Studio Lighting Options: Non-professional, for one weekend only....?

I am not a professional photographer, and ordinarily I have no need for studio lighting. I have a fairly decent camera (Nikon D50) and do enjoy taking photographs of my children (what mother doesnt?!)

I'll be exhibiting at a show in a few weeks where we offer photography for use on announcements/invitations. We are not selling our photos as prints, just for use with our work.

Last year we bought some continuous lighting, with what was, supposedly "daylight" bulbs? The photographs were either too yellow, or too blue. Our white backdrop was far from white.

Is there anything I can do with the continuous lighting, or should I spent the next few weeks learning about the art of flash photography? This is not an ideal senario for me, as the lighting will probably be never used again, but if it's gotta be done, I'll do it.

I have just a few days to make a decision and purchase the equipment, so all help, ideas and opinions greatly appreciated.

I agree with EEdude. You should have the proper lighting you need you just need to set your white balance (WB). This can be easily accomplished by manually seting your WB. To do this set up your studio equipment and turn your lights on. Take a picture in program mode to get your camera settings. Once you have these settings (ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture) go to M mode and dial them in. leave your camera in M mode. You now need to choose a WB setting by pressing and holding the WB button back of the camera and turn the rear knob. Look at the top LCD and you'll see the little sun and cloud etc. icons cycle as you turn the knob. Cycle until see PRE. Release the button the press and hold the WB button until you see PRE blinking on the top LCD panel. Take a picture of your white backround and your camera should flash GD on the LCD panel and you have set your WB. If it flashes nG you need to try again. Once you see GD flash you are all set and you can snap away and you should have the proper white balance. I would also shoot in raw that way you can refine it if need be with Photoshop. Don't forget to change back your white balance once you have finished your shoot or your next pictures will turn out all funny.

Sounds like you tried a couple of different white balance settings that weren't very well matched to your actual lighting. Your D50 has a way of taking a measured white balance and using that for your exposures. Since your background is white, just use that to set the white balance with. Also remember that it doesn't use your set white balance if you're in full auto mode, you'll need to switch to Program or Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority or Manual. Another option is to shoot in Raw and set the white balance in Photoshop when you process the shot.

Sounds like you used the wrong white balance last year. It's always better to shoot it the right way in the camera, but you can easily fix these little mistakes in photoshop as well.

You should definately spend the next few weeks learning about flash photography... if done correctly, it can truly be beautiful! It can take a while to master, so START NOW!!!

Try going to a camera store and get some tips there... you can usually rent nice studio lighting there as well.

Good luck!

sounds like you needed to change the white balance, this will cause blue or yellow color on a normally white pic. look up in your owners manual to see how to change the white balance, you may need to play with it.

The continuous lighting you have is adequate, you just need to pick the proper WB preset, or a manual Kelvin setting to get the proper color balance. Once set, you must ensure you have no other sources of light to intrude on your compositions, studio settings are often highly controlled and maintained for balance. If you've set a proper WB for your lights and you get some stray sunlight, or flourescent light from across the room, or another room, it will effect the balance you have established. Here's a tip, the color of incandescent light is around 3200K, flourescents around 4400K, and noon daylight around 6500K. If your lights are incandescent, start at 3200K and go up or down from there (if your camera allows for manual setting of WB), and likewise for flourescent. When working with continuous, I often set the balance manually, tweaking it until I get the right color balance, usually in third stops up or down. Try it, and see what you get. Good luck.