people indoors?
Asked 3/30/2011
2 views
2 answers
0
I need to photograph and film people in a small white room, and accurate skin tones are my top priority. I tried clamp work lights with 6500K CFL bulbs, but test shots made skin look too pale and sometimes greenish. I also have warmer household bulbs and some halogen lights available. For portraits/interviews indoors, what kind of lighting is best, and is color temperature the main issue here?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
23
Of what you have in stock, the halogens will give the best image results. They'll also be very hot if you use enough of them to avoid cranking up the video gain and reducing the video quality (assuming you aren't running some really top-level pro gear). Since this question applies as much to photography as video, I'll make this a one-size-fits-all answer.
Continuous lighting is necessary for video, and has its advantages for still photography. Incandescent light sources are full-spectrum lights, but because they are "pure" black body radiators (for the most part -- there are a couple of weird exotics used in industrial applications that don't follow the rules) they can only emit "whiter" light (light with more amplitude in the blue/violet range) by running much hotter than normal. Photofloods and halogens are good examples; they run in the mid-3000K range (3200-3400), but even a modest light output comes with a huge heat penalty.
That's why LED and fluorescent solutions for continuous lighting make so much sense -- they emit light on a different principle that doesn't rely on things getting super-hot. LEDs are very efficient, but panels that are bright enough and cover enough of the visible spectrum to be useful are prohibitively expensive. Without commercial backing, LEDs are not a practical solution yet (although they may come down enough in price soon -- I remember when the brightest LEDs couldn't be seen at all under sunlight conditions, and now they're being used as traffic lights and brake lights on vehicles).
Fluorescents can be great -- but they have to be the right fluorescents. It's not the color temperature that matters (you can adjust the white balance on your camera, or select film and filter to suit), but the Color Rendering Index. Common fluorescents only use enough different phosphors (the compounds in the white powder coating the inside of the tube that convert ultraviolet to visible light) to allow you to see things, period. High-CRI bulbs (CFLs with a CRI of 90 or better) use a lot of different compounds to fluoresce across almost the entire visible spectrum. (And, as a bonus, they also use high-frequency ballasts and long-decay phosphors to eliminate flicker.)
Many of the usable CFL bulbs are sold specifically as photographic or design professional equipment, and carry (sorry) prices appropriate to that realm. But, really, forty bucks a bulb for 65-Watters isn't that bad over the long term. And there are lower-power bulbs you can buy elsewhere (like at Lowe's) -- the 25W OttLite CFLs are a particular favorite of mine for tabletop lighting. (Oddly, Ott has probably the best spectrum I've come across, but they don't actually state the CRI anywhere on their packaging or ads.)
The 25-cent (or less) Diffraction Spectrograph SolutionA quick test -- grab a CD or DVD, and look at it under the lights you want to use. Make sure that you're using a bare bulb, or for large lights, that you're far enough away from the light to make it a small source. Tilt the disc so that you get that "rainbow" going from center to edge. Who needs thousands of dollars worth of lab equipment when you can do the essentials with a scratched-up old CD? Even if you have to waste a brand-new DVD+R, you're only out a quarter.
If you can see the entire rainbow without any large gaps, you can make the light work. You may have to create a custom white balance (see your camera manual) for that particular light source, but unless your subject is a narrow-spectrum monochromatic reflector/transmitter (like if you're doing cross-polarized pictures of crystals), even a few small gaps in the spectrum won't be noticeable in the final image/video.
If you only see a few bright spots of color, nothing you can do will fix the image properly -- it may be better than total darkness, but not much. If you have a choice, use something else instead.
Keep the disc in your camera bag -- scratches won't affect its performance, and it can help you do a better job whenever you're on location.
Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2719
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Color temperature alone is not the main problem. With CFL/fluorescent bulbs, the bigger issue is poor color rendering: they don’t produce a full, continuous spectrum, so skin tones can look strange or greenish and white balance can only fix that so much.
Of the lights you already have, halogen/incandescent will usually give the most natural-looking skin tones because they are closer to full-spectrum sources. They’re generally a better choice for portraits and interviews than CFLs, even if the CFLs are labeled 6500K. Those Kelvin ratings on CFLs mainly describe the overall warm/cool appearance, not how faithfully colors are rendered.
So for people, use the halogens if possible, set a manual white balance, and avoid mixing different light types in the same shot. The tradeoff is heat: halogen lights run hot, and for video you may need enough light to keep gain/ISO down.
In short: for accurate skin color, prioritize better color rendering over chasing a specific Kelvin number. Among your options, halogen is the safest choice.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI15y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
LED vs CFL or other bulbs for an affordable home photo lighting kit
How do CFL and incandescent bulbs differ for skin tones and softbox lighting?
How can I reduce red, blotchy skin tones in indoor video with a Canon SL1?
Should my studio lighting, editing room lighting, and monitor all use the same color temperature?
How can I create a simple three-point lighting setup at home on a small budget?