Studio Equipment: Color Changing Bulb

-By Dan dos Santos

I'm currently on my way back home from my 3-day workshop in Seattle, which was a ton of fun! One of the coolest things about the weekend (And there were many, many, cool things), was this really neat light bulb that one of the students introduced me to.

This is a 10w LED lightbulb (60w incandescent equivalent) which changes colors with the touch of a button. You screw it into any regular lightbulb socket, and with the remote, you can change the color to any of 15 different hues! You can also select from 4 different levels of intensity.

The bulb is obviously intended for casual party lighting, but it's absolutely perfect for artistic applications. We used the bulb as part of a softbox set-up and photographed the model in a variety of fantasy lighting scenarios. It was really useful, and really easy.



Although the bulb isn't bright enough to compete with a flash bulb set-up, it is great for those that use incandescent set-ups. I often use a low-wattage incandescent setup when photographing various reference in the studio; like mannequin heads, miniature models and dioramas.

When I saw how cool this bulb was, I expected it to be really expensive. I was really surprised to find out that you can order it on Amazon for just $20. Plus, it's an LED bulb, so it should last much longer than a tungsten bulb. I just ordered mine, and can't wait to try it out when I get home.