working with overhead flo's

[triton5]

Hi Everyone

I have a shoot coming up where I have to shoot an instructional video inside a warehouse lit with overhead fluorescent's.

I was just wondering what kind of light I could mix with the overhead house flo's and if the flo's would be tungsten balanced? Also I noticed the color temp change when I did shot some tests for CU's with a photoflood lamp held near the subject.

Should I check the white balance everytime I notice this color change or just take one reading for both CU's and WS.

Thanks in advance

 

[Cool Lights]

Highly doubtful they are tungsten balanced flos overhead (thats 3200K and its uncommon in flos). Over time you'll develop a feel for what the temperature is of light. Possibly it's 3500K, but most likely they are in the 4100K range color temperature wise (very common for commercial lighting) and may even be a low CRI (color rendering index). The problem with low CRI is it doesn't mix well with other lighting and in flos will manifest itself as a green cast on the subjects lit by the light. You would either have to change all the flos to ones to match your lighting (not practical) or you have to use gels on any lights you bring to change them to the color temperature to match the overheads.

When white balancing you should white balance to the predominant light (overheads) and not mix color temperatures until you understand more about how it can be done creatively. This usually involved white balancing for one color temperature then adding other lighting of an opposite color temperature after the white balance for special effects like over blue or over yellow casts.