Lighting on the Subject

[bravo2376]

Hey you all,
Very new here to board and photography:blushing: , but I was just wondering what if anything I could've done to not get two big yellow light spots on the car I was taking a picture of. I tried several different things, but they still appeared. They are not there when I look through the viewfinder of the camera, just light spots.
Thanks.

 

[JEazy]

if you're using an off cam flash, try bouncing the flash off a white wall. if you're using a digi point and shoot camera, try taping a folded peice of paper over the flash, that's what i do with my polaroid to diffuse the flash.

 

[mysteryscribe]

welcome aboard...

I have never seen that exact thing so I'm not sure what caused it and have no idea what to do to fix it. but I'm wondering is it like a different kind of spotlight than the regular room light. Light florescent room and halogen spot something like that.

I dont think if it were strobe it would be a differnt color. It is a hot spot but im not sure that it is strobe there is no strobe pattern to it more a spotlight patter I think.. Just a guess

Hertz or markc might know.

 

[bravo2376]

Thanks for the replys,
I don't care to fix it as much as figuring out how to prevent it next time. It was an indoor museum of cars. Mostly low light with spotlights everywhere. You can imagine the glare, but like I said before, the yellow isn't yellow untill I take the shot.BTW I was using a Evolt E-500 with and without the built-in flash. I'm not sure if this exact pic was with or with out, but they both came out similar.
Thanks again.

 

[mysteryscribe]

Keep checking back some of the guys who are really up on this will be in later they can give you better answers.

It looks to me like a different color temperature spot light but I don't know for sure.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Looks like the overhead spots causing the problem, judging by the shape, pattern and position of both them and the reflections of the lights. If you look you'll see one on the back corner of the boot/trunk as well. There's also spill-off of the middle light by the door - you can see it on the floor. Similarly at the front - and a similar lighting effect is visible on the other cars.
As for the colour change: you are on red, which is always a bit tricky photographically. The patches of brighter illumination visually produce lighter red but cameras don't necessarily 'see' it that way*. Colour temperature of the lights can influence things, as can the type of film. The fact that it has gone orange/yellow makes me think you were shooting digital and that was the best the camera could do to render it.
I've often taken pictures with digital and found some colours doing things they wouldn't do on film.


*One of the skills of photography is to learn to see things like film does - and the realisation that film/digital do not see things the way we do.

 

[markc]

Another issue could be the type of paint. Some paint will show different colors depending upon the angle the light is hitting it at. A friend of mine has a Ford Mustang Cobra with "Mystic" paint. It's a black base-coat, but can look green, purple, and even orange depending on where the light is.

I think it's odd that you didn't see the yellow but the camera did. What Hertz said makes sense to me, but it may also be that your eye has trouble seeing the difference in person. The brain does funny things. People are often surprised at how small a bird looks when they get prints back. It didn't look small to them in the viewfinder. You have to train your brain to stop seeing through the viewfinder the same way you view the world in general. It makes a lot of corrections that the camera doesn't.

 

[mysteryscribe]

After I made my original 'guess' I remembered seeing them paint a car for Monster Garrage an old usa tv show. The guy there but a base yellow coat under a red paint job. the base coat influenced the way the top coat looked.

I wondered it that might have influenced the shot if the light had not been evenly distributed over the car. Glad someone else mentioned the paint job.

Hertz and the film / digital thing is interesting because people have been shooting car shows for years. As I said originally, I had never seen this before. The digital thing might be the straw that choked the camel.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

But then it does appear to be a Mercedes 200SL and that car is magic.

 

[AJ Jewell]

I used to use this type of paint, it is made by DuPont (and others). There is no pigmint in this type of paint. It is made up of tiny flecks of aluminum that are different colors, and the clearcoat acts as a prism to reflect and refract the light. This throws different reflections depending on the angle of view. So if you were in a room with general lighting, then spot lighting, and a flash from the camera, this would definatly give the film some different colors to capture.

 

[AJ Jewell]

Here is another example of this paint. The camera (and your eye) sees green dead on, but the surrounding area that the camera sees on a sharp angle is purple.

 

[bravo2376]

Somethings to think about, thanks. I guess I need to take my own eyes of auto focus.:cyclops: And Yes, it was a Mercedes. So there was quite a lot magic going on in there.