I'm so RED???? Exposure Issue - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 70-200 /2.8 APO EX DG Macro HSM II

10/01/2008 05:29:18 PM · #1

Ok, so I was prepping for my studio challenge shot and most of my shots came out red tinted...??? This is not the first time this has happened using my Alien Bee's, I had to trash a Senior portrait session, because of the redness.... Please help. I am uploading some examples that I will post.

Eyesup

Nikon D300

10/01/2008 05:32:12 PM · #2

I use a d300 and Alien bee's and have never had such a problem.... could it be an in-camera settings issue?

Quantaray AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC for Nikon

10/01/2008 05:38:37 PM · #3

Assuming you were shooting indoors... what color are the walls?

Message edited by author 2008-10-01 17:52:22.

fuzzyt

Nikon D90

10/01/2008 05:41:55 PM · #4

What is the WB setting on the camera?

ShutterHack

10/01/2008 05:43:28 PM · #5

could you post an example. What was your WB set at?

10/01/2008 05:58:10 PM · #6

Examples are coming, but here are some answers to the questions. Walls are off white, WB settings were either set to flash and custom, Iso varied also varied the output power on AB's to try and adjust.

10/01/2008 06:05:28 PM · #7

[thumb]727352[/thumb][thumb]727353[/thumb]

Message edited by author 2008-10-01 18:08:04.

10/01/2008 06:07:54 PM · #8

Anything else in the room that is red that the flash might be bouncing off of?

Here's a tip I learned from a pro photographer a few years ago: If you want to "warm up" a flash picture, bounce the flash off of your hand (i.e. point the flash upwards with your hand just above it palm facing the subject). There is enough red in the palm of your hand that it will add a lot of red to your picture.

So I ask again... is there enough red in the room that the flash might be bouncing off of to color the image?

Walls and ceilings are the #1 suspect. Floors are possible too, but you generally don't get as much reflected light off the floor. But there could be other things in the room too if they are big enough to reflect enough light onto the subject.

10/01/2008 06:09:43 PM · #9

[thumb]727352[/thumb]

Ah! This one is easy! You shot at ISO 800 at f/2.8 and 1/80th of a second. That is slow enough (with high enough ISO) to be shooting tungsten lighting. So if you had any other lights on in the room, they were contributing ambient light onto your subject.

Turn your ISO down to 100. Up your aperture to whatever is appropriate for the subject you are shooting (in studio I'm generally at f/8). And set your AB's high enough to light them.

10/01/2008 06:10:04 PM · #10

The whole room is painted off white, and the floor is an oatmeal colored throw rug. Back drop was black, and AB's had softboxes on them. I shut off all other lights in the room.

Message edited by author 2008-10-01 18:10:57.

10/01/2008 06:12:06 PM · #11

You also mentioned "spot metering". There's no such thing in the world of flash photography. You use spot metering to determine the amount of "continuous light" coming off of a reflective surface. But your flash is so fast (faster than 1/1000th of a second) that the spot meter can't register the amount of light you are firing.

In case this isn't one of them ... you need a "flash meter". A meter that captures the amount of light given during a flash exposure.

10/01/2008 06:14:12 PM · #12

Originally posted by dwterry:

Sorry, i pulled that info off the EXIF data from capture program

10/01/2008 06:17:41 PM · #13

Okay, so you know what to do now ... right?

10/01/2008 06:19:06 PM · #14

Sell are my gear and Give up photography???

10/01/2008 06:23:29 PM · #15

Originally posted by tjbel05:

Sell are my gear and Give up photography???

Not yet!

10/01/2008 06:29:02 PM · #16

I could make someone a great deal on Nikon and studio lights! Its obcious I am not good enough for the investment I have put into this. I am incredibly(sp) discouraged right now.

violinist123

Canon EOS-6D

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/01/2008 06:32:05 PM · #17

Originally posted by tjbel05:

The whole room is painted off white, and the floor is an oatmeal colored throw rug. Back drop was black, and AB's had softboxes on them. I shut off all other lights in the room.

Did you have the modeling lights on? (I assume ab's have modeling lights). As was mentioned, with the slow shutter speed that light would affect the exposure and they are a horrific color.

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

10/01/2008 06:33:46 PM · #18

mmh if it's not what dwterry suspected (abient light influencing your exposure) it's probably some in-camera setting issue. first off, set your wb to sun light (not costum). that's about the same color temperature (if not even a bit cooler) as your flashes have. than, like he suggsted shoot at iso 100 and a higher aperture. also check that your color space is set to adobe rgb, because srgb (default) will give you more reddish looking images (also more saturated). at last check that your contrast and color settings are set to "natural" or "portrait" or something like that.
[jk]maybe try to screw off the red filter from your lens? ;)[/jk]

Citadel

Nikon D7500

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

10/01/2008 06:36:19 PM · #19

If you shot RAW you can also correct the white balance easily enough. I've set a custom white balance for IR then took my filter off and took a few shots. Everything was Incredible Hulk green! A quick tweek in post though and voila! White clouds, blue skies and people that weren't green. :)

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/01/2008 06:36:31 PM · #20

Hum, I think I have a combo of issues going on. Yes, the AB's were set to Modeling, and yes the color on my camera was set to srgb, not adobe rgb, and yeah that red filter would make a difference (jk) LOL

Mark-A

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

10/01/2008 06:39:53 PM · #21

Don't give up mate, even if you didn't shoot in RAW this time (firstly a lesson learnt) you can still recover the images in photoshop to some degree, this is your image and I have spent less than 2 minutes sorting the colours out and came up with this:

[thumb]727374[/thumb]

Whilst not perfect with some more effort and time I am sure it's almost fully recoverable.

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/01/2008 06:50:24 PM · #22

you know what's strange: how the heck is it possible that you get a good (means NOT overexposed) exposure (except for the color issue) with your ab's set to FULL power and your camera settings set to iso800 and f2.8??? something's wrong with these info's i figure.
also on one picture you mention your wb was set to 4000k. that's probably the reason it's so red, cus that's more like the temperature you're using for tungsten light rather than flash/sun light. it should be set to something like 5200-5600k.

Mark-A

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/01/2008 06:53:42 PM · #23

Originally posted by Mephisto:

Yeah 4000 is about the same as a standard pair of car headlights, in comparison 5200 - 5600 would be somewhere near white I believe

10/01/2008 07:02:22 PM · #24

Originally posted by Mephisto:

Could it be possible that the bulbs on the ABs need to be changed? They have never been replaced and I bought them used. When I lowered the ISO to 400 the pics were pretty dark.

ShutterHack