At 04:24 PM 1/28/00 +0100, Olaf Greve wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Yesterday evening I was wondering about some light set-ups I could
>manufacture with the stuff I have, or can obtain for a moderate price.
>
>So, when pondering over some things I couldn't help but wonder about usage
>of artificial light. As we all know, normal light bulbs are of a different
>temparature than sunlight and flashlight, hence causing an orangish cast on
>the subject. Now, I was wondering about halogen lamps (think of the really
>powerful ones), these seem to give light that is a lot brighter (and
>"whiter" at that) than bulb. So, how about the temperature of those lights?
>Are they comparable to daylight/flashlight, or are they closer to the light
>produced by normal bulbs? If these lamps can be used successfully (i.e.
>without having to mess around with nasty colour correction filters such as
>the 80A), then, can anyone tell me if these lights work nicely (when
>diffused by transparent paper)?
Olaf:
While halogen is indeed "colder" than traditional tungsten, it's not *that*
much colder. It certainly isn't the colour of mean noon sunlight (defined as
5,500 degrees Kelvin, if my failing memory serves...).
However, one of the nice things about halogen is that you can get very powerful
lamps for relatively little cash, and if you're working in black-and-white,
colour correction becomes largely moot. As for diffusion of the light, try
building yourself a P-22. This is a screen of rip-stop white nylon (you can
also use other colours) which is stretched over a frame, usually built out of
PVC tubing (the white plastic piping used by plumbers). The P-22 acts as a
huge diffuser for a halogen work lamp placed behind it, softening the light and
making really nice lighting effects. By varying the placement of the lamp
and/or the P-22, you can get a variety of light qualities. Of course, if you
build your own P-22, you can make it any dimension you want (the actual P-22
has a standard dimension, which escapes me at the moment, but it's about 6.5
feet high and about 2.5 feet wide). Of course, due to its design, you can also
stretch other types of fabric over the frame, and use it as a reflector as well
as a diffuser.
I've been studying P-22s that a pro friend of mine uses in his studio, and I've
drafted some sketches of how to build 'em. (They'd be dirt cheap -- heck,
they're not even that expensive to buy retail.) In the next few days, after I
get the rest of the most recent Oly Gallery submissions posted, I'll try and
formalize the sketches and post 'em on a Web page. Basically, they disassemble
in seconds to a very compact shape, and you don't lose any of the pieces
because everything's tied together with bungee cords strung inside the tubing
to tension the frame when it's assembled.
Sorry, don't mean to be a tease about this, but it'll take me a couple of days
to get around to the plans...
Garth
"A bad day doing photography is better
than a good day doing just about
anything else."
The Unofficial Olympus Web Photo Gallery at:
http://www.taiga.ca/~gallery/
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