Ringlights and skin tones

jamesoliverstone

jamesoliverstone

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James
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I have recently got myself a huge walimex 65w ringlight and I have been playing with the catchlights. Is it me, or do these very bright (and very white) catch lights suit lighter skin tones better than darker ones?

Here are some pictures of me and my wife I shot today in the living room for comparison, so ignore the actual photos themselves, I am not trying to win awards here only to see what the concensus of opinion is...

What do you all think?

Ringlight_Susan.jpg


Ringlight_James.jpg
 
Not sure if it's skin tone or eye colour.....paler eyes will show up the catchlights less, whereas it's much more obvious with dark brown eyes.....

Just my thoughts!

Chris
 
Some ones been watching Joey L ;)

I quite like the tones on darker skin. There is a bit more of a range of colour there rather than the lighter skin. To be honest I like the tone on both a lot.

I have wanted one of them there walimex's ever since I saw Mr Lawrence use one.

(y)
 
Ben-Whitehouse said:
Some ones been watching Joey L ;)

I quite like the tones on darker skin. There is a bit more of a range of colour there rather than the lighter skin. To be honest I like the tone on both a lot.

I have wanted one of them there walimex's ever since I saw Mr Lawrence use one.

(y)
Click to expand...

Who me? :naughty:

yes indeed I have, and it's taken me literally ages to get hold of one! The company simply will not ship outside Germany, so this was a lucky find on eBay!

I want to like the result on my skin tone, but I am just not sure about the contrast... It really draws your eye immediately and I am not sure what someone who had no idea what a catchlight was would think. Would it just look too unnatural?
 
I thin kit works better on your wife simply because you've nailed the catchlight right around the pupil. On your selfie it's a bit off which looks wierd.
 
I prefer second picture, skin tone is much more important than catchlights for me. First picture, for my personal taste, should be desaturated slightly as pinky skin doesn`t work (again my own opinion).
 
Now i had a look on eBay and there is 5 on Buy now price £116.
I was thinking of Lencarta Safari Ring flash but that one with power source will be for some £650 or more.
I really like the ringlight (ringflash) effect on skin & eyes.
If i can ask you, from what distance did you shoot them pictures and what is the longest distance from which you can use this as i suppose there isn`t any power adjusting option.
Also if model is close to background, will it give you this "halo" effect as ringflash does?

Thanks for your answer.
 
genchi said:
I prefer second picture, skin tone is much more important than catchlights for me. First picture, for my personal taste, should be desaturated slightly as pinky skin doesn`t work (again my own opinion).
Click to expand...
I agree, although to be honest I should have properly edited the pic of the wife (and she had just woken up so she had no make up or anything... and to be honest would kill me if she saw this pic as I have done her no favours!) as I agree the skin tones are not quite right... I was more trying to just post up a comparison of the catch light on different colour skin.

treeman said:
I'd agree, it's more to do with eye colour than skin tone.
Click to expand...

I guess so... I am still unsure that I like the stark contrast of the bright light against dark eyes, it just looks a little wierd to me... I think I might try editing one in PS to see if reducing the halo might look a little more subtle.

genchi said:
Now i had a look on eBay and there is 5 on Buy now price £116.
I was thinking of Lencarta Safari Ring flash but that one with power source will be for some £650 or more.
I really like the ringlight (ringflash) effect on skin & eyes.
If i can ask you, from what distance did you shoot them pictures and what is the longest distance from which you can use this as i suppose there isn`t any power adjusting option.
Also if model is close to background, will it give you this "halo" effect as ringflash does?

Thanks for your answer.
Click to expand...

I was about 1 foot from the ringlight itself, I have no idea how far away you could use these... they are very bright, but you would need to kill ambient to get the best effect from them. I cannot comment on how these compare to a ring flash, as I have never used one... sorry :(
 
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the eyes look weird though with a catchlight like that, kind of alien like. Looks like someone has just rawn a white crcle around the pupil

is this a desirable effect?
 
Ok I have shot some tests for you... how useful they are I have no idea! These shots were done using a remote release and little regard for any technique, so please ignore the photos :LOL:

So you can see how big this thing is... here is a pic of it.

tp-2.jpg


The ambient light in the room was coming from windows behind camera but I have closed the curtains and turned off the lights. The light was about 7 foot from the wall to give you an idea of distance to backdrop.

tp-1.jpg


Here is a pic at f4 1/60th without the light on

tp-14.jpg


Here is the light switched on

tp-8.jpg


By my estimations that looks to be around 3 ish stops brighter
 
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Ok... now I put myself about 6 inches from the light then moved myself back by around 6 inches at a time until I was at arms length with my remote release cable from the light. This should give you an idea of how the light drops off at distance.

The ambient metered at f4 1/20th iso 200

This is with the camera set to f4 1/200th iso 200

tp-3.jpg


tp-4.jpg


tp-5.jpg


tp-6.jpg


tp-7.jpg
 
This is with the camera set to f4 1/60th iso 200

tp-8.jpg


tp-9.jpg


tp-10.jpg


tp-11.jpg


tp-12.jpg


tp-13.jpg


Hopefully that should give you some idea of how far you can move from the lights...

If you need any more info, please ask. Oh, an apologies for having to stare at my ugly mug :LOL:
 
Both look a little unatural to me but I can understand for a paricular look or effect they can have quite a dramatic impact. I prefer you wifes as they are more central around her pupil and seem to be a little less noticable. On you the dark colour of your eye seems to make them stand out much more.
 
I prefer the more distant shots as I think the closer you are to the light source makes the catchlight seem really false. Just my opinion though.
Mick
 
joescrivens said:
the eyes look weird though with a catchlight like that, kind of alien like. Looks like someone has just rawn a white crcle around the pupil

is this a desirable effect?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this I do not like it one bit sorry..:shrug:
 
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