using tinted gels to shoot artwork

i THINK a very well known artwork shooting studio here in
nyc(jellybean) uses, along with polarizers, tinted gels to get their
phenominal 4x5's. i ask them once long ago, and they were either
close-mouth about their "secret" or maybe the process was too involved
for me and my simple setup.

is this process too involved for me to think about or can someone give
me the cliff's notes. would overlaying a slight tint with an image
editor do the same thing? i prefer correcting the source before using
an image editor.

 

This is mostly likely due to the color temperature of the lights used to
illuminate the artwork. This is totally unnecessary when shooting digital.
Just put a white sheet of paper in the first shot and use that to set the
white balance. In this instance I would certainly advise shooting RAW.

The other problem to be fixed with something on the lights is the glare and
shine from oil paintings and sculptures and other artwork. This might
require a polarize on the light and one on the camera. Each turned sideways
to the other.

Since they were shooting 4x5 they were most likely shooting film and had to
get the color balance right for the film they were shooting. You won't have
that problem....er...if you are in the right group....the one for digital
shooters. If you use strobes they will all be the same temp I would
think...but if you mix you lighting that could be a problem.

 

yes i shoot digital. i have everything else,,,polarizers for lamp and
lens.

thanks

 

Rosco filters, B&H has them, you can use direct lighting on artwork, a
lot of photographers do. Just have it well balanced. Takes a little
practice, but is not difficult if you are at all used to product
photography. If you are trying to get the right color, color filters
may not be what you want. Lighting a product with diffuse lighting then
using color filters for background illumination is a nice effect.

Tom

 

It's simple. You use gels to add color to whatever you're shooting,
although usually to backgrounds. You don't want to produce unwanted
color shifts in the product from lighting.

Commercial studio lighting is a fairly involved process with many
lights, flags, scrims and modifiers to get exactly the light wanted in
exactly the position wanted - and to keep unwanted light out of where
it's not wanted.

A product shot may have dozens of lights, each positioned to make just a
small contribution to the final image. I've read that some Playboy
centerfold shoots use as many as 250 different lights to set the mood &
create the setting.

For the most part though, it's just a matter of practice, learning what
works & what doesn't.

One thing to really look out for is hot lights (and that includes
modeling lights on strobes) can melt the gels if you're not careful enough.


--

These are my views. If you've got a problem with it, you can blame it on
me, but this is what I think. I am not the official spokes-person for
any Government, Commercial or Educational institution.

John