Hot lights or strobes?

[Tom Edgerton]

Stephen

Saw the Lowel lights that gang the compact flourescents to a bright, useful wattage level recently, and they do look promising. If you get them, would love a followup describing your experience with them.

Thanks--TE

(Congrats to Susan also for her First Place award in the PSOA-sponsored SC-NC-VA Tri-State competition this month!)

[Michele Rushworth]

a fixture to hold 3 compact fluorescent bulbs

What a brilliant suggestion (no pun intended)!

I've been using wonderful color balanced fluorescent bulbs that fit in my ordinary light stands for the studio, recommended to me a few years ago by Chris Saper. They're very, very bright and 6500 degrees K. Maybe I'll order a few more bulbs and use them for shoots when the available light isn't great.

They're somewhat larger than an ordinary lightbulb and have an odd corkscrew shape but they would be easy to transport. I understand what you mean, Steve, by not wanting to risk them in checked baggage. I might bubble wrap them and ship them on ahead, or bring them in my carry on, again, well bubble wrapped.

Thanks for the tip!

[Michele Rushworth]

For anyone who'd like to consider the bulbs I've been using, they are made by TCP (www.tcpi.com) and are called "compact fluorescent spring lamps". The product code is TCP 2894265K and I understand they can be special ordered from Home Depot, and various online sources.

[Chris Saper]

I recently bought the Lowel Caselite 2-bulb set, based on suggestions from Mary Lane Reed and Steve Moppert. I love it. The case is somewhat heavy and awkward but it does fit in the overhead luggage carrier. It sets up easily and has the option of one or two- bulb lighting. I have been getting gorgeous photos.

The daylight bulbs are 5300K, so not as cool as those 6500K bulbs, but very nice.

The light comes with a sturdy compact tripod (I dont' recall whether I ordered that separately) so that it can be elevated for a 45 degree angle - many tripods simply will not go up that high.

http://www.lowel.com/caselite/

[Michele Rushworth]

They look great. So nice to have everything in one carry-on case!

[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!

[Sharon Knettell]

I have been managing to get clients to sit. When I show them the color and proportions from life as oppose to the photographic reference, they seem to be more than willing to show up in my studio.

However as we all know, all days are not created equal. Would these lights ganged up be sufficient to add brightness to a lackluster day?

[Tom Edgerton]

Sharon--

You bet. I indeed use my compact fluorescents to supplement natural light on a cloudy day. As Stephen has stated, they're a really beautiful light, as the C.R.I. (color rendering index) is in the high nineties, percent wise, meaning they're very true for seeing and rendering color.

Also, I seem to be able to paint for long spells under them with my eyes not getting tired, as they do when painting under a single wavelength all day.

Best--TE