Urban Photography at Night - Help With Lighting

[swanseamale47]

Part of the problem is sodium lights are not continuous spectrum lighting, they don't put out all the colours of the spectrum, so you cant really properly compensate for it with filters, probably better to play with PP and get it as close as possible that way. I'd start with a custom white balance and go from there.

 

[HoppyUK]

Exactly. Though it's more traditional low-pressure sodium lighting that emits in a very narrow band of yellow light.

High-pressure sodium lights have a broader spectrum of emission, and their light tends to look more 'peachy' than yellow. There are still some significant colours missing, though it's much better than LPS.

[spectrum images sourced from Wikipedia]

With LPS, I usually resort to b/w conversions unless I have another source of light handy. I did a few pops with a flash to get some natural colour onto the front of this car and provide some fill, then let the background fall to pure yellow light (shooting RAW).


200611_2770 by cybertect, on Flickr

Thanks Rob, interesting graphs

And the good example pic. Funnily enough, just this morning I've been correcting a tricky night shot of a pub/hotel front that appears to have HPS over the sign and door, but LPS everywhere else. Much like yours. TBH I was surprised at how good, with a bit of fiddling, the main area under HPS looks. It's a long way from perfect, but passable. And I didn't use a filter LOL

Sorry I can't post it - commercial job.

 

[shaylou]

Exactly. Though it's more traditional low-pressure sodium lighting that emits in a very narrow band of yellow light.

High-pressure sodium lights have a broader spectrum of emission, and their light tends to look more 'peachy' than yellow. There are still some significant colours missing, though it's much better than LPS.

[spectrum images sourced from Wikipedia]

With LPS, I usually resort to b/w conversions unless I have another source of light handy. I did a few pops with a flash to get some natural colour onto the front of this car and provide some fill, then let the background fall to pure yellow light (shooting RAW).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cybertect/311040087/
200611_2770 by cybertect, on Flickr

Is there a way to tell what type of light you are dealing with. I mean is it obvious when the lights are the yellow type. I have seen some that are obviously yellow but a lot of the time I find the yellowish when I upload the pic. Can I see it in the histogram. I hope this doesn't seem like a dumb question.