[low.pfile]

Well, maybe the LED lighting technology is wonderful but so many small venues don't know how to control these lights. This place had a bank of overhead parabolic cans alternating 100% RED and 100% BLUE for each light. Usually these LED pars are RGB and can be blended to a variety of colors. So shooting the performers you get alien looking images: glowing, oversaturated. No White Balance setting can account for this AFAIK. I am not a pro so maybe there is a better trick. In lightroom I did a 5 minute edit...correcting WB and then desaturated Red and a bit of Blue Channels. It is not perfect but these are not pro shots and just for facebook initially. so I spent no more than 20 minutes on corrections of a dozen photos.

on the left side is the out of camera RAW image as it appears in Lightroom. on the right is the image after my quick corrections in Lightroom, as described above

Nikon D3S, Auto WB, approx ISO 10,000

[JohnR]

So there's no green light?

I was just looking at the Gorillatorch, thinking it might be an interesting option for macro lighting. (The only connection here is that it's LED However it's apparently daylight white)

[thunderbrick]

Nikon D3S, Auto WB, approx ISO 10,000

I can only dream of having a D3S, but why the ISO so high?  Does that impact the contrast and saturation?

[low.pfile]

So there's no green light?

I was just looking at the Gorillatorch, thinking it might be an interesting option for macro lighting. (The only connection here is that it's LED However it's apparently daylight white)

I looked up at them and only saw full red and full blue. that may have been their choice. ive seen red and blue LEDs in the same can. small clubs seem to like them, maybe they are cheap? I can think of 3 small places in SF to use them. It could be worse.... only RED lights. I've experienced that too.

they looked a bit like this. but just a single row much closer together....


http://www.laser-stagelight.com/china-rgb_aluminum_led_par_lamp_green_12x3w_red_12x3w_blue_12x3w_tpl001-740417.html

[low.pfile]

I can only dream of having a D3S, but why the ISO so high?  Does that impact the contrast and saturation?

With ONLY the red and blue lighting it was very dark in there. so with my target at 1/100s minimum shutter speed (f/4), the ISO gets cranked up. yes, there is a slight shift in contrast, but it's mostly the sensor getting overloaded with the two frequencies which affects the saturation. I've seen a couple of cell phone shots from the same show and they look like my shot before editing.

final edit [quick]




[addendum] I just remembered I took a few reference snaps with my own iphone. here is the stage setup. and my unedited iphone image.

[HsvHeelFan]

Early on, I think almost all LED's were red.  Green and Yellow LEDs came later (during the mid 80's).   I don't think they figured out how to get LEDs to emit colors that weren't red, for a while.

So, I'd expect that red LEDs are probably the easiest to produce.

Further investigation reveals that the first visible LED was developed in 1962 and it was red.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode

HsvHeelFan

[low.pfile]

I think the bigger problem is the lack of knowledge how to control LEDs lights (at small clubs/bars). most par lights have RGB LEDs which are on different channels and can be controlled by a lighting mixing board. if you don't have a mixing board then you get default pre-sets on the pars.

some places just don't care about lighting (many don't care about sound! just make it louder!!) this place actually had very good sound for a small club -- they had to add sound damping due to neighbor complaints.

[jamesgarvin]

I think your biggest issue is the hat. It casts a shadow on his face which no amount of ISO will compensate for. In dealing with red L.E.D. lights, which are the worst, when using Lightroom, the temperature slider, the tint slider, the recovery slider, and the saturation slider are my best firends. In addition, when shooting, I usually lower my exposure to -2.0 or -3.0. I realize this can sound counterintuitive when dealing with a dark scene, but it helps to prevent overexposure of the subject with dealing with these lights, and looks better after you have 'fixed' it in Lightroom.

The highest ISO I have been forced to use for my D700 when shooting live music is 6400, and I shot in black and white when I did so. Many people think that a higher ISO only increases noise. It also negatively affects color as well, which I think was part of the problem here.

[low.pfile]

I think your biggest issue is the hat. It casts a shadow on his face which no amount of ISO will compensate for. In dealing with red L.E.D. lights, which are the worst, when using Lightroom, the temperature slider, the tint slider, the recovery slider, and the saturation slider are my best firends. In addition, when shooting, I usually lower my exposure to -2.0 or -3.0. I realize this can sound counterintuitive when dealing with a dark scene, but it helps to prevent overexposure of the subject with dealing with these lights, and looks better after you have 'fixed' it in Lightroom.

The highest ISO I have been forced to use for my D700 when shooting live music is 6400, and I shot in black and white when I did so. Many people think that a higher ISO only increases noise. It also negatively affects color as well, which I think was part of the problem here.

thanks james. I have been shooting music for fun with a D700 for 5+ years. these LEDs are a challenge though. I am sure I can spend 10hrs in Lightroom to compensate with this type light source but it is such a PAIN! and since I am doing it for fun/art/creative outlet I don't want to deal with the extra steps... call me lazy. your steps are very similar to mine as the D700 and D3S are very very similar.

If I ever get to shoot Prince or David Bowie I will take the time to dial in the image. but if I just want to post the pics as shot, there is a huge gap. I wonder if the folks at Nikon/Canon/Sony can figure out a new White Balance (WB) for bad club stage lighting !!