Studio colors???

[HHolland]

Can someone with an existing studio give me some tips about the best colors to paint a studio?? Thanks for your help!!

[Hermes]

Paint it dark grey or black and make sure there is enough room lighting to make up for this. White will reflect light and make your strobes impossible to control in a practical way. Any other colour will add an unwanted colour cast.

[HHolland]

Thanks!!

[TMR Design]

I agree with Hermes but black can be quite gloomy. I went with a middle gray and it works very nicely. Mine is a fairly small studio and I don't have any trouble with control or unwanted reflections. White is not advisable unless you have a larger space and lots of gobos and flags for control. If you use gray be careful because many grays contain a small amount of blue which can add a color cast.

[Mark1]

Paint stores can match just about any color you want. So to make it easy take in a gray card and have them match it. This way it will be as neutral as you can get. Dont trust the paint catalog to tell you it is neutral. Be sure. A slight color cast will cause you many hours over time in PP just in trying to correct it . I prefer in a flat paint.

[Fellipe de Paula]

So the best color choice for studio walls is the "18% gray"?

[TMR Design]

Originally Posted by Fellipe de Paula

So the best color choice for studio walls is the "18% gray"?

18% gray doesn't enter into the color selection for your walls unless you plan on using it to set your white balance. We are suggesting gray simply because it's not black (which is gloomy and dungeon-like) and white (which is highly reflective). So gray is a happy middle ground without color.

[Fellipe de Paula]

Robert, the commonly backdrop named "studio gray" is of the same cast of 18% gray?

[TMR Design]

Originally Posted by Fellipe de Paula

Robert, the commonly backdrop named "studio gray" is of the same cast of 18% gray?

Nope! Unless something is specifically manufactured and lableled as 18% gray you can't and shouldn't assume anything is 18% gray. As a matter of fact, many gray cards being sold are not even 18% gray. Studio gray is just a shade of gray and can certainly work for a white balance reference just as a white piece of paper can be used but you shouldn't bank on the fact that it is 18% gray.

I painted my walls with a pain called 'Gray Area' and while it is not 18% gray I've actually used it for setting white balance and gotten excellent results with very nice skin tones. Rendering skin is a very subjective thing any many people will tweak white balance in post even if they did have an 18% reference, opting for a more pleasing skin tone.

[Mark1]

I didnt mean 18% is the best. I simply meant cards that are printed specifically to be photo cards are a neutral gray. How dark or light you want it is your choice. BUT MAKE SURE IT IS NEUTRAL!!! I have seen paints labeled studio gray as well. They can vary in darkness. But most of them are in fact neutral. I just dont risk it, and have a gray card matched.

[Fellipe de Paula]

So the option for dark walls is to prevent unwanted light bounce... So with a "medium to dark gray" it will avoid that kind of unwanted reflection?

[TMR Design]

Any color will reflect some light but the darker the color, the less reflection. Many people, including myself opted for gray walls, keeping the white ceiling. Reflection is minimized, the room still has some life to it and it works very well.

[Mark1]

Yes. Dark flat paint is best to kill reflections. And neutral colored paint will stop what is reflected from picking up a different color ballence that is possable to effect your images.

[FlashZebra]

Black walls for purists.
White walls for pragmatists.
Gray walls for those that cannot decide and want to have it both ways.

Enjoy! Lon

[TMR Design]

I made the conscious decision to not have black or white. I wanted gray and knew its properties. It was absolutely an educated decision