Getting that image to 'Pop'

G

grantw

Well-known member
Been shooting alot over the last year and sometimes I shoot stuff and it's just not as sharp and polished as I like it to be. I think it has to do more with my color correcting and white balance, but I'm just looking for confirmation to things I can do different going forward. Most of these shots where done at 400iso and I was using the Tamron 28-70 trying not to open past f/3.5

Here is one video I did that I'm not horribly impressed with the colors:



I do find that I get a better image when there is a ton of light so I'm trying to use more lights.

But I do find that alot of my videos have this 'orange' feel to them. I'm not that great at color correcting so is that the issue or is it something else? Or maybe I just need to shoot with better lens'?

Any advice would be great. Thanks.
 
You seem to have a lot of mixed light in those shots which may be the root of your issues. Natural light coming in the window mixed with the artificial light on the subject. There is no white balance setting that will make those two play nice with each other. You have to correct one to match the other. Either film over the window or a gel (or daylight balanced source) on the subject. There are moments when everything looks fine. at 00:34 her skin tone is perfect for example. It also looks a little flat, could benefit from some kind of rim lighting on the subject to pop them out from the background.
 
before reading this i could tell you that you need to light. People just don't get it sometimes that these cameras ...no matter how light sensitiv... LOVE light...and love good quality light (high CRI rating). You are shooting in horrible lighting scenarios there and the tips from gonzo will help alot. But it also seems its all available light and no lighting set up...so get some lights. KINO's for those interviews or a big enough tungsten so when u gel it to match daylight it doesn't turn it into a night light.

Heres a vid i did...and if it wasn't lit with sunlight it was lit with one 1.2 hmi and a couple kno flos. i didnt have the grip things i wanted to control the light more...but i worked with what i had.

http://vimeo.com/29079340


 of course this is a shoot :) and i had control...but just goes to show what some lighting can do. (yeh and grading :)). Oh and stick to the clean ISO's 160,320,640,1250 (if u have to)
 
sometimes you have to just accept that you have neither the time nor budget to get things the way you want them to be.
not every shoot is going to be a "reel" piece : (

but you can do better with what you have to work with. like the two single shots of the girl and guy (roughly at 1:00) it looks like you were white balancing with the light coming in the window rather than the overheads - which is causing the faces to be orange. what i generally do in that case (where i have two environmental sources that i cant realistically control) is tilt my white toward the most powerful light and find the best split difference. giving the skin tones priority over the background.

id have to wonder what youre looking at while youre shooting? are you using a monitor? if so what kind?

gonzo's point about the rim light is right on as well. nothing punches up a lack-luster interview style shot easier than a good rim light!
 
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Thanks for the advice guys.

I just got a few more lights (the cfl softboxes and a 500LED light). The softboxes are decent for fill, but the LED is nice but the 1000LED would be better.

No monitor, just using the camera screen

I didn't light anything except the interview which I think I had three 45wCFL bulbs under a umbrella on one side.

I'm starting to shoot ALOT more in offices so I'm gonna have to figure out how to shoot correctly under various office lights and some places have a good mix of daylight and office lights.

Thanks again. I got a shoot tomorrow which I'm gonna try to have a light at least pointed near anything I'm shooting.
 
I'm gonna try to have a light at least pointed near anything I'm shooting.
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you need GELS! all the lights in the world wont help if the color temp isnt right. im assuming your CFLs and LEDs are daylight? if so, run out and get yourself a 1/4 1/2 and full CTO for each light.
 
I would recommend:

1. In an interview setup - turn off the fluorescent lighting overhead and use the daylight coming through the window with ur lighting. To do this, you need to balance your lighting to the same kelvin as daylight. Your 500LED light and CFL soft boxes, I believe are rated at 5500K, which should match the daylight coming through the window.

2. Never AUTO WB. Always manually do it or use the presets if you are unfamiliar

3. To color correct the interview shot of the man - You could try lowering the red/orange in his face by taking out some red or shifting the mids a little towards blue.
 
Also u can get some minus green gel just in case u can gel the office floro lights. Def not an ideal thing cuz i mean...who has time. but just incase you do. colour temp is the biggest issue in your video. So as wgzn said...get some CTO gels of different strengths for your daylight lights (assuming its daylight), so if you do shoot under tungsten then you can match it.

Another Tip is if you are shooting under daylight conditions accompanied by daylight lights, u can gel a back light/kicker with a 1/4 or 1/2 CTO for say a blonde person and just let the image pop a bit more. Make sure you white balance to daylight FIRST, then gel the backlight.
 
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(I've also found myself struggling against mixed lighting - this is a very useful thread - thanks)
 
Shine some white light on her face and on top of her head, Led lights work wonders for this. Yes the mixed lights can be a problem but generally I actually like to mix hot with cold because I think it leaves a nice look. Also for sit down interviews like this I would suggest a faster lens so you can get some nice bokeh.

Personally I think some rim lighting and some nice soft catch light in her eyes and you have something nice!
 
All good advice (for me and others)

I picked up some gels last week for another shoot so used them on yesterdays shoot. Didn't have time to light the broll but I put Magic Lantern on my T2i and that worked pretty good. Being able to adjust the color temp while shooting was awesome.

Besides my LED which I use for the Key, the CFL softboxes don't really make good backlight, just too big, can't control, and its hard keeping them out of the shot in tighter spaces. Any recommendations for a good backlight?
 
Any recommendations for a good backlight?
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i have some old lowel 200ish prolights i use for that. they are small, reasonably focusable. and i put a $10 home depot dimmer on each of them which makes them even more handy
 
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