Advice re photography in a hall lit by fluorescent tube lights UK

[Mintchocs]

I have been asked to take photographs in a venue which looking at YouTube seems to be lit by fluorescent tube lights. My 6D does not have anti flicker but I do believe my 77D does. From the YouTube videos the light colour seems to be cool though this could be the result of the recording equipment. Any advice, suggestions much appreciated. Please advise on scenario with flash and without flash for photography as I am not taking video. (But feel free to add on video as a side topic).

 

[Adam-G]

I have been asked to take photographs in a venue which looking at YouTube seems to be lit by fluorescent tube lights. My 6D does not have anti flicker but I do believe my 77D does. From the YouTube videos the light colour seems to be cool though this could be the result of the recording equipment. Any advice, suggestions much appreciated. Please advise on scenario with flash and without flash for photography as I am not taking video. (But feel free to add on video as a side topic).

I think you can minimise flicker by matching your shutter speed to the frequency of the lights. Last time I had this problem I tried shutter speeds in multiples of 1/50 and 1/60 until I got the sweet spot and result I wanted as of course, I had no idea what the lights were running at.

With video, it's far easier to manage this if your camera has Shutter Angle functionality as you can dial it in pretty precisely.

 

[Scooter]

Hi Clint,

So a couple of issues to deal with. You can shoot with the flickery fluorescents (if they are flickery - modern high-speed tubes have a very high refresh rate) by ensuring the shutter is open for at least one complete cycle of the lights' output. If they're powered directly off the AC mains, this will be 1/50th of a second (in the UK) and I believe it's a 60Hz cycle in the US, so 1/60th will be ok.

However, that's fraught with a few difficulties and adding in some flash will clean it up a lot. This leads to the second thing you need to consider: unless you X out the florescent light altogether at camera (by underexposing by say 3 to 4 stops) you will need your flash to match the colour of the florescent lights. Traditional fluorescent tubes emit a greenish light, and you'll need some green gel over your flash to match it. Later, you'll adjust this out when rendering images from the raw files by dialling in some magenta tint. This is not just any old green gel - https://stagedepot.co.uk/lighting/lighting-gel click "technical" and then see the group of greens starting with 241. These numbers incidentally, are identical in the Lee and Rosco gel catalogues. Stage Depot are a Rosco dealer, but the Lee ones will do the job just as well.

How you actually light the scene will depend on what the job actually is - ie is it run and gun, or are you building a set with multiple lights etc etc. If the former, you'll most likely bounce your on-camera flash off nearby walls and ceiling

Owen

 

[swanseamale47]

Try switching on live view and scroling through the white balance options, you can often see what looks best. Theres a load of different colours now so the old slightly magenta filter probably wont work. Most newer tubes are actually led rather than fluorescent.

 

[Mintchocs]

Hi Clint,

So a couple of issues to deal with. You can shoot with the flickery fluorescents (if they are flickery - modern high-speed tubes have a very high refresh rate) by ensuring the shutter is open for at least one complete cycle of the lights' output. If they're powered directly off the AC mains, this will be 1/50th of a second (in the UK) and I believe it's a 60Hz cycle in the US, so 1/60th will be ok.

However, that's fraught with a few difficulties and adding in some flash will clean it up a lot. This leads to the second thing you need to consider: unless you X out the florescent light altogether at camera (by underexposing by say 3 to 4 stops) you will need your flash to match the colour of the florescent lights. Traditional fluorescent tubes emit a greenish light, and you'll need some green gel over your flash to match it. Later, you'll adjust this out when rendering images from the raw files by dialling in some magenta tint. This is not just any old green gel - https://stagedepot.co.uk/lighting/lighting-gel click "technical" and then see the group of greens starting with 241. These numbers incidentally, are identical in the Lee and Rosco gel catalogues. Stage Depot are a Rosco dealer, but the Lee ones will do the job just as well.

How you actually light the scene will depend on what the job actually is - ie is it run and gun, or are you building a set with multiple lights etc etc. If the former, you'll most likely bounce your on-camera flash off nearby walls and ceiling

Owen

Thanks for the long response but it’s a bit overwhelming and too complex to try the first time. If I combine Swanseamale47 advice adjusting the white balance and using flash what is the outcome in terms of colour cast and ease of adjusting in post? Thanks in advancre.

 

[Phil V]

Thanks for the long response but it’s a bit overwhelming and too complex to try the first time. If I combine Swanseamale47 advice adjusting the white balance and using flash what is the outcome in terms of colour cast and ease of adjusting in post? Thanks in advancre.

When you mix lights of 2 different colours you can’t fix it in post.

The options are; you either try to match, you just overpower the ambient or you live with the mis-matched colours.

Matching the colour might ‘feel’ like a complex option, but it’s no more difficult than taping a small gel to your flash.

Overpowering the ambient is easy, but it leaves you with pictures that feel like they were shot in a cave.

The mis-match is what I did for most of my wedding photography, but that was with warm tungsten lighting that left the backgrounds with a cozy feel, you’ll be left with a jaundiced yellow green colour.

It’s your choice, but I’d personally gel the flash. The reason for the problem might be complex and sound confusing, but genuinely the solution is a piece of cake (well a piece of gel).

 

[swanseamale47]

Thanks for the long response but it’s a bit overwhelming and too complex to try the first time. If I combine Swanseamale47 advice adjusting the white balance and using flash what is the outcome in terms of colour cast and ease of adjusting in post? Thanks in advancre.

Phil said it.
If the tubes are modern and high CRI you might just get lucky and get a "close-enough" match, but I have my doubts

 

[Scooter]

Thanks for the long response but it’s a bit overwhelming and too complex to try the first time.

It is what it is tbh Clint, and Wayne isn't saying anything different - just suggesting you can preview the white balance by changing it on the camera. The light sources still have to match for that to work though. Which part of what I said are you struggling with?

1. If you use flash to augment the existing light, you need it to match the colour of that light
2. You need to use a shutter speed slow enough to capture a cycle of the lights if they do flicker.

That's it really.

 

[Mintchocs]

Thanks, I explained the situation and they are more interested in capturing a candid style so they said not to worry too much.