remr1 on sun 10 sep 00
Cullen:
I appreciate the information in your post. I share most of your techniques.
There is one exception, however.
You assume that the light head for an electronic flash is 5500 K, but unless
you take a reading with a color meter that has a feature that will tell you
the color temperature rating you can't be sure.
Tom Jenkins, at the DMA, suggested I use a color meter to check for both
color correction and LIGHT BALANCING. I took his suggestion and in the
subsequent shoots I've noticed that the head is giving a color temperature
rating of around 4800 K. Fortunately for me, according to the chart on the
meter, that temp doesn't require a filter for my lens.
Rafael
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2000 9:36 PM
Subject: Re: Questions about graduated backgrounds
> I shoot all my pots on a sweep of background paper. Any color that's
> available or one that suits the pots I'm shooting. The gradation comes
from
> how I light (or don;t light) the background. Using a softbox light (flash)
> that actually casts a shadow (or doesn't allow light to fall) on the
> background causes the natural gradation. A modeling light in the softbox
is a
> real benefit for previewing the effect of the light on the subject and the
> background.
>
> Matching film to type of light is critical. 3200K is tungsten, indoor type
> lighting. 5600K is sunlight, outdoor lighting or flash. Check the lamp
itself
> for a K or Kelvin listing. This is important. If you are using a bare bulb
> and it does not indicate the Kelvin, it is probably, almost definitely
3200k
> tungsten. This is okay, as long as the film is rated for indoor, tungsten
> light. Outdoor film indoors or indoors film outdoors leads to color shift
> problems. Newer cameras can compensate for some of these discrepancy but
> that's only for birthdays and baby showers. Not for putting your pots in
> their "BEST LIGHT."
>
> For color accuracy it is best to shoot a single frame of a Macbeth Color
> Chart at the beginning of the roll under the exact lighting conditions you
> will be shooting with. An 18% gray card is also advisable. The color chart
> and gray card should cover 80% or more of the frame. These will only be
> beneficial if the processing lab has people over 30 in their employ.
(Sorry)
>
> The corner drugstore one-hour processing will look at these frames as
> mistakes and probably trash them or, worse yet they'll print them and
charge
> you for the prints. These frames are to be used for calibrating the
remaining
> pictures on the roll to the quality of light used to shoot the Award
Winning
> pots that was the sole purpose for going to all this trouble in the first
> place.
>
> The Steve Metzer book on Photographing your Crafts is an excellent book
that
> walks you through each step of lighting, film to use and what to look for
in
> processing. This book is advertised in the back of CM in the classified
ads.
>
> KEEP CENTERED and properly exposed
> Cullen
> Naperville, Illinois
>
>
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melpots@pclink.com.
JCullen845@AOL.COM on mon 11 sep 00
One thing to watch for when using a color temp meter is the reflective colors
are are bouncing into the meter. If you had a blue background, placed your
meter on the colored surface and fired your flash, the blue of the background
will effect the color measured. So it's not just the light but the quality of
the ambient light that is being measured.
Watch out for those influences from outside forces!
Boy, there's a quote for you to write down.
KEEP CENTERED
Cullen
Naperville, Illinois
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