# Best bulbs for product photog?



## Soulz3urn3lack (Nov 29, 2011)

I bought 2 cheap desk lamps and need advice on the best light bulbs for natural white light.  Would the LED bulbs be my best bet or the soft white bulbs?


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## Helen B (Nov 29, 2011)

I use standard household 150 W incandescent lamps for studio product photography. The main light has four of them, and I always change all of them at the same time so that the colour temperature changes uniformly. Incandescent lamps are very good for accurate colour rendering.


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## Big Mike (Nov 29, 2011)

It doesn't really matter which bulbs you choose, as long as they are consistent.  You can adjust your WB to be accurate for one color temp (one type of bulb), but if you have a mixed light source, you won't be able to set a proper WB.


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## KmH (Nov 29, 2011)

How far away from the lights your subjects will be has a lot to do with how powerful the lights need to be.

For shooting non-moving products, which Helen mentioned, the camera can be on a tripod and the shutter can be left open longer.

Shooting people requires faster shutter speeds, which usually also means more light is needed.


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## Soulz3urn3lack (Nov 29, 2011)

Thank you all for the help.  By what bulb I mean what give off a more natural white.  The bulbs I have now all have a yellowish tint and thus make everything else yellow.


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## kundalini (Nov 29, 2011)

Soulz3urn3lack said:


> The bulbs I have now all have a yellowish tint and thus make everything else yellow.


This is most likely an incandescent bulb then.  Set your WB to tungsten and fire away.  Assuming you're shooting RAW, tweak in post to your pleasure.


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## KmH (Nov 29, 2011)

Soulz3urn3lack said:


> Thank you all for the help.  By what bulb I mean what give off a more natural white.  The bulbs I have now all have a yellowish tint and thus make everything else yellow.



I highly recommend you read this good tutorial:

Understanding White Balance

A digital camea does not work like your eye and brain do. We can tell a digital camera what color temperture our light source is and the camera will correct and make the light render as white light. Like correcting the inherent yellow color cast incandscent lights produce, by setting the camera's white balance to incandescent before we shoot using incandecent lighting. 

We can also manipulate that camera feature in ways advantagous to our artistic desires.

If you are using a film camera, you posted in the wrong forum section. :er:


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