Various lights output different colors. Florescent lights output green, and your typical incandescent light bulb puts out orange. The flash on your camera is designed to be closer to natural daylight, but even that is variable.
So when you take a picture using flash in a room with a lamp, you have to make a choice. The surfaces being lit by the lamp can look orange, or the surfaces lit by the flash can look blue. If your camera is set to auto, it will automatically favor the flash.
So how do I fix it?
- Use one type of light.
- Turn off the lamps and just use flash (the space that would have appeared orange will now be close to black.)
- Turn off the flash and just use the lamps. You will need a good fast lens and high ISO settings.
- Make the flash match the lamps
- You can put orange plastic on top of the flash to make it match the lamp color. Then you force the camera to use tungsten (usually a little light bulb icon) The orange plastic sheet is called a gel.
If you are dealing with florescent lights all the same applies but you will use a green gel instead.
Here is a photograph of my flash with the Gel on it.
I made the gel myself. (sorta) I bought the plastic in a large sheet. I cut it to fit and I put Velcro on it.
Here is a photo of how I store my gel so it is always ready to go.
That's it. When I need it, I put the Gel over the front of the flash. On my flash I have a velcro strap for attaching accessories. Its not glued to the flash so it is easily removed if needed.
There are many more pictures showing my equipment here including close-ups of the gels, and other configurations.
Stay tuned. Over the next several days I am posting practical photography tips.
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