Hot lights or strobes?

[Linda Brandon]

Steve, were you shooting with a White Lightning strobe in the pre-digital age? I never have a color problem with my digital/White Lightning setup, especially if I shoot in RAW. (Well, maybe I have a color problem, but nobody has flat-out said anything about it to me lately. )

I wish I had an Alien Bees set up because I love the name of the company.

I have usually painted daytime portraits from life under natural light, though I've done charcoals from life at night under a single cool florescent with a sheet of difuser fabric over the lamp. Doing on-site demos is a whole other situation as well, though I gather, Michele, you are asking about photography.

To fill or not to fill: that is the question. (Let's get Garth in on this discussion, I'll email him.)

[Chris Saper]

Hey! I vote for fill! (As opposed to Phil, whom I understand to be an abstract expressionist art critic wannabe for the Fargo Inquirer- no offence to our Dakota friends)

[Michele Rushworth]

Tom, what do you use?

...And if anyone knows what "Phil" uses, please enlighten (!) us on that, too!

[Mike McCarty]

(Well, maybe I have a color problem, but nobody has flat-out said anything about it to me lately. )

Linda, you have a color problem.

I wish I had an Alien Bees set up because I love the name of the company.

I like the word Babaghanoush.

1 large eggplant
Tahini (sesame paste)
3-4 cloves of fresh garlic
1 pepperocini and brine from jar
Juice of 1 lemon Juice
Spices: cumin, corriander, salt, chilis, etc. to taste

Oh yeah, I like natural lighting.

[Linda Brandon]

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

Linda, you have a color problem.

I can stop coloring any time I want to.

[Steve Craighead]

Linda,
I used the White Lighting strobes in the predigital age. They were great at getting a nice shadow pattern and of course I could use a fast shutter speed and stop down the lens, but there was also a kind of sameness to the light that bothered me. I couldn't see any nuances. It was like playing the piano with only one octave. After awhile it was just plain boring. I much prefer natural light. Today, if I have to use photographs, I'll go to all kind of extremes to shoot with it. I've even taken photos of an active 5 yr old at f4 and 1/8 second just to able to use natural light.
There are situations though like painting a head and shoulders on location, when speed is important, where I find an artificial light works very well. I like the colors from my compact fluorescents much more than my strobes or tungsten.
Chris, thanks for passing on the information about the Caselights. I'll check those out. I like the case. Do you find the 2 bulb setup to be enough light?

Steve

[Tom Edgerton]

Michele--

Got a big tungsten softbox from way back, with two Totalights for fill and accent lighting. Don't always use all three, sometimes just one. Depends on the effect I'm after. These all break down so I can travel, but they're not any too portable. In the past, I've shipped them ahead rather than trust the gorillas under the plane. I've got too much stuff and could pare it down; a more compact, more travel-friendly arrangement is on my to-do list.

However, the compact fluorescents have become my auxiliary painting lights, on cloudy days when my big window isn't enough. They look promising for photography on-site too, and the manufacturers are beginning to gang them up for higher wattage, as Stephen did intuitively himself.

I think shadow fill is a plenty viable option. A second light just gives you the extra control. Sometimes you want to bounce in fill with a card, but that's harder to predict. Previewing the result in the digital camera on-site helps with this. More importantly is to learn to meter well, then you know what you have in a given situation. Measuring is a good thing, as Martha says.

The point to me is, fill isn't inherently good or evil, it's just another tool. Try to experiment all the time, so lighting choices are numerous and as varied as the colors you use. Tools are just tools--there isn't an "official" approach--and it's good to know as many tricks as possible.

XXOO--TE

(Then there's my brother, Phil. When I use what he uses, neither one of us gets anything done at all.)