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Light
D"). If you are using color negative film, photo labs can compensate to a large extent for this color cast
in the printing, but I prefer to do it at exposure time with an FL-D filter.
Indoors -- Incandescent Lights
Standard light bulbs are much warmer than daylight, only about
2900 K for a 100-watt light bulb. If you are using daylightbalanced
film, you'll get a very pronounced yellow cast unless you
stick a blue filter over your lens (Kodak says 80A + 82B). An
alternative is to use tungsten-balanced film. Tungsten film is really
designed for 3200 K photo lamps but it is better than daylight.
Electronic Flash
Although I'm sort of proud that the strobe was an MIT invention
(Doc Edgerton), there is no doubt in my mind that the electronic
flash has done more to ruin the average photograph than any other
new technology.
In the good old days, even amateur photographers were reasonably
careful about light. You took your subject out on a high overcast
day. You placed your subject next to a large window. You stuck
your camera on a tripod.
What do we do now? Point and shoot without thinking. The camera will automatically blast the subject
with light from the built-in strobe if there isn't enough ambient light. Thus, 90% of our subjects come
out with that "deer in the headlights" look.
http://www.photo.net/making-photographs/light (9 of 22)7/3/2005 2:22:38 AM