need lighting help

[adskelley12]

I have continuous flourescent lighting- a softbox and 2 umbrella stands. I am rarely fully satisfied with my skin tones with this even with using a WB card. My pics are usually taken at 4500Kelvin even though the bulbs are supposed to be 5100Kelvin. I have read a lot of good things about Alien Bees, but I have never used strobes. I am torn whether to invest $$ in better bulbs...wondering if that is why I am not at 5100K or if I should just start over and invest $$ in strobes. Any opinions about this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[zona5101]

Hello and welcome!
What about the skin tones aren't you happy with? You use a color balance of 4500k because...the color tones look better than when you shoot at 5100k??

Alien Bees (as well as several other well regarded studio light systems) have plenty of light to achieve nice dof, accept a multitude of light modifiers and offer consistant color. But before dropping coin on new lights it would be good to understand what the current shortfall is to ensure you find the right solution.

[adskelley12]

I am not intentionally shooting at 4500K...that is just what my shots always show up to be in Camera Raw. This is with me using every bulb on all 3 sets of lights (umbrellas and softbox.) When purchased, the bulbs were supposed to be 5100K. I was hoping for a "natural" light look. I feel like my shots always have too much of a green color cast. I feel like I spend too much time in CS3 editing/tweaking to make my skin tones more pleasing. I am open for any suggestions that you might have. I am not dying to invest more $$ in lighting, but if that is the only way that I am going to get pleasing results...then I guess that I will have to. I have not used strobes before, so I am a little worried about how complex they are to use. Thanks for your help!!

[zona5101]

The color temp is set by your cameras white balance setting. If you are using an auto-white balance setting or if you are using a preprogrammed wb setting, take it off auto/preprogram wb and dial in the exact color temp you want (5100k). Then you won't have to do adjustments in post. If that fixes it your good to go. If there is still a color cast check the bulb type. Certain types florecents bulbs have a greenish cast, I didn't think bulbs designed for photographic use were that way, more the oned you get for the shop/house. You can usually gel the light (or filter the camera) to correct this.
Strobes would not have the green color shift.

[Benji]

Flourescent bulbs are notoriously known for being green, and even shooting a gray card can't completely fix it because these bulbs lack red and red is needed to combat the green cast. In the old days we added a standard 100 watt light bulb to the mix to give the needed red for a proper white balance. Supposedly there are full spectrum flourescent bulbs that are not green but I have never tried them out to see if they are indeed full spectrum.

When it comes to my images and my reputation I don't trust anyone else's word for anything, especially something as important as white balance. I'm the one who will be blamed for poor images not the light manufacturer. I am frequently asked what I "do" to my images that make them "pop." My usual response is that I don't "do" anything to make them pop other than getting proper white balance, proper exposure, proper focus, I use a good sharp lens, I use ISO 100 and I make sure the subject is well lit and that he or she is properly posed.

Benji

[adskelley12]

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. I think that I am going to bite the bullet and invest in an Alien Bees strobe. I am torn between Alien Bees biggest foldable softbox and a Westcott 50"x50". Any opinions on these? Thanks!!