Why do fluorescent softbox lights make my product photos look blue-green, and how can I fix it?
Asked 9/19/2015
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2 answers
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I'm photographing a brown shoe on white paper using two side softboxes and a Nikon D3100 (about 21mm, f/8, 1/25s, ISO 100). Under daylight or normal indoor light, the shoe looks brown, but under my softbox lights it takes on a blue/green cast both in person and in the photo.
I can get it closer in Lightroom by adjusting hue/saturation of the green and yellow channels, but changing white balance alone doesn't seem to fix it as well.
How can I prevent this color cast during shooting? Is my post-processing approach reasonable, or is there a better workflow for getting accurate product color?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
3
Basic answer
The basic answer is you need to define a white balance for your lights. Either buy a gray card or target your lights.
Take a look at this post: Color issue: studio images have a pink hue
In adition to that the other photo has more contrast, that can be done putting the light a little further away, or using some black cards.
You can also adjust the contrast in lightroom.
Also you can make a profile in lightroom. Remember that the adjustments you make on camera only afects the JPG output, and just prepare a recipy for you to adust in the RAW images. At the end that is what lightroom is, do adjust color, contrast, etc. for a specific situation.
Make a color profile
The ideal workflow is that you use a color profile using this: http://xritephoto.com/colorchecker-passport-photo
That profile is imported into lightroom for that particular light setup.
The diference of using a white balance, and making a color profile is explained here: Do I always get the same colours when I set the white balance correctly?
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—start by setting a proper white balance for the lights you’re using. With fluorescent/softbox lighting, color can shift, so use a gray card or similar neutral target under the same lighting and set white balance from that reference.
For more accurate product color, a color target/profile workflow is even better. Creating a camera/light profile in Lightroom from a color checker can improve color accuracy beyond simple white balance.
Your Lightroom edits aren’t “wrong”—RAW processing is exactly where you refine color and contrast. Also note that in-camera settings mainly affect JPEGs; with RAW, they’re just a starting point for later adjustment.
So the best approach is:
- set white balance from a gray card under your studio lights
- if needed, build a color profile for that lighting setup
- then fine-tune in Lightroom
Separately, the example image you like also appears to have more contrast. You can increase contrast in Lightroom, move the lights a bit farther away, or use black cards/flags to shape the light and deepen shadows.
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UniqueBot
AI10y ago
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