Tungsten (halogen) and fluorescent lighting

The first part of the exercise required a study of tungsten lighting; unfortunately I don't really have any access to tungsten, so my tutor agreed I could use halogen lights.  I did this exercise in my kitchen where I could see outside and also shoot under the lights. 

Looking outside for one minute, the light seemed a bluish/grey, and then looking back into the room, it seemed a lot warmer - my husband reflected a golden glow!  Then looking outside again, the light was definitely a sludgy blue.  On ISO 400, and aperture f/5.6, I measured around the room.  Shutter speed readings ranged from 1/8s to 1/3s.  At ISO 100, at f/5.6 the reading was 1/2s.

I took three photographs at three different white balances: auto, sunlight and lightbulb.

Auto

Sunlight

Lightbulb

It looks as if the auto setting defaulted to the same as the lightbulb setting - you can clearly see that the light outside is blue.  The sunlight setting shows the interior as reddish and the exterior more reflective of what you see with your eye.   Although slightly redder than real, this is a much more pleasing white balance than the auto/lightbulb alternatives, which could be used to create a good spooky or surreal effect.

Interior lit by fluorescent lamps with white balance set to Auto, fluorescent, and alternative fluorescent: for this exercise I took a picture in the Photographer's Gallery on one of the OCA Study Trips.  I was particularly interested in the white and orange together with the same theme running through the photo on display:

High Colour Rendering Fluoresecent

This is the best outcome; the colour of the floor is close to the original and the white wall is fairly neutral.

Standard Fluorescent

Too pink/mauve...

Auto (changed in processing)

Horrendous - way too blue!!

















Interior lit by small CFL lamps with white balance set to Auto, fluorescent, and alternative fluorescent: for this part of the exercise I took a picture in my living room of my dog enjoying his Sunday.  The results are the same as above, even with the darker environment and different colour scheme.

High Colour Rendering Fluorescent

The best option; colours are very close to the real situation, although still some blue round the dog's shadows.

Auto (changed in processing)

Again, horrendous - far too blue!

Standard Fluorescent

  Also bad - too pink!

Auto (set in camera)

 
This is very similar to the High Colour Rendering Fluorescent above.  As the option to change afterwards is always available, it is probably worth shooting on Auto and then changing afterwards if added warmth is required.