[meteorite-list] Photographic Lighting

From: Allen Emer <aemer_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:32 2004
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20020324200843.00a1a3a0_at_mail.monmouth.com>

Dave,

Are you using film or digital for the photos's?

Proper color for tungsten film or quartz lit digital requires studio quartz
lights that are rated at 3200degrees kelvin to match either tungsten film,
or a digital white balance for 3200k light. Daylight is bluer _at_ 5600k ~ and
will require Daylight film or a digital color balance for daylight. Flash
strobes are near daylight but don't shoot them from the camera....image is
too flat and uninteresting.
Quartz lights usually found at Home Depot stores are generally 3000k it
will be just a tad warmer than 3200k light on 3200k film. Any good photo
store will give a lead on finding studio quartz lamps. Photo Flood socket
type bulbs are made in 3200k also....hard to control but cheap.

Florescent lights can be mono spectral but some can have high color
rendering indexes (CRI 90 or more) fp35's... best not to mess with
florescent's.

Best bet is for positioning 3200k studio quartz lights 30 degrees or more
to each side & or rear to show modeling (remaglympted meteors) and then
balance the camera or film to that color temperature. Bouncing the lights
into white cards can give a pleasant soft light look to help the modeling.

For Pallisites, backlight them thru the olivine, and using a bounced light
into a white card facing the polished front to bring up the metal will work
nicely. Play around with the position of the white card until it reflects
in the metal surface...you know its nice when you see it at the right angle
or elevation.

Metal flecked chondrites will respond nicely if you again use the bounced
white card to catch the metal's reflection to the camera lens. Keep the
card far enough away so that the stoney surface is not as bright as the
reflected metal. This will make the metal stand out.....keep playing around
moving the card position till it sings out.

Rule of thumb is.....don't Take a picture.....Make a picture.

But above all ...have fun!

Al Emer


At 05:59 PM 3/24/2002 -0600, you wrote:
>Greetings Listees. I need some recommendations for a low cost, photographic
>light, that will bring out the true colors of meteorites while photographing
>them. Thanks, Dave.
>
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Sun 24 Mar 2002 08:08:52 PM PST