Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - Types of Photographic Lights, Usage and Precautions

Types of Photographic Lights, Usage and Precautions

The standard 250-watt and 500-watt photographic floodlight bulbs are essential for the studio, and we call them bulb 1 and bulb 2, respectively. They look no different from household bulbs and are usually fitted with a reflector.

If you use a reflector, the light is a floodlight regardless of which type of bulb is installed inside. If you use a reflector with a narrower profile, as shown in Figure 11.4, then it is a spotlight.

A variety of reflectorized photographic floodlight bulbs of different wattages (e.g., 200 watts, 375 watts, and 500 watts) are available as regular photographic floodlight bulbs. These bulbs are coated with a layer of silver on the inside, which acts as a built-in reflector. These reflector bulbs can also be modified to project a narrow beam of intense light, which is why we call them spotlights. Any type of reflector bulb is fitted with a fixed reflector at the back, which makes it easy to install as the lamp is tightly fitted to the reflector. However, they are more expensive.

Often in permanent studios, professional photographers use standard bulbs, partly because of their low price. Another factor is that the metal reflector can be "focused" and, thanks to the "diffuser", the distance between the bulb and the reflector can be varied, allowing more precise control of the lighting.

The most commonly used professional floodlight bulbs produce 3200K light.

Let's see what that means." Film" lesson on color temperature, which talks about the temperature of the light is measured by the "Kelvin temperature scale", so the meaning of 3200K is: the tungsten filament in the bulb is emitting light when the absolute temperature scale is 3200K.

From the "film" lesson, we also learned that as the temperature of the light source increases, the color of the light will change. Light is red at low temperatures, and as the temperature of the light source continues to rise, the light will turn yellow. When the temperature continues to rise, the light turns blue.

During the day, the temperature of the light is about 5500K, when the actual color is blue. The sky also appears blue as a result. The light from a photographic tungsten floodlight bulb with a temperature of about 3200K is slightly yellowish in color compared to daylight.

We can't tell the color difference between daylight and tungsten light with the naked eye, but film, especially color film, can. When you shoot a scene under 3200D lighting with daylight-type film, every element in the frame appears yellow. Therefore, you should use film that has been color temperature balanced if you take color photos. For example, tungsten balanced film, or simply tungsten film, is designed for shooting under tungsten lighting.

The light produced by a household bulb has a temperature of 2800K, so its color is even more yellow than the 3200K light produced by a professional floodlight bulb.

Black and white film is less affected by the color temperature of the light. Therefore, when you take black-and-white photos, there is no need to consider the light source. The only time you need to pay attention to the color balance of the film is when you take color photos.

Quartz Tungsten Iodine Filament

Quartz tungsten iodine filament is another incandescent light that is necessary to know. This type of lamp is well matched and self-contained. An ordinary quartz tungsten iodine filament lamp can emit intense light with a power of up to 600 watts to 1000 watts. It is favored by many professional photographers because of its compactness and ease of use, and its portability is highly prized by connoisseurs. However, its price is much higher than that of traditional floodlights or lighting equipment for photography. Therefore, beginners do not have to rush to buy.