Flash and color?

[friscuba]

I've been looking at the photos posted here over time and have been wondering something. Some people's properly exposed flash photos have colors which look different (in terms of color or richness) than others...unfortuantley most of the pics are taken in different parts of the world, so I'm not sure if it is the subject matter or if it's the flash units involved.

In general, do the various brands have flashes who's color output vary enough to affect color output on the final product? If so, that's going to make the final decision, when I pick up a flash, a tough one. It seems you'd almost have to use several units side by side to really choose.

later,

Steve

 

[Gilligan]

Steve,
I think what you may be seeing in the various photos is a combination of several things. I can't speak for the differences in the external strobes as respects the colors of the photos because I'm not techno enough on that. But I will state that some of the other factors involved are:
1. The F stop of the camera, the shutter speed, and the strobe setting.
2. Most importantly, the software program(s) being used to touch up/enhance the photos.

I think any of the better strobes will yield the color results. Perhaps someone else with more knowledge on that aspect will respond.

 

[louisianadiver]

I've been looking at the photos posted here over time and have been wondering something. Some people's properly exposed flash photos have colors which look different (in terms of color or richness) than others...unfortuantley most of the pics are taken in different parts of the world, so I'm not sure if it is the subject matter or if it's the flash units involved.

In general, do the various brands have flashes who's color output vary enough to affect color output on the final product? If so, that's going to make the final decision, when I pick up a flash, a tough one. It seems you'd almost have to use several units side by side to really choose.

later,

Steve

Hi Steve. I'll take a shot at this. The color of light is determined by the temperature of its source and is generally measured by the Kelvin scale, which is a temperature scale based on "0" as absolute zero (about -450 F). The hotter the light source, the bluer the color. Our eyes and brains can interpret a wide range of color temperatures as white light, but recording mediums like films or CCDs cannot. The temperature of sunlight is in a range of 5,000-5,500K, while the temperature of an ordinary light bulb is about 3,200K. While we see light from each source as white light (with resulting natural colors), a recording medium calibrated to see sunlight as white will record a light bulb light as red (or a flourescent bulb as green). Likewise, a medium calibrated to see tungsten light (light bulb light, or 3,200K) as white will record sunlight as blue. Color films come in 2 types: Daylight (calibrated to record sunlight (5,500K) as white, and Tungsten (calibrated to see tungsten light (3,200K) as white. The films are designated "D" or "T", and many daylight films will have "daylight" on the box. As most strobes are designed to produce light in the temperature range of sunlight, the vast majority of films used today are daylight films. Strobe manufacturers include temperature in their specs, and some strobes fire at around 4,800K to produce a warmer (redder) tone. Digital cameras are calibrated for white light with the white balance control, and improper white balance will have a more profound affect than subtle differences in strobe light temperatures. I suspect the gross differences in color you see in some digital photos is more the result of improper white balance than differences in srobe temperatures. Plus, of course, many photographers take great liberties with color in an attempt to "manufacture" a striking image with software. -Clay

 

[cdiver2]

Hi Steve. I'll take a shot at this. The color of light is determined by the temperature of its source and is generally measured by the Kelvin scale, which is a temperature scale based on "0" as absolute zero (about -450 F). The hotter the light source, the bluer the color. Our eyes and brains can interpret a wide range of color temperatures as white light, but recording mediums like films or CCDs cannot. The temperature of sunlight is in a range of 5,000-5,500K, while the temperature of an ordinary light bulb is about 3,200K. While we see light from each source as white light (with resulting natural colors), a recording medium calibrated to see sunlight as white will record a light bulb light as red (or a flourescent bulb as green). Likewise, a medium calibrated to see tungsten light (light bulb light, or 3,200K) as white will record sunlight as blue. Color films come in 2 types: Daylight (calibrated to record sunlight (5,500K) as white, and Tungsten (calibrated to see tungsten light (3,200K) as white. The films are designated "D" or "T", and many daylight films will have "daylight" on the box. As most strobes are designed to produce light in the temperature range of sunlight, the vast majority of films used today are daylight films. Strobe manufacturers include temperature in their specs, and some strobes fire at around 4,800K to produce a warmer (redder) tone. Digital cameras are calibrated for white light with the white balance control, and improper white balance will have a more profound affect than subtle differences in strobe light temperatures. I suspect the gross differences in color you see in some digital photos is more the result of improper white balance than differences in srobe temperatures. Plus, of course, many photographers take great liberties with color in an attempt to "manufacture" a striking image with software. -Clay

I don't know about digital but.
One other aspect to take into consideration some of the photos he was looking at may be film and as you know different films give different results I use Velvia just because the color tends to be shall we say deeper

 

[Dee]

Ditto what Gilligan said. While the other explanations are true, the vast majority of photos you see here are digital. The biggest difference in the colors you're seeing is the post-processing that is done with programs like Photoshop and PS Elements. Some do more processing than others, and some do none at all...that can/does lead to wide differences in the photos. If colors look too vivid to you, or you're not sure, just ask what was done to the photos. We'll all gladly tell you what steps were taken.