Portrait Studio Wall Color

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for all your help with this. On that website they advertise a 42 watt full spectrum screw-in bulb. The site says it's 5100 Kelvin. It also says
"Incandescent Comparison = 150 Watts
Color or Hue = Stark White with Blue Tint "
which sounds pretty good. Are you saying it's not really 5100 Kelvin? They advertise their 23 and 27 watt bulbs as 5100 Kelvin too. Now I'm confused. What do you think?

Oh, I was going to order one of the 42 watt bulbs and one of the 27 watt bulbs, but on the photo of the bulbs I'm not sure it's a standard screw-in neck, that's what I wanted to check. I want to be able to screw it into my light stand.

I pretty much have the situation Bill is describing for taking photos and painting at home. I supplement the north light with my 'weak' bulb and I am happy with the results. I usually don't attempt to paint after dark, though sometimes I just can't leave a painting alone and I make minor adjustments. What I'm looking for is a set-up that I can bring to someone's home. Maybe this isn't the smartest thing to attempt. When someone says "would you paint my son?", I would prefer to go to their house, just because my studio is not very professional looking. And I don't want relative strangers going through our masterbedroom on the way to my studio space. I can drag my big painted foamcore backdrops to a model's home without any problem. I do realize it's more challenging to attempt this at someone else's home because there are many variables: reflections, availability of north light, no north light, and many more I'm sure I can't even think of.

I guess one option is just to decorate the masterbedroom and get over it! Or . . . . find a spot downstairs where I can successfully take photos. But I still need a decent light. I'm beginning to think the White Lightning idea might be the easiest and most consistent. I can put that on my list for Santa!

Joan

[Joan Breckwoldt]

I posted some examples of my sad reference photography using a weak flourescent bulb and then natural light here:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...7433#post57433

thanks,

Joan

[Cheryl Ellicott]

William,


Thank you for the reply.

I understand how this would be incredible lighting for the model. Sorry if I wasn't clear at first.

I was confused as to whether the entire room needed to be this dark, or just the area or corner where the model poses.
Your canvas shouldn't sit in a well-lit area of the room?

I believe from your explanation that yes, the entire room would be rather dark. This explains the need for supplemental lighting on the canvas.

I still think my perception of colors would be distorted.
I guess I'll just have to try it!
Some day, when I'm doing a portrait other than my usual posthumous. Or when I can get a similar model to pose for reference shots.

And if you live nearby I'll be coming to see your studio.

Thank you.


Cheryl

[Richard Monro]

Joan,
We were looking at two different pages on the 1000bulbs site. I found the page you referenced and yes those bulbs will work for you at 5100K. A single 42 watter will throw plenty of light if a reflector is used. I suspect the problems with your reference photos are with the settup of the camera....shutter speed may be too fast, f-stop too low, iso number too low. Hope this helps.

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Originally Posted by Richard Monro

Joan,
I suspect the problems with your reference photos are with the settup of the camera....shutter speed may be too fast, f-stop too low, iso number too low. Hope this helps.

Hi Richard,

I think you must be right. I need to spend some time over the Thanksgiving holidays reading my camera manual. I usually take lots and lots of photos and usually end up with some good ones, only having a vague idea why they turned out well.

I'll order one of those light that seems like it would be strong enough. I'll let you know, hopefully by way of a nice reference photo!

thanks again,

Joan

[Michele Rushworth]

I usually take lots and lots of photos and usually end up with some good ones, only having a vague idea why they turned out well.

When I'm trying out a new camera or a new setting I make a list with the number of the shot I just took and a description beside that of what I did: "Used Incandescent table lamp light, White Balance set to Tungsten, model was sitting 10 feet from light," for example. Then I change one variable for the next shot: "Same setup, White Balance set to Indoor" or whatever.