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taking slides, flood lamps

updated fri 12 feb 99

 

Vince Pitelka on wed 10 feb 99

>reminded me that I had seen industrial lamps (2 lamps about 24" apart on
>a stand about 4 ft. high or so)for sale in Lowes the other day and
>wondered if they would work for photography although that was not listed
>as a use. I got waylaid and never investigated the wattage, etc.,
>however. Anybody ever use these? Carolyn

Yes, these work very well, although I prefer individual ones that can be
moved around separately. And a friend of mine made a soft-box from two of
these, and his photographs taken with this setup have appeared in CM, Clay
Times, and other publications. He brings the softbox down close over the
wares, and the background fades to dark at the top. He uses reflective
cards and/or a small flood/spot for asymetrical effects and for highlights,
because a soft-box will normally deaden all highlights, and that just
flattens and deadens your work and makes it look like plastic.

Purists say the color temp must be absolutely right, but of course with any
lamp the color temperature changes as the lamp ages. I have taken slides
with brand new tungsten film, proper brand-new tungsten photo lamps, and
professional processing, and had the color come out terrible. I have taken
slides with a pair of desk lamps with soft-white bulbs, and had the color
come out very accurate. Any professional photographer will no doubt tell
you that this should be much more of a science, but I cannot argue with the
results from that low-budget soft-box setup.
Good luck -
- Vince

Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166

Chris Schafale on thu 11 feb 99

Hey Vince,

Sorry to sound clueless, but what's a soft-box??

Chris

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >reminded me that I had seen industrial lamps (2 lamps about 24" apart on
> >a stand about 4 ft. high or so)for sale in Lowes the other day and
> >wondered if they would work for photography although that was not listed
> >as a use. I got waylaid and never investigated the wattage, etc.,
> >however. Anybody ever use these? Carolyn
>
> Yes, these work very well, although I prefer individual ones that can be
> moved around separately. And a friend of mine made a soft-box from two of
> these, and his photographs taken with this setup have appeared in CM, Clay
> Times, and other publications. He brings the softbox down close over the
> wares, and the background fades to dark at the top. He uses reflective
> cards and/or a small flood/spot for asymetrical effects and for highlights,
> because a soft-box will normally deaden all highlights, and that just
> flattens and deadens your work and makes it look like plastic.
>
> Purists say the color temp must be absolutely right, but of course with any
> lamp the color temperature changes as the lamp ages. I have taken slides
> with brand new tungsten film, proper brand-new tungsten photo lamps, and
> professional processing, and had the color come out terrible. I have taken
> slides with a pair of desk lamps with soft-white bulbs, and had the color
> come out very accurate. Any professional photographer will no doubt tell
> you that this should be much more of a science, but I cannot argue with the
> results from that low-budget soft-box setup.
> Good luck -
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
> Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
> Appalachian Center for Crafts
> Tennessee Technological University
> 1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
>
>
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@nuteknet.com