Post by GR1 on Feb 20, 2010 12:16:02 GMT
Considering that I'm a photographer, you'd have thought I'd have spotted this thread a bit earlier....!
Just wanted to reiterate what John has said about keeping things simple. Why make things difficult for yourself?
When I 'were a lad', I almost always used natural light and was wary of artificial illumination of any kind. In later years, when running a studio (and with a bit more knowledge), I came to appreciate the controllability of studio lighting - by using it you have complete control but you also have to understand it, know how to make best use of it and spend time setting it up.....
For the type of photography we're talking about, John's set up is great and there is another factor that makes a difference. Colour balance isn't as big a problem with a decent digital camera as it once was with film (as you can often set the white balance to some degree) but, on the whole, camera sensors are set up to record in daylight (or flash which approximates daylight). Looking at the images above, you can see that John's pic looks more naturally lit.... the others have colour casts from the artificial lights used. In particular, look at the white areas.
Yes, these casts can be corrected but by using natural daylight you can usually avoid them in the first place. Again, why make life difficult? With reference to this comment, Voyager... "Of course, as magazine editor, I would have thought well lit, in focus photographs with a plain background would have been a Godsend!" ... too true!
For those of you that don't know, I'm the person that actually puts the magazine together and colour casts are a big problem. I spend far too much time working to correct images that are well lit, in focus ...and orange! Incidentally, Voyager, does that comment also indicate that you might be submitting material for publication?
I'm looking forward to seeing John's photography article making an appearance.... mind you, I've been looking forward to it for quite a while now! ;D
Chris
Just wanted to reiterate what John has said about keeping things simple. Why make things difficult for yourself?
When I 'were a lad', I almost always used natural light and was wary of artificial illumination of any kind. In later years, when running a studio (and with a bit more knowledge), I came to appreciate the controllability of studio lighting - by using it you have complete control but you also have to understand it, know how to make best use of it and spend time setting it up.....
For the type of photography we're talking about, John's set up is great and there is another factor that makes a difference. Colour balance isn't as big a problem with a decent digital camera as it once was with film (as you can often set the white balance to some degree) but, on the whole, camera sensors are set up to record in daylight (or flash which approximates daylight). Looking at the images above, you can see that John's pic looks more naturally lit.... the others have colour casts from the artificial lights used. In particular, look at the white areas.
Yes, these casts can be corrected but by using natural daylight you can usually avoid them in the first place. Again, why make life difficult? With reference to this comment, Voyager... "Of course, as magazine editor, I would have thought well lit, in focus photographs with a plain background would have been a Godsend!" ... too true!
For those of you that don't know, I'm the person that actually puts the magazine together and colour casts are a big problem. I spend far too much time working to correct images that are well lit, in focus ...and orange! Incidentally, Voyager, does that comment also indicate that you might be submitting material for publication?
I'm looking forward to seeing John's photography article making an appearance.... mind you, I've been looking forward to it for quite a while now! ;D
Chris