Mixed Lighting Confusion at DVinfo.net

Chris Bottrell · May 5th, 2006, 01:41 PM

I am shooting a scene in a shop that has a ceiling full of nice flurosent lights it also has a small amount of daylight through a small glass door, but i need more! i want to use my tungsten kit aswell.

My question is if i manualy set my white balance will the shot look good, also i am not moving the camera around it will be shooting at one point only, will the mixed lighting look bad?

any help from you guys will be great!!!

Joshua Provost · May 5th, 2006, 02:15 PM

Chris,

Mixed lighting is always a problem, and in general will make your footage look disturbing. Especially if it is coming from different angles. You might get a blue backlight, orange keylight, and a general pale green soft light, of you allowed all of your sources to mix, and it just won't look right and will be hard to correct out later.

You need to pick one type of source and eliminate or correct all others. Can you block out window to kill the daylight? Can you gel your tungsten lights with some plus green to match the flos (assuming Warm flos, not Cool flos)? Can you kill the flos altogether and just use your tungsten? You need to exercise some control over the environment to make it happen.

Josh

Bob Grant · May 6th, 2006, 03:34 AM

I've been badly caught out by this and it's nigh impossible to fix, shadows of different hues, outside of windows having a disturbing blue tint etc.
A few tungsten practicals in a shot where the rest is daylight is OK, they just look warm and our brains accept it but get it the other way around and it's horrid, blue light is not natural.
If you can I'd replace the tubes in the existing fixtures, at least use cool white or real daylight tubes if you can get them (Osram make them) and add daylight fluro studio fixtures for additional light, Kinos or any thing else. Given that you might have very shiny surfaces you can add shower caps to the fluro lights or just put scrim in front of them, great thing with fluros, nothing catches fire.

Chris Bottrell · May 8th, 2006, 03:21 AM

Thanks guys for the help, you saved me alot of time!!!

Hugh DiMauro · May 9th, 2006, 06:19 AM

Chris:

Why not just pick up a few screw-in daylight balanced 250 and 500 watt lamps for about $3.00 a piece at your local photography supply store? That might do the trick.

Ralph Keyser · May 10th, 2006, 03:04 PM

You can also often rent Kino-Flo tubes for the day of the shoot. You don't have to replace all of the tubes to get the effect and light levels you want.

Mixed color temperatures can be a great look, so don't automatically reject it as an option. But do make sure that you understand (and like) what you are going to get.

Craig Chartier · May 10th, 2006, 09:25 PM

I agree, mixed light is not always abad thing. Light sets the mood. mixed lighting is what you face in real life all the time. Yes your eyes are always trying to correct -or blend- light to white, however setup a monitor and see what you've got. how does it feel to you. what are you trying to say?? Some correction may be needed but don't buy into the notion that everything has got to be 5600 degrees Kelvin or its wrong. way of thinking. trust the artist in you sometimes over the techie. Correct for skin tones and let the rest set the mood.

May 5th, 2006, 01:41 PM	#1
Chris Bottrell New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Norwich UK Posts: 23	Mixed Lighting Confusion I am shooting a scene in a shop that has a ceiling full of nice flurosent lights it also has a small amount of daylight through a small glass door, but i need more! i want to use my tungsten kit aswell. My question is if i manualy set my white balance will the shot look good, also i am not moving the camera around it will be shooting at one point only, will the mixed lighting look bad? any help from you guys will be great!!! __________________ Chris Bottrell Director R18 Wholesale LTD Canon XL2

May 5th, 2006, 02:15 PM	#2
Joshua Provost Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 493	Chris, Mixed lighting is always a problem, and in general will make your footage look disturbing. Especially if it is coming from different angles. You might get a blue backlight, orange keylight, and a general pale green soft light, of you allowed all of your sources to mix, and it just won't look right and will be hard to correct out later. You need to pick one type of source and eliminate or correct all others. Can you block out window to kill the daylight? Can you gel your tungsten lights with some plus green to match the flos (assuming Warm flos, not Cool flos)? Can you kill the flos altogether and just use your tungsten? You need to exercise some control over the environment to make it happen. Josh __________________ Owner/Operator, 727 Records Co-Founder, Matter of Chance Productions Blogger, Try Avoidance

May 8th, 2006, 03:21 AM	#4
Chris Bottrell New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Norwich UK Posts: 23	Thanks guys for the help, you saved me alot of time!!! __________________ Chris Bottrell Director R18 Wholesale LTD Canon XL2

May 9th, 2006, 06:19 AM	#5
Hugh DiMauro Trustee Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 1,207	Chris: Why not just pick up a few screw-in daylight balanced 250 and 500 watt lamps for about $3.00 a piece at your local photography supply store? That might do the trick. __________________ Interesting, if true. And interesting anyway.

May 6th, 2006, 03:34 AM	#3
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	I've been badly caught out by this and it's nigh impossible to fix, shadows of different hues, outside of windows having a disturbing blue tint etc. A few tungsten practicals in a shot where the rest is daylight is OK, they just look warm and our brains accept it but get it the other way around and it's horrid, blue light is not natural. If you can I'd replace the tubes in the existing fixtures, at least use cool white or real daylight tubes if you can get them (Osram make them) and add daylight fluro studio fixtures for additional light, Kinos or any thing else. Given that you might have very shiny surfaces you can add shower caps to the fluro lights or just put scrim in front of them, great thing with fluros, nothing catches fire.

May 10th, 2006, 03:04 PM	#6
Ralph Keyser Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Posts: 287	You can also often rent Kino-Flo tubes for the day of the shoot. You don't have to replace all of the tubes to get the effect and light levels you want. Mixed color temperatures can be a great look, so don't automatically reject it as an option. But do make sure that you understand (and like) what you are going to get.

May 10th, 2006, 09:25 PM	#7
Craig Chartier DVi Contributor Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin Texas Posts: 374	I agree, mixed light is not always abad thing. Light sets the mood. mixed lighting is what you face in real life all the time. Yes your eyes are always trying to correct -or blend- light to white, however setup a monitor and see what you've got. how does it feel to you. what are you trying to say?? Some correction may be needed but don't buy into the notion that everything has got to be 5600 degrees Kelvin or its wrong. way of thinking. trust the artist in you sometimes over the techie. Correct for skin tones and let the rest set the mood.