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mercury vapor lighting
Hey, I’ve got a job shooting in a warehouse-type environment, and all lighting is provided by what I believe to be mercury vapor. Apparently there must be different forms of mercury vapor, because most that I’ve seen look fairly blue-white and can be white-balanced to with a Betacam.
But this particular place is lit by somewhat dim blue-white lights that apparently have no red in them. Human skin looks pretty ghastly under it, and red shirts look maroon or purple-maroon.
All I can think of is to bring in some tungsten, and perhaps even use 1K’s, if not 2K’s, and put dimmers on them, cranking down their output so as to make the light lean toward red. I’m hoping that’ll mix with the red-less light and I can white balance.
Am I on the right track? Any other ideas or suggestions??
Thanks!
Doug -
1 Reply
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Hi Doug:
You can correct some of the color from the mercury vapor lighting using tungsten lights but you will need to bring the tungsten lights closer to the tempreature of the available light first. To do this, you will need to add gels to your lights. You can add Rosco 1/2 CTB correction gel to each of your lights and then white balance under the tungsten setting of your camera. More lighting tips at http://www.videolightingclass.com
Good luck with your shoot,
Tom
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