How to use Rotolight’s colour temperature controls creatively
1 Ambient light
Make sure there is enough ambient light to register with your camera’s settings. This is the light you will be manipulating. The overall scene will be slightly illuminated by it. This is your canvas, if you like, on which you will light your subject.
2 Subject lighting
Make sure the ambient light does not overly light your subject, to avoid taking on the colour you are trying to achieve in the setting. Here the lights are unchanged at around 5000K and there is a general neutral or blue hue to the scene. The rim light is hidden behind the pillar.
3 Warm or cool?
Decide whether you want the ambient light to register as cool or warm. If you are using gels you can use the same principle with other colours and their opposites. For example, balancing for a magenta key light will make other light(s) go green.
4 Temperature controls
Dial in the opposite temperature to what you would like as ambient. For a warm background, set the temperature to something cooler than daylight (which is around 5500K) like 6300K. To set, press the right hand control and the display will change from output to temperature.
5 White balance
Set the white balance on your camera to the same as your key light using white paper not lit by the ambient light. The subject is lit with the maximum colour temperature of 6300K. When this is balanced in- camera to daylight (5500K to 6000K) the ambient will be warmer.